So there’s a film that’s not really a film but may be the future of film.
“Mary is Happy, Mary is Happy” is an experimental film currently beloved by the Thai hipster, dek nae crowd, who turned out Friday for its DVD release at the national book fair.
Released in November, Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit’s film became one of the most popular independent films of 2013 and won four Golden Swans and the Bangkok Critics Assembly Award.
It’s story is built around an interpretation of 410 consecutive tweets by female student @marylony, although an actress is used to portray the titular character, and it’s not exactly biographical.
The film created “Mary Fever” on social media among the hipster set, many of whom still wear T-shirts featuring Mary’s school.
Fans started queueing more than hour in advance on Friday and we asked some of the kool kids: Do you have to be hipster to enjoy this film?
Max, 22, first in line
Favorite film: Run Lola Run
“I’m very happy about ‘Mary Fever’. It’s great for independent Thai film to expand its fanbase to non-indie film lovers as well.”
Mim, 23, graduate student
Favorite film: Mary is Happy, Mary is Happy
“I was amazed. I didn’t expected that indie film would have a large number of viewers like this. It’s great. I’ve been a big fan of Ter Nawapol ever since he wrote the script for ‘Bangkok Traffic Love Story.’”
Poon, 22, university graduate
Favorite Film: Enter the Void (2009)
“It amazed me to see indie become mass [market]. I’ve never ting (become a fan of) anything like this before.”
Gift, 21, university student
Favorite film: Last Life in the Universe
“I was confused. I didn’t expect to see many people line up for something indie.”
Natto, 21, university student
Favorite film: A Walk to Remember
“I became a fan of this film right after seeing the trailer. I’m also a fan of Ter Nawapol since his short film ‘We’re sure more than a million Thai people hate Maythawee.’”
Fah, 20, university student
Favorite film: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
“It’s crazy. I didn’t expected this many people; the queue today is longer than the first day of film release at Lido.”
Pol, 40, government officer
Favorite film: Fan Chan
“I haven’t seen it, that’s why I’m here for DVD. It was great to see the new generation’s interest for indie film. It set an example for the Thai film industry that a film doesn’t have to be made by a big company to become popular.”
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