Timeline is a Thai teenage romance movie that was released on Valentine’s Day. It was co-funded/sponsored by at least four big brands, two Thai brands plus Vios and Olay. It’s been promoted blockbuster-style since we arrived in Bangkok. None of the ads were in English or subtitled but Spectra and I saw the same preview so many times in the theater and on the train that we figured out what Timeline is about.
A boy from a small town goes to university in the big city where he falls in love with a girl. Complications ensue. At least one is the mother wants the boy to return to the small town and maybe the boy gets mad at the mother for dating a new man after the death of his father. We couldn’t figure out what broke the boy and girl up though. Family complications? Another woman? We weren’t sure but whatever it was we knew it was going to be ungodly sad because there are so many tears in the preview that at one point the music downshifts into quiet ululation for a series of different people crying in different places clutching different objects.
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| Bangkok's current official wallpaper. |
Spectra and I couldn’t wait to get some of that action. Then we got it. We were simultaneously just shy of perfect in our predictions and so completely wrong that seeing this big budget, heavily sponsored and promoted, teen romance is currently my top Thai experience.
That’s all I can say about Timeline. I’ve already said too much. Watch this preview 10 times. Do not find one with subtitles. Read nothing about this movie outside of what you just did. Then, some day, if you get the chance, watch Timeline. You will not be disappointed. Especially if you watch it as a companion piece to…
The very next day I went and saw Her by myself (Spectra recused herself). I’m not going on about Her because I’m guessing you’ve already seen it or heard about it and if you haven’t you can easily consult the English based entertainment outlets of your choice for more information.
Her brushes up against astonishing and makes for a perfect twin bill with Timeline. That’s right, a passion project, art film created by one of America’s cinematic guiding lights--that was nominated for a bunch of “prestigious awards,” if you go in for that sort of thing--is a perfect mate for a big budget, Thai teen romance. At the moment my journal is exclusively my trying to make sense of this.
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