Well I thought I was going to do a one and done meta for Man Suang but it turns out that I was wrong. Let's talk about ships and metaphors team.
Water first comes into play right in the thick of our trouble. Khem has just threatened to go to Bodisorn with the documents incriminating Chat's father. He gives Chat two days to do something and then we get this delicious angsty moment:
Chat in full existential crisis thinking back on a conversation with his father where he tells Chat that it's good that he doesn't want to be a civil servant.
And then he says this: But you must remember my words. It is ill striving against the stream. You will be ruined.
Luckily for Chat he gets a proper application of cat before having to deal with more drama when the fireworks explode.
Shout out to Ruang for his stellar acting when that goes down.
But that's not the last time that we hear about a stream and when we get it again, we add boats.
I really like the way they chose to reveal information at the end of the movie, cutting between different scenes to give us the whole picture of what happens to our characters after Hong's dramatic reveal and our conflict resolution.
There are two distinct conversations that bring up the stream, one with Chat and Bodisorn and the other with Chat and Khem.
Chat and Bodisorn's conversation is threaded through from start to finish at the ending scenes of the movie. Starting with Chat trying to turn over the incriminating documents.
There's a lot to unpack in that conversation but for now let's focus on the streams/boats.
Before this conversation is resolved we get Khem saying this:
A steamboat is made for the sea. A sailboat follows the wind. And a row boat can plough through every canal and river.
Here Khem is calling himself a rowboat. The Phrai status he has chosen to keep, turning down the offer of a title and land, is no longer a symbol of his powerlessness, but instead how he plans to leverage and change his circumstances. As a dancer at Man Suang, he is going to build his own form of power instead of having it given to him.
Adorably Chat shoots him some serious heart eyes at this statement but our boy is more than just smitten, he's charmed how they both think so similarly.
BECAUSE HERE IS THE THING. The conversation with Bodisorn that we start the end of the movie with? It happened before Chat and Khem have this talk.
Which means that Chat has already said this:
My father always told me that it's ill striving against the stream. But I don't think so. Now Siam has steamboats that can strike against the stream, wave, and wind, right?
And then we cut directly to credits.
To the best of our knowledge, Chat and Khem don't discuss the warning that Chat's father gives him, which means Khem's use of the boat metaphor comes naturally.
If you're wondering where the relationship that Khem and Chat have post Man Suang stems from, I would argue that this moment, this conversation is one of the key sparks that could lead to the presumably romantic feelings we are being promised in Shine.
Two men, from completely different worlds, meeting due to circumstances and despite their differences, sharing a mindset. A core understanding, that with the right position and power, you can change the world.
Whether you are a steamboat or a row boat.
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Queue Interview with the Dead Boy Detectives Cast 👻🔎
This is going to be a long post! (These are my favourite parts from the interview!)
George Rexstrew as Edwin Payne
Acting Inspiration
Oh, gosh. Well there are so many. Meryl Streep, obviously. Viola Davis, obviously. More recently, I was blown away by Enzo Vogrincic in Society of the Snow. And Eden Dambrine in Close.
Cast Camaraderie
I loved working with all my co-stars. I’m practically related to Jayden [Revri] and Kassius [Nelson] at this point. Yuyu [Kitamura] is a dream. Jenn [Lyon] is mother hen. Bri[ana Cuoco] is the cool older sister. Josh[ua Colley] is the cheeky cousin. Ruth [Connell] is the godmother who gives you a card and £20 for your birthday. It really is one big happy dysfunctional family. I’m grateful for all of them, on and off camera.
Jayden Revri as Charles Rowland
Dressing The Part
These heads of departments, and Monique and Kelli, [they’re] unbelievable. They were so collaborative. We went through different hairstyles and different things we could do with the makeup. We added a bit of eyeliner for [Charles] just to make it feel more 80s. And then Kelli, I mean, it was like she did her research on me. She added badges to the jacket which kind of represented me as Jayden, before I even got there. It wasn’t until I got the haircut, put the makeup on, put the costume on, and I was like, Okay, this is Charles.
Cast Camaraderie.
The vibe was just incredible. Me and George, we really wanted to set the tone for the series and make sure that everyone’s having fun and it’s an environment where we could all talk about how we’re feeling. We were just such a big support blanket for each other. If there was ever a time that somebody needed space, or they wanted to prep themselves for a certain scene they were going to film, we all respected that and we were each other’s cheerleaders the whole entire time. And it’s still the same to this day now. I think it really shows when you watch the series that we all knew what we were making and we wanted to make something that we would want to watch, which we’ve all done. I cannot shout out my castmates enough. Forever grateful.
Kassius Nelson as Crystal Palace
Acting Inspiration
I watched a lot of animation. I used to watch the Addams Family, the black-and-white one, because I didn’t have Disney Channel or anything. Monk, Murder She Wrote, I was watching those things, so maybe I was actually destined to play a detective, now that I’m thinking about it. I watched a lot of cartoons and animations. I just liked the idea that I could be engrossed in another world. And I always wanted to know what happened next, or when the film finished, I would be like, “Okay, but then what? What happens after that?” And now I get to be part of that question or that answer (...).
Dressing the Part
We have a fantastic costume designer, Kelli Dunsmore. I always say that she literally wove the story into the fabric of the clothes, because there are things that she foreshadowed in the clothing that happened episodes later. Or, if characters start to get in some sort of relationship with each other, that will be reflected in the clothes that they wear or the colors that they have. Or, if they’re feeling any type of emotion, (...)l. Crystal wears these massive platform boots that must be about four or five inches. They’re huge, very heavy, but it’s funny because they change the way that you walk. (...) She’s not very light, which makes sense with the things that she’s going through and the experiences that she’s having. Practically, it helped, because Jayden and George are like six-foot-something. So, if I film a scene and I’m at the bottom of the lens and they’re up there, that helped. I’ve got a good couple inches on my feet.
Yuyu Kitamura as Niko Sasaki
Acting Inspiration
Sandra Oh is a woman that I will forever be indebted to because who she was on Grey’s Anatomy was so formative for me. The most interesting thing about her character was not that she was Asian, but that she was such a fully fleshed person with flaws and amazing qualities. And her work ever since I think has been iconic, so she’s a woman that I deeply look up to.
Landing the role in Dead Boy Detectives
I auditioned from Hong Kong and my dad was my reader because all of my acting friends were in New York. My dad was able to carve out time and be an amazing reader. And in that audition side, it’s the scene where Niko gets to see the “Dead Boys” for the first time, and there’s a line in there that was something along the lines of me talking to Edwin and asking, “Do you two make out with each other?” And my dad stopped the tape and he was like, “What are you reading for?” And I was like, “Don’t give me notes, it’s fine!” And so that was the audition process! I think within a month I found out I got the part and it’s been an absolute dream ever since.
Dressing the Part
(...) I think on paper Niko can seem like a certain type of character, but even in the choice of every costume we did, every color that she wears, every meticulous little piece about everything from her nails to her room, it’s so well curated and thought out. Through her journey, we also find that she’s a woman that wears what she feels. On the surface, she might seem like the most joyful, young, optimistic girl, but it’s the inner confidence and bravery where we find that she’s layered, and she is very much a young woman coming of age.
SOURCE: MEET THE REAL DEAD BOY DETECTIVES (AND FRIENDS)
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Ok but can we talk about how Edwin definitely must have had nightmares of hell for years? Charles hugging him and reassuring him that those creatures cannot hurt him anymore? As the years pass the nightmares becoming more and more rare? Until he’s dragged into hell again and this time after escaping the nightmares won’t go away? But he doesn’t want to tell Charles because no matter how reassuring he’s been that nothing’s changed between them, Edwin still feels a bit guilty. Until one night they’re both awake, Edwin had nightmares of hell, Charles had nightmares of his father, and they’re both like “why didn’t you tell me?” And Charles hugs Edwin tight and promises that as long as they’re together, their nightmares can’t reach them anymore. And Edwin falls back asleep as Charles realizes that, fuck, maybe he’s in love too
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I'm thinking about Wyll/Halsin rn…
Two men with endless patience and wells of kindness within them; who have been hurt time and time again but continue to be gentle and jovial. Who were forced to grow up before their time, and take care of themselves without that same expectation of others. Who hold levels of insecurity so deep within that it has taken root there. Who feel the need to protect, but who protected them?
If anyone could make Halsin see the beauty in Baldur's Gate, it's bright eyed Wyll. And when Halsin murmurs “My hero,” eyes wide and adoring, it is without a lick of insincerity.
They both want to be dads - and they would be such sweet ones together! Gentle parenting squared. Wyll is the one I could see joining Halsin in Reithwin and rebuilding. There is a lot of potential!!
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