JAN DARA

Title: JAN DARA

A Review By: LIZDEL MAY B. BOBILES
(BBrC 3-1 irreg.)

Movie Production Output:

Cinemasia; Peter Chan Ho-Sun

Cast of Characters: 

 Suwinit Panjamawat as teenage Jan Dara

Santisuk Promsiri as Khun Luang, Jan Dara’s father

Christy Chung as Boonlueang

Eakarat Sarsukh as adult Jan Dara

Wipawee Charoenpura as Aunt Waad

Patharawarin Timkul as Kaew

Director: Nonzee Nimibutr

Writer: Nonzee Nimibutr (screenplay)

Sirapak Paoboonkerd (screenplay)

Utsana Phleungtham (original story)

Synopsis:

Widely considered Thailand’s leading director of the late ’90s, Nonzee Nimibutr spins this erotic drama based on one of that country’s most popular and controversial literary works. Jan Dara was cursed from the beginning when his mother, Dara, died during childbirth. His autocratic, libidinous father, Khun Luang, cursed and abused the child, calling him a bastard. Meanwhile, Khun Luang dealt with his sudden widower status by engaging in perverse, licentious behavior, often right in front of a portrait of his late wife. When his mother’s friend, Waad, comes to Khun Luang’s estate to look after the child, the patriarch wastes no time in seducing her. Soon Waad bores Kaew, who Khun Luang teaches to hate Jan Dara. Later, the old man marries his former lover, the nymphomaniac Boonlueang, who teaches the teenage Jan Dara his first lessons in the ways of love. Eventually, our abused hero is thrown out of his father’s estate when Kaew frames him for raping her. Years pass and the formerly powerful Khun Luang, ravaged by age and disease, is a shell of the man he was before. Jan Dara is asked to return to his ancestral estate to marry Kaew, who is now pregnant, and only does so when he is promised the deed to the house. Once ensconced, Jan Dara begins taking the same libertine pleasures as his father, unwittingly becoming the very person he loathes. 

Recomended Subject Areas for Study

FAMILY  - The Thailand culture and traditiion was very transparent in this film. It shows how similarly family ties make up a family as a whole like here in our country. Watching Jan Dara gave me the knowledge that it is true there in Thailand, family reputation is a big deal, but, still, there’s just this people who were not “good” family members.”

BATTLE OF THE SEXES - In the film the masculines always were the dominant gender, somehow it is also true in the movie that feminines were thier weak sides.

WEALTH - In the movie, although it is not directly defined that money plays an important role in building a family , Jan Dara, at some point of views, pictured that family status had a major part in putting up a great family bonding. Particularly, it is seen in the presentation of the character of Patharawarin Timkul as Kaew, how he was brought up and became a brat. Actually almost every character in the movie  maybe  observed to be  affected by being poor and or by being wealthy.

POWER  - Jan Dara shows how a head of the family (a man) possessed great authority over the other members of the family (also the maids and slaves). Perhaps power is defined with Jan’s character as he developed from a weakling to a powerful person. 

LOVE vs. LUST - It was cute that in the film, it was well-expressed that  love totally differs from lust.  I found it clearly with Jan’s first sexual activity with  her step sister’s nanny versus Jan’s whole-heartedly getting through Hyacinth’s heart.

Audience suitability: R-18 

Cinematic Focus:  Character-Driven  - I think Jan Dara is a character-drven movie because when you first watch the movie, you’ll be more interested with the characters as they were introduced one-by-one. Specially, Jan’s character gave a strong impact on the viewers. For me, How Jan grew up trying to avoid such mistake his father did helped the character to developed as the film rolled.

Points of observation: 

SHOULD NOT’S - The film did not gave a satisfying end in the “Jan loves Hyacinth”  scenes. For me, if a conflict in the film which will make the audience somehow stick to the story expecting a good resolution will be ended as if it was only like…”ah forgotten..” sometimes it should not be included anymore coz it’s a waste of time.

SHOULD BE’S -  The drama in a room when Jan finally exressed out all the emotions that he was keeping inside him against (Santisuk Promsiri) Khun Luang, his known father. For me it was the start when the character finally say to the audience “hey this is the movie all about, guys!”

WELL PRESENTED - For me, the scenes with (Patharawarin Timkul) Kaew was one of the best assets of the film. Perhaps because the character was the one who helped the audience determine who was Jan before and who is Jan as a man of his future. That’s it.

Rating:  *****