ATOTS Rewatch Party: Ep. 2 April 16th 8:30 PM BKK Time: USING SYNCTUBE FOR GROUP VIEWING.

Cool!

Thank @Vent Pire for compiling it on her Spotify page. I just put up the link for others to find it easily

 BraveAppointment1:

Thank you very much.   KZRocks posted it in the chat last night, so I'm listening to it even now.  :-)

I'll try to find some of the songs in the spotify playlist on Youtube so I can play them while waiting for the episode to start. Wish me luck haha

Sorry guys, always posting late.  I couldn't make it this Friday due to work, but I'll try hard to make it for episode 3.

I'm reading the novel by Bacteria at the same time.  It's always interesting to see how the screenplay writer's change things up from the novelist.  I'll try to sum that up in a later post.

Watching episode 2 I was thinking how Tian's story parallels that of the Buddha.  The Buddha left his wealthy aristocratic life to seek enlightenment and it seems similar to what Tian is doing.  We often talked about him seeking redemption before, but enlightenment is another possibility, or a combination of both.  I was thinking this as the old man from the foundation asks him things like "have you ever lived without a servant", "do you realize there is no electricity there", "have you ever cooked for yourself before", etc.  Tian as he heard this could suddenly have thought to himself,  'Well that was more than I really anticipated,' but he shows a stoic resolve.  This is the point where he really has committed to his new life.  

From this episode forward I keep worrying about how Tian is not taking his medications, or that we have no idea when he is taking them.  You need to take immunosuppressant medications for a year after a heart transplant to prevent organ rejection.  I think it is an important oversight of the production that we don't see him dealing with this and the possible side effects that might occur when he doesn't.  

I love the introduction of the children.  Using Torfun as an introduction we get to see all the children in a meaningful and colorful way.  It's good the production spent the effort to highlight all of their individual traits.  I always thought that these kids are the main stars of the show other than Tian and Phupha.  In many ways the show revolves around them - in every scene forward the kids are closely intertwined with the plot.  

When we first see Khama he recites the Buddhist proverb, "Birth, Old Age, Sickness, and Death are Unavoidable"  We see again the emphasis on the search for enlightenment.  Khama seems to think Tian is familiar to him - again I think this might be some small element of the supernatural, like he senses the spirit of Torfun inside Tian.  

 In this episode you have little idea why Tian would like Phupha who really acts like a total jerk.  I assume this is like one of those times where when you are attracted to someone you might treat them badly just to get their attention.    I assume that is what that is because I feel these two connected rather quickly.  Phupha might also be trying to drive him out under the instructions of Tian's father, but he could have done that more effectively if that was the case.   

I always feel music scores work better in a rural setting - it's something about the natural environment that enhances music.  The orchestral music in several places during this episode was just really soothing, and refreshing.  This is especially the case when Phupha plays the Khlui.

I think the acting is just perfect with every cast member in this episode.  Yod and Rang were done very convincingly.  This was just a really perfect introductory episode to the next arc in the drama with Tian's life in the village.  Plot-wise it covered all the bases and we are introduced to all the main characters except Longtae.   

I just wanted to post something about the book that 1000 Stars is based on because I think it provides some further explanation for the motives of the characters, and so that we can see what artistic decisions the director P'Aoy makes when he diverges from the narrative of the novel.

Starting from the beginning Bacteria aka Nabu describes how Tian has become selfish and self-destructive for the last two years after he found out about his health issue, that he is going to die unless he can get a heart transplant.  This is when all the things like his gambling, womanizing, etc. started.  As he states in the prologue, "When he's not happy, other people shouldn't be happy"  I think being rich and a little spoiled exacerbated the problem to a more extreme form.  He wasn't that bad before but he certainly becomes really lost in the last two years of his life.  His mother Lalita is a very sympathetic figure and is very pained to see how her son has become a semi-monster.  Tian accidentally injures his mom in the prologue and he runs to her in sudden remorse (the first sign of a reawakening morality).  He turns very pale when he sees how injured his mom is.  

In the first chapter we meet Pim, Tian's elder sister (by ten years).  She and Tian don't get along and she is actually a minor antagonist in the novel.  In the novel we see Tian's friends are no good at all as opposed to seeming, for the most part, normal in the series.  Tian describes them as worthless friends who would not miss him whether he showed up or not at their meetings.  Given that he just had a heart transplant they seem pretty terrible.  Bacteria portrays them as kids that constantly sat around talking about social injustice in society, but who couldn't care less in reality.  

Tian's mom is shown to be very concerned about the deceased and insists to the doctor that they make a donation to the family.  Later on we see this very cynical family of Torfun who are just plain vicious.  They are just happy to take the money and run having no appreciation for it.  In the series, Lalita and her husband seem like they did something really unethical, but I don't see that in the novel.  P'Aoy perhaps wants to change their nature up a little bit to add some complexity to their characterization.  

In the novel, there is no car race that results in Torfun's death.  We just see Tian recovering for several months after his surgery.  

This chapter we are also introduced to Tay who is a senior at Tian's university and son of his dad's best friend.  He is the only responsible friend Tian has.  While going out with him to a mall, Tian inadvertently hears a news story of a son of a famous CEO running over a girl.  This happens to be his friend Wasan who just happened to leave later than Tian at some party they were at.  Tian doesn't really have any culpability as to what happened afterwards when Wasan runs over Thorfun.  I believe P'Aoy makes the dramatic decision for the screenplay to make Tian more responsible for the death so we can have a stronger belief in Tian's sense of guilt.  I think he made the right decision there.  I usually side with the novelist, but I certainly think this was the right choice for the series.  

Tian has Tul do some research.  I guess Tul is the least bad of his old friends that Tian still feels he can rely on.  Tul is also someone that has some skills doing research.  Tul finds Tian the address for Thorfun's house.  Tian meets the aunt of Thorfun who he finds to be a vicious character.  He says to her she clearly doesn't care that Thorfun died at all.  When Tian confronts her about her bad attitude towards Thorfun,  she responds basically that she doesn't care if she goes to Hell - she just has to worry about filling her belly in the present.  She says "The rich will always be the rich and the poor will always be poor, so don't try to scare me with your morals".  Later Tian reflects on how Thorfun has had a similar journey to his, that she searched for meaning outside her terrible upbringing.  Even if Thorfun was a very poor family, their journey is similar.

A little later Tian asks Tay about doing charity work.  Tay is taken aback at first because Tian said in the past that charity work is useless.  But now Tian indicates he's willing to learn and listen and Tay tells him that if Tian doesn't perform charitable work he will never know what it is like to help others and will never know that how that will bring about true happiness.  Tay also says Tian doesn't know anything about the world outside.  Here again I see the parallel with the story of the Buddha who as a young aristocrat realized he wanted to attain enlightenment because he knew nothing about the outside world.  Tian reflects, 'What is the world outside?', 'What is their true life.' 'Money can buy physical happiness, but how do I make the soul happy too.'  These are the same questions that started the Buddha on his journey to enlightenment.   

At the end of chapter 2 Tian has started looking through Thorfun's diary and a picture of Phupha falls out.  His heart suddenly starts racing.  He doesn't understand why that's happening but he thinks it's Torfun's heart reacting to someone she must have loved.  This is clearly an element of the supernatural that is more prominent here than in the series.  

Ok, this is the first installment.  More coming soon.  Hope people found this useful.  Of course, I would encourage everyone to read the novel for themselves.  You have plenty of time before I get to the end.  Please let me know if you have any suggestions if you think I can do something better here.  Thanks everyone!

 kpoptrash:

Sorry to hear that. It's really amazing that we are all from different countries but the time difference is no joke. For me 08:30 pm Bankok time is 3:30 pm in the afternoon. So quite a good time but yeah getting up at 6 am isn't that great.

Especially when one is retired and doesn't have any real reason to be up at that time, anymore, otherwise: LOL! I'm going to do it for this coming week, though. It'll be worth it for the sense of community! =)

 BraveAppointment1:

That's a very insightful comment. We can be sure that ALL the people involved in making this film would be quite familiar with the story of the Buddha and his search for enlightenment. I don't think the references that you picked up are accidental -- or at all unusual in a Thai story. Tian is almost assuredly seeking enlightenment, alongside redemption for his past errors. And we could see his growing understanding even in Ep. 2, during the scene when he is turning over in his mind what is really important in his life.

Of course, later in the series we see shamanistic practices of traditional beliefs which are also part of Thai culture. One thing about the Thais is that they are not exclusive when it comes to their religious observances......

Absolutely!