Bangkok Love Story (2007)

Interesting facts

Bangkok Love Story is a 2007 Thai film written and directed by Poj Arnon. A gay romantic crime action drama, it is the story of a man who falls in love with a gunman assigned to kill him.

Production

When Bangkok Love Story was in pre-production, the release of its trailer in 2006 reportedly prompted objections from Thailand's National Police Office, which expressed concern over the film's portrayal of a gay policeman. At the time, Thai film censorship bodies included police representatives, which contributed to the filmmakers avoiding explicitly identifying Iht as a police officer in the final version of the film.

Both lead actors, Chaiwat Thongsang (Iht) and Ratanabanrang Tosawat (Maek), are heterosexual, according to a profile of the two actors in BK Magazine. Chaiwat said he took the role because he wanted the "challenge" and to "become famous". Ratanabanrang simply stated playing a gay man "is an honor".

Chaiwat said he had hoped camera angles could be used so he could avoid having to kiss his co-star, but director Poj Arnon insisted the kisses must be real. "It was totally disgusting at first, but we kind of got used to it after a while", Chaiwat said. Ratanabanrang said he had to imagine he was kissing his girlfriend. "Actually, we acted so well, that my girlfriend got paranoid".

Both actors acknowledged that the film would be compared to Brokeback Mountain, but Ratanabanrang noted that Poj Arnon had the idea for Bangkok Love Story long before Brokeback had been adapted into a film.

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