Review: One Take Only (Som and Bank: Bangkok for Sale)

• Directed by Oxide Pang
• Starring Pawarith Mongkolpisit, Wanatchada Siwapornchai, Chalermporn Paprach
• Released in 2003; available on English-subtitled DVD
• Rating: 3/5

The third in the loose trilogy of urban youth dramas that the Pang Brothers started with Bangkok Dangerous, Oxide Pang's One Take Only (or Som and Bank: Bangkok for Sale) is about a slacker drug dealer named Bank (Pawarith Mongkolpisit) and a student/prostitute named Som (Wanatchada Siwapornchai). They live in the same apartment block but don't become acquainted until they meet in Siam Square, where Som is visiting with friends from school and Bank makes an appearance to tell a joke. Som is captivated.

They are reunited when Bank goes to beat up some thugs who beat up one of his friends. Bank ends up on the losing side of the battle. Passing by, Som sees this and loads her backpack with bricks and wallops the thugs, saving Bank.

They get to know each other a little better, but neither know too much. Then Bank finds out Som is a hooker and is less interested. Eventually, they get back together and she agrees to come aboard with him to do a big drug deal. The money allows him to buy her that cellphone she always wanted. Another big deal comes up, but it goes bad.

It's a sad story that doesn't really go anywhere. Vaporous as it is, it's not entirely without merit. Most memorably it portrays the gritty side of low-class urban Bangkok - of one-room apartments with no air conditioning. Of a drug dealer who wears a DARE T-shirt. Of a guy who puts on a cool appearance but is imagining that he is beating the tar out of a convenience store clerk or a guy in a parking garage. Of a student who prostitutes herself to pay for school and send money back to her mother upcountry.

At times, the colors are washed out, giving the film a black-and-white look. Other times they are supersaturated, giving a red appearance that is especially effective during the fight scenes.

I can see how the direction would translate well to horror films, as the Pang Brothers directed The Eye. There were some moments, during the fight scenes, where people had their arms raised, that I thought I was watching a zombie movie. So now I'm interested in actually checking out The Eye.