Falang: Behind Bangkok's Smile (2005) Reviews

• Another expert with no knowlage of Thailand

  iptraders2007-05-06

  Unfortunately for there is no shortage of these so-called film makers who travel to Thailand with preconceived notions and return with a poorly researched self-indulgent piece about (surprise) prostitutes. Leaving aside the overly melodramatic narration, the way that the narrator/director mispronounces many Thai words and shows an alarming lack of local knowledge, I saw no attempts to check the stories he was being fed, and no background information was looked into to validate the stories he reported. The narrator just accepted everything fed to him as fact. Had he talked to people who know Thailand he may have discovered that the hard luck stories are par for the course, and as was shown, when the subject finds they aren't going to be making any money off it, they tend to stop answering the door. Nice try, but this is just another inexperienced director who did nothing to back up the veracity of anything presented, though stories about prostitutes always sell don't they?

• Spot on Comments and some FACTS

  thaisanuk2007-05-14

  Comments of transient, mexim3, iptraders, chris-3462, neverlookback are spot on, so I don't need to repeat the outcome of their respective astute observations. I do have this factual input: 1. Khun Pla is alive and well, living a very successful married life outside of Thailand, with the ability to come and go as she pleases. The content of Jordan Clark's trash may turn out to be very damaging to her and her loved ones. 2. No underage Thai ladies ever worked at the bar in question. 3. Most all of the former staff have gone to rich, full lives. In most cases including happy and fruitful marriages. 4. Many statements by the narrator are clearly false and the community of Sukhumvit and Bangkok are fully aware of the deceit and disrespect shown by the creation and distribution of this onslaught. The distributors, producers and broadcasters participating are in remiss of their duties and responsibilities.

• This film is incredibly biased and I question its authenticity.

  neverlookback-12007-01-16

  After watching this film, I must say that I was less than impressed. The tone of the film is misleading. While watching the Pla interview segments it was obvious that she was becoming increasingly annoyed with the film maker. By his own omission, he paid bar for this girl and did not pay her for her time. This tends to anger the bar girls because if they aren't in the bar they can't find another customer. It was also clear that he was making a habit of showing up at her work and interrogating her with questions she did not want to answer. In addition, most Thai bar girls do not wish to appear on camera especially in connection with any kind of prostitution. Thai people are very modest people and would not easily have their faces filmed in this kind of film in order to protect their future. They believe this would be ruined if people saw a film where they were connected with prostitution. I question the authenticity of the film's ending, where the film maker presents that 1 week after filming Pla was dead. Personally, I don't believe it. I suspect that after annoying the poor girl, she most likely was avoiding him and was thus unavailable for more footage. I suspect that in needing an ending, describing a questionable and potentially fraudulent death of Pla without filmed proof accomplishes nothing more than giving the movie an ending and inciting emotion in the audience. I would not recommend this film to anyone. You would be better served to visit Bangkok and see it for yourself. Make your own judgement.

• International Deception

  rqrose2010-01-03

  It's always interesting to meet people just passing through Thailand doing a documentary. Their conclusions are almost always wrong and their evidence is almost always suspect at best. As one who has lived and worked in Thailand I can tell you that any documentary that does not include a LONG HARDlook at the role of the Police, the Politicians, and the King is leaving out the primary motivation for Thai prostitution in the first place. Without the Top-Down Hierarchy in Thailand essentially Stealing the money via the Banking systems (the same way it is now being done in the US)Thai people would be some of the richest in the world. So any slice of life documentary like this one, fails completely because Thailand is like an onion (or an Ogre), it has many layers, and some of those layers can't be exposed without brining tears to your eyes...

• worse than the Johns

  transient-22007-03-13

  If the purpose of this documentary was to evoke an emotional response and foster dialogue, it succeeded on both counts. I left a comment to articulate my visceral response to this film, and a few people found it offensive. But what should I say? As a human being, much less a documentarian who has to been to Thailand, I was offended by this film. I don't think "Bangkok Girl" ever really got to tell her story. All I heard was the filmmaker. So I'm going to repost my comment, and preface it with a disclaimer: for any who came surfing here with the intent of posting their tearful heartfelt applause, you might find the following comment to be unpleasantly sardonic. "I'm a good citizen! That's why I'm going to a bowling alley in Virginia, US. I'll interview the first girl willing to talk to me. Maybe she's been beaten by her husband but remains in her marriage. I'll ask her lots of personal questions: why did she get an abortion when she was 15? Why doesn't she leave her job as an underpaid waitress, quit drinking and go back to school? Then I'll lay in a voice over, wondering if there's really any hope for her, or any remedy for the tragedy of her situation. I'll call it: Richmond Girl. Because everyone has a story. As for the men in the bowling alley, they don't really have a story so I won't ask them personal questions - but together, we can feel better than them. I'll wave goodbye to the first girl in Richmond who talked to me, and feel good - knowing that I could have slept with her if that's what I wanted. Because that's what caring is. If you're amazed or ashamed that hypocrisy like this still has an audience, try to understand that it's basically a rite-of-passage for lazy film students everywhere. College students love to "investigate" prostitution, but they don't do it at home because they'd have to see and hear from their subjects again and that's too much commitment. So students: ask around the quad and you'll hear about some places you can shoot (coincidentally, your own country's GNP will be higher - go team!). "I hear Paraguay is like, really bad. Like you can buy any girl you want and stuff." You'll come back from vacation feeling better about yourself, as if you've tackled some kind of social problem. And better still, you'll get an "A"! I challenge you to learn *ONE SINGLE THING* about Thailand from this indulgent film. This comes from a long embarrassing tradition of backward, self-serving, patronizing colonialist-explorer films. Kidlat Tahimik please... let me hold you and cry."