SoFFantastica
This review may contain spoilers
Even the story talk about important themes, it's not enough to make it a good product
First of all:
The biggest flaw of the entire series is the lack of well-constructed and contextualized drama. In my opinion this defect is due to a lack of knowledge and poor exploitation of the historical period. there is an idea that is not very solid and confusing, and the intent to entertain becomes more important instead of telling. dramas exist because they are an end in themselves as is the drama of the characters. In short, the story is not sad and dramatic because it shows a difficult reality, but it is so because it claims to be. It is didactic, theatrical, exaggerated, a hyperbole of actions and events constructed on the drawing board.
Despite the romantic moments, the idea that could have been very interesting, the actors who aren't even that bad and the various potentials, this series remains easy, bland, and full of errors and historical inaccuracies.
The issue of homosexuality is treated by these characters as if they were in 2023 and no more than 100 years ago. It is overlooked that at times it was considered an illness, and a happy ending like what they present is not only inaccurate but it is a big fuck you to all those homosexuals who really lived in those times and who suffered from it.
There are plenty of errors and inaccuracies and I won't be here to tell them all, the fact is that you can watch what you want but have a bit of critical sense instead of being carried away only by emotion, especially if you make a judgment
The love story and the two Main character:
In 12 episodes we follow the story of Jom and Yai and in the end we realize that we know nothing about them: we know about Jom that he is an architect, has a sister and had a bastard boyfriend. But then? We don't know what other interests he has, what ideas he has about the world or what ideas he is having about the era in which he finds himself.
We don't know what things scare him, what he loves and what he hates. We don't know the most important thing: what he wants.
Do he want to return to the present? We don't know because he never gets homesick. Do he want to stay there? We don't know because he never shows that he's feeling neither good nor bad, but he makes whatever happens to him go well.
He certainly becomes fond of Yai but doesn't seem to have any scruples about his situation.
In short, what does he want and what does he need?
And Yai?
We know that he grew up in luxury, that he suffered pressure from his father that led him not to decide about his life, that he has a more open mind than his family, as well as a kind nature.
But beyond that? What is his relationship with his family? Have her ever felt different because of his open and modern mentality?
What relationship does Yai have with his sister ? Do they get along or not? And it's not enough that he's worried about her because of her husband, because that's the least.
What is his relationship with Robert? Do he hate him, feel intimidated, admire him, respect him?
We barely know shit about Yai. What does Yai want?
If his father had let him take his own path independently, what would he have done? What does he like to do, what are his interests?
We see that he is a great reader and scholar, but of what? Literature, journalism, history, economics, science? What do you always read?
We might say he desires Jom, but why? Why this boy who he barely knows and not Ming, who has been working for him longer, who certainly knows him better, who is an even better servant than Jom (since he knows how to distill liquor, he is brave in taking the whippings in place of the mother.
We discover later that he dreams of traveling and going to France "where there are many thinkers and writers, strikes and debates" he couldn't say more vague things. However, it makes sense that you dream of France, given that in Thai history the English and French were the main exporters of culture and trade. Then, why doesn't his father allow him to travel? To expand his knowledge and therefore enrich his future? Nothing makes sense...
The relationship of the two protagonists is based on little or nothing, because if we were to think about it we wouldn't be able to say what the foundations on which their love was built are. What we see and perceive, to be honest, is that these two are together out of pure physical attraction, and nothing else is apparent. the few things we know about them they never share, they limit themselves to kissing, caressing and hug Nothing else.
The Ambience:
Throughout the entire series, there is zero attention to detail. A lack of care that undermines the pleasantness and naturalness of the narrative.
The things that happen are sometimes so forced precisely because of this flaw.
To. Ex. When Yai's sister and her servant are discovered together it's because they had the brilliant idea of sleeping together in the same bed without closing the door. Instead of having been due to a fatality. Or yai and jom being caught in the garden holding hands. All of this is idiotic, it's a gigantic stretch that makes these characters seem like morons, imprudent and impulsive. Which they are not describe be like. But not only on a narrative level is there an absurd carelessness, but also in the staging.
A trivial example: a servant is serving the meal at the table of her masters who are arguing. she not only listens to what they are saying but intervenes in the discussion by interrupting his service. Now, this is an example of how in this series there is very little and intolerable documentation for a historical series, as a simple search is enough to understand that a servant would never have dared such behavior. The servants had the task of being noticed as little as possible, not to bother and to be invisible under penalty of severe punishment.
In conclusion:
I could still discuss a lot about the lack of depth of any character, the emptiness of our protagonist who never demonstrates his profound detachment of mentality from the people he meets, the lack of evolution of his character from the first to the last episode do not show that much has changed, the vagueness with which everything is treated, the flatness of certain choices in storytelling which are completely unfounded on a historical level (such as the unrealistic arrest of a wealthy and important man like Robert)
Yet I don't consider this series a disaster across the board as I didn't despise the music or certain acting performances. I think this series is a waste of an interesting idea in favor of the usual dramatic sob story with no meaning or some intriguing subtext.
The biggest flaw of the entire series is the lack of well-constructed and contextualized drama. In my opinion this defect is due to a lack of knowledge and poor exploitation of the historical period. there is an idea that is not very solid and confusing, and the intent to entertain becomes more important instead of telling. dramas exist because they are an end in themselves as is the drama of the characters. In short, the story is not sad and dramatic because it shows a difficult reality, but it is so because it claims to be. It is didactic, theatrical, exaggerated, a hyperbole of actions and events constructed on the drawing board.
Despite the romantic moments, the idea that could have been very interesting, the actors who aren't even that bad and the various potentials, this series remains easy, bland, and full of errors and historical inaccuracies.
The issue of homosexuality is treated by these characters as if they were in 2023 and no more than 100 years ago. It is overlooked that at times it was considered an illness, and a happy ending like what they present is not only inaccurate but it is a big fuck you to all those homosexuals who really lived in those times and who suffered from it.
There are plenty of errors and inaccuracies and I won't be here to tell them all, the fact is that you can watch what you want but have a bit of critical sense instead of being carried away only by emotion, especially if you make a judgment
The love story and the two Main character:
In 12 episodes we follow the story of Jom and Yai and in the end we realize that we know nothing about them: we know about Jom that he is an architect, has a sister and had a bastard boyfriend. But then? We don't know what other interests he has, what ideas he has about the world or what ideas he is having about the era in which he finds himself.
We don't know what things scare him, what he loves and what he hates. We don't know the most important thing: what he wants.
Do he want to return to the present? We don't know because he never gets homesick. Do he want to stay there? We don't know because he never shows that he's feeling neither good nor bad, but he makes whatever happens to him go well.
He certainly becomes fond of Yai but doesn't seem to have any scruples about his situation.
In short, what does he want and what does he need?
And Yai?
We know that he grew up in luxury, that he suffered pressure from his father that led him not to decide about his life, that he has a more open mind than his family, as well as a kind nature.
But beyond that? What is his relationship with his family? Have her ever felt different because of his open and modern mentality?
What relationship does Yai have with his sister ? Do they get along or not? And it's not enough that he's worried about her because of her husband, because that's the least.
What is his relationship with Robert? Do he hate him, feel intimidated, admire him, respect him?
We barely know shit about Yai. What does Yai want?
If his father had let him take his own path independently, what would he have done? What does he like to do, what are his interests?
We see that he is a great reader and scholar, but of what? Literature, journalism, history, economics, science? What do you always read?
We might say he desires Jom, but why? Why this boy who he barely knows and not Ming, who has been working for him longer, who certainly knows him better, who is an even better servant than Jom (since he knows how to distill liquor, he is brave in taking the whippings in place of the mother.
We discover later that he dreams of traveling and going to France "where there are many thinkers and writers, strikes and debates" he couldn't say more vague things. However, it makes sense that you dream of France, given that in Thai history the English and French were the main exporters of culture and trade. Then, why doesn't his father allow him to travel? To expand his knowledge and therefore enrich his future? Nothing makes sense...
The relationship of the two protagonists is based on little or nothing, because if we were to think about it we wouldn't be able to say what the foundations on which their love was built are. What we see and perceive, to be honest, is that these two are together out of pure physical attraction, and nothing else is apparent. the few things we know about them they never share, they limit themselves to kissing, caressing and hug Nothing else.
The Ambience:
Throughout the entire series, there is zero attention to detail. A lack of care that undermines the pleasantness and naturalness of the narrative.
The things that happen are sometimes so forced precisely because of this flaw.
To. Ex. When Yai's sister and her servant are discovered together it's because they had the brilliant idea of sleeping together in the same bed without closing the door. Instead of having been due to a fatality. Or yai and jom being caught in the garden holding hands. All of this is idiotic, it's a gigantic stretch that makes these characters seem like morons, imprudent and impulsive. Which they are not describe be like. But not only on a narrative level is there an absurd carelessness, but also in the staging.
A trivial example: a servant is serving the meal at the table of her masters who are arguing. she not only listens to what they are saying but intervenes in the discussion by interrupting his service. Now, this is an example of how in this series there is very little and intolerable documentation for a historical series, as a simple search is enough to understand that a servant would never have dared such behavior. The servants had the task of being noticed as little as possible, not to bother and to be invisible under penalty of severe punishment.
In conclusion:
I could still discuss a lot about the lack of depth of any character, the emptiness of our protagonist who never demonstrates his profound detachment of mentality from the people he meets, the lack of evolution of his character from the first to the last episode do not show that much has changed, the vagueness with which everything is treated, the flatness of certain choices in storytelling which are completely unfounded on a historical level (such as the unrealistic arrest of a wealthy and important man like Robert)
Yet I don't consider this series a disaster across the board as I didn't despise the music or certain acting performances. I think this series is a waste of an interesting idea in favor of the usual dramatic sob story with no meaning or some intriguing subtext.
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