“The story of Net” is a new feature film from the acclaimed danish filmmaker Lasse Nielsen. His name is guaranteed to ring a ball in most coming of age buffs out there – as he is the one who wrote and produced back in 1978. The new film of Nielsen is filmed in Thailand with local unprofessional cast and co-director Bancha Khemngeun who also have no previous film experience. Despite the lack of huge budget and fancy the film must have turned out quite well – judging from its trailer ( which you can also seen below ) . The camera work and the directing remind me a bit of the productions of Ivan Noel ( such as En Tu Ausensia ) and after reading the plot summery of ” The story of Net – I am myself quite excited and impatient to see this film. ( It will be released on DVD in 2010 )
“Orphaned by the death of his mother, 12-year-old Net arrives in a rural Thai village with a letter introducing him to his father – a father he never knew (and who never knew he had a son). Embarrassed in front of his new family, the father at first rejects Net, but gradually grows closer to the boy. Being deaf-mute does not hinder Net from other relationships in the village – both positive and negative. Thai boxing, gambling, first love, and a brief career with the local mafia all contribute to Net’s coming-of-age.” quote from the official trailer description
Admittingly my opinion of the new film of Lasse Nielsen is a bit biased as I am a huge fan of “Du Er Ikke Alene” . I know that there are at least 2 films directed by Lasse Nielsen – La os være ( a Danish Lord of the Flies ) and Måske ku vi – but have not been fortuned enough of see either one of them . Both have trailers on YouTube and I only hope that they will be released on DVD sometime in the near feature.
More information about the filming process can be seen on the official film page at Living Films
Lasse Nielsen official web page
The
Story of Net has been nominated in the 2011 International Filmmaker
Festival of World Cinema, The Story of Net will be screened here in the
UK at our UK festival during the festival 12th to 14th Of October,
I was lucky to see the movie, and it is one of the most beautiful film I have seen from Thailand.
Thank you for your informative comment Ian. I have no doubts that ” The nature of Net ” would be a good film. Budget rarely affects the quality of the productions – or at least that is my impression from the films I have seen. Some of the most touching performances I have seen have been delivered by newcomer actors . As about the interview with Lasse Nielsen – its almost done , most of it anyway I am just awaiting for him to answer to few additional questions I have received via the form which was available recently below the notice for the interview – I expect that the interview will be published in the next two weeks or so depending on when I get the responses from Lasse
I was fortunate enough to see this film develop from the early rushes to the finished film. As you say, low budget, but it features excellent performances from the Thai kids involved. The premise is interesting, and even those who know Thailand well will find lots of surprises.
La os vaere is very much a Danish lord of the Flies, but with girls as well as boys. Not that you can tell really because they all have long blond 70s hair.
Did you ever get to interview Lasse? He has lots of anecdotes about YANA.