Dir. Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit
Minimalism: an art movement that began in postāWorld War II Western art, most strongly with American visual arts in the 1960s and early 1970s
KonMari Method: encourages tidying by category ā not by location ā beginning with clothes, then moving on to books, papers, komono (miscellaneous items), and, finally, sentimental items. Keep only those things that speak to the heart, and discard items that no longer spark joy. (source: https://shop.konmari.com/pages/about)
āwe have to choose whatās really best for ourselves.ā
Happy Old Year is a movie about Jean (Aokbab Chutimon) and her plans to declutter her home and make the house minimalistic after returning home from Sweden. after her friend, Pink (Patcha Kitchaicharoen) stumbled upon an old CD that she gave Jean back then as a gift, Jean returns all the stuff that her friends from college gave her as gifts or simply lended her. Jean then stumbles upon an ex-boyfriendās belongings, and starts reminiscing about the past again. the movie ends with a new home for Jean, her brother Jay (Thirawat Ngosawang), and her mother (Apasiri Chantrasmi).
this movie gives me nostalgia and i donāt know why? like, it reminds me of all the memories of the people and the fun times we had back then and how i took all of that for granted. shouldāve enjoyed and made the most of it, maybe iāll feel a little better when i think about it. but eh, these memories make us learn and help us try and improve ourselves
i honestly thought that Jean and Aim (Sunny Suwanmethanont) were going to get back together again after they meet. sadly, it isnāt really that easy for adults to do so, given the circumstances. Jean was just.. emotionally off? i donāt know how its specifically called but she puts up this strong, not-easy-to-break-down front in front of her old friends. it was honestly so sad when she āexplainedā to Pink why she had to throw the gift away.
of course, its normal that we have to declutter at some point and throw away our things when theyāre not functional anymore. but come on, did she have to do that to her friend? if someone were to throw away a gift i gave them, iād be so offended and sad too. but then again, weāre not really entirely responsible for someoneās feelings. BUT ALSO, its somehow an unwritten rule that we keep that gift and use it.. until its not usable/functional anymore. i donāt know where iām going with this but letās show the people who gave us gifts that weāre thankful and content with what theyāve given us.
moving on, its so sad how Jeanās mother hasnāt moved on from their father. it was so sad how the piano was the last memory she had of him- heās not dead, just divorced, and Jean just sold it off to an antique collector. honestly, she couldāve continued using it and still make it look minimalistic. but also, it could be her way to make her brother and her mother move on, since it looks like there were a lot of problems caused by him, which caused a lot of emotional distress on Jean.
personally, its fitting that we get rid of the things that hurt us and that we stray away and cut ties from the people that cause us distress. what Jean did to Aim was just so sad though. like she was literally using the KonMari method on her life also, which was frustrating !! during the movie, i was semi-frustrated because i was wondering why she just let it all go so easily. iād like to do the same, but iām such a memory hoarder that itāll be hard for me. clearly, Aim still loved Jean, and decided that maybe getting rid of all his memories of Jean would also help him move on, sadly, it feels like Jean still has feelings for him too, but decides not to act on it since.. KonMari method?
anyways, other than the nostalgic feel this film has. its actually so sad how much we change as we get older. from what iāve watched, it seems like as we get older, we lose this sense of seeking for fun and enjoyment, to try and experience new things and instead just accept he fact that weāre indeed getting older and its something that we canāt really control. personally, it would be best if we kept enjoying life and romanticize it a little, kind of like a coming of age film.
i used to want to be like Jean, to get rid of the things i donāt need, to cut ties with the people that have hurt me in the past, but doing so is just so hard. because we still have good memories of this person or this object, which leads us to thinking, āit looks okay, this still might be useful in the future.ā or āthings might get better, iāll keep this for now.ā and end up keeping it, only to stumble upon it a few months later and realize that it doesnāt really have any use anymore.
in conclusion, i really liked this one! we may make bad decisions sometimes and itāll take a long time before we even realize it, but it teaches us a lesson to do better next time. i think this movie also teaches us to let go of the things that hurt us but also keep the things that we love and cherish.
also, look! a list! its the one in the film heheh
Step 1: Set your goals and find inspiration.
Step 2: Donāt reminisce the past.
Step 3: Donāt feel too much.
Step 4: Donāt waver. Be heartless.
Step 5: Donāt add more things.
Step 6: Donāt look back.