Thibaan × BNK48 (2020)

Thibaan × BNK48: Directed by Surasak Pongsorn. With Natruja Chutiwansopon, Warattaya Deesomlert, Jiradapa Intajak, Nuttawut Sanyabut. In order to come up with new music, a girl music group has to go to live in the countryside. By putting aside their city lives, perhaps life in the countryside can prove inspirational and help the girl band to produce a fresh, new sound.

“Oh, forget the half-baked anti-war, mom-son melodrama revolving around a home and a barricade during the 1871 Commune uprising, u0026quot;On the Barricadeu0026quot; is more interesting for how the shots are composed, framed–or barricaded. The name of the game in this production was clearly to make small spaces appear less confined. Paradoxically, this was achieved by confinement and cluttered layers, theatrically in the settings and cinematographically by the tight camera positioning and fluid continuity editing.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eNot every film by Alice Guy and her production crew at Gaumont could be made on the order of their passion play u0026quot;La Vie du Christu0026quot; (1906), after all. Reportedly, Guy nearly lost her job for that budgetary boondoggle, with its two-dozen-or-so robust sets and many more extras laying the foundation for an exploration of deep-focus photography. u0026quot;On the Barricade,u0026quot; however, is almost as compelling, for its creation of space within far more limited confines. A backdrop seen through the door window of the mom and sonu0026#39;s home (represented as one room) adds the illusion that thereu0026#39;s a street setting behind what is surely a studio construction. The effect is furthered by exterior street views of the barricade and another shot of a militia rounding a fenced corner. The barricade set, too, is framed by the camera position at a tight side angle so as to not require much of a makeshift wall. Additionally, besides the eleven shots, there are four title cards, which were becoming increasingly common in films by then. u0026quot;On the Barricadeu0026quot; may not be revolutionary, but itu0026#39;s quite resourceful.”