HAPPY OLD YEAR FILM REVIEW

HAPPY OLD YEAR by Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit 

Film Critique by: Marimonte Shanelle Viduya

DESCRIPTION

    Minimalism. A buddhist philosophy about the art of letting go. The film "Happy Old Year" was shot in Thailand and depicts a modern aesthetic trend that are strongly tied to millennial living, all wrapped up in one magical word: minimalism. The movie is based on a close-up shot of Jean's memories from her past. Shots of white, clean, minimalistic spaces were used in the scenario.

The scene takes place in a modernist, concrete building, the exterior fits perfectly with her style however, the interior of the house is was very cluttered and was filled with materials and objects from the music school and instrument repair shop.

The narrative has a small cast of main and supporting characters. The main character, Jean, lives with her mother and brother, Jay. She spent a lot of time with her friend Pink in the start of the movie, who assisted her in her decluttering quest. Aim, her ex-boyfriend, was also present throughout the movie, as was his new girlfriend, Mi. The supporting characters in the film were Bam, Toey, Pin, Noon, Kork, and Yok. The plot centered around drama, romance and familial relationships.

The movie had a rather solemn and somber mood to it. The filmmaker did an excellent job of making the small moments and details matter. To emphasize on the camera work, the work with cinematography and the selections of pauses and frames showed a lot of depth and substance. The art of the mise-en-scene fits the performance on the screen in a real cinematic arrangement. The viewers' eyes are drawn to the scene's most crucial component by the blocking, lighting, and colors used in the movie. The cinematography of the picture displayed an equal amount of balance and simplicity. The use of space became both a broad subject and a visual indicator. The camera angles, sound effects, and other components all worked nicely together to convey Jean's character and her current situation. Furthermore, this film portrayed complicated emotions in a very simplistic style, with clean cuts and muted cinematography.

ANALYSIS

    Jean, who was interviewed about her experience studying interior design in Sweden and the rationale behind emulating the concept and intricacies of minimalism, is introduced in the movie. The film's director seizes little moments from her daily life and gradually weaves a plot that makes viewers care about the characters because they are easy to empathize with. In one scene, it also shows how Jean practices minimal living seen in the layout of her phone. 

Just like the minimalistic house and office Jean aims for, the camera follows her in a way where they pay special attention to details and the inner world of the characters in the plot.

Through Jean's journey of decluttering, her memories from the past starts to unveil. Jean begins by stating "Personally, I feel that the things we no longer need are unnecessary. We should throw them away." At first, Jean probably thought that this process would be very easy by just merely throwing all unnecessary objects in a trash-bag. 

But it was so much more to that. It depicted a cathartic, painful process that results in lovely memories, surprising feelings, and fresh perspectives. Jean declutters her life with a variety of complicated sensations of guilt, anguish, melancholy, and regrets in the process of reaching minimalism. Moving on entails more than simply throwing your belongings. It also entails addressing and confronting the ghosts that come along with it. It's not about avoiding the unpleasant portions of life sometimes, going forward takes a great deal of acceptance and absorption.

Achieving minimalism is not straightforward as throwing out things that don’t spark any joy. Maybe throwing things in a garbage bag might help, like what Marie Kondo’s principle says, “Out of sight, out of mind”. But along with decluttering comes the feelings attached to those things. 

INTERPRETATION

Happy Old Year covers all of the emotional highs and lows. Throughout the film, I felt as if I was taken on an emotional rollercoaster ride. As a way to escape from her painful past, Jean is on a mission to declutter her surroundings and opted to live a minimalistic life, hoping that in the process she would be free of the memories that still haunt her. Jean decided to let go and opted to live a minimalistic life.

She took solace in erasing her memories as she sells and returns the objects that formerly served as a bridge between all of her relationships from before. Jean created a list of steps on how to dump, but it didn't go as planned. Jean finds herself struggling halfway through the process. She was trapped in a battle between making room for memories and old connections. It is through this difficult process of letting go that she discovers what minimalism truly is.

    There are definitely a lot of scenes that were really interesting, insightful and meaningful. Disagreements and arguments were very evident in the film as well. Jean was portrayed as a selfish daughter, ex-girlfriend and friend. As if she didn't truly care about the feelings of the people around her. These scenes definitely cathartic emotions. But what really struck me the most was the ending.

My expectations were very different with how it really ended. Jean must have felt several emotions. She was free but at the same time trapped by the decisions she made. Changing one's life is a process and it's not an easy ride.

JUDGEMENT

    Personally, slow paced stories are not my cup of tea, but surprisingly I really enjoyed this film because it had great comic and emotional moments. The characters are well-developed as well as the side characters, which kind of left me with an almost personal involvement in the film. The film’s ending left me with an indescribable feeling. It’s a bittersweet revelation that not everyone can truly have a happy ending, even if we pretend that that’s the case. 

    This film is as heartbreaking as it is refreshing. Happy Old Year is a powerful film that I was able to relate to. Letting go is a very hard thing for me but I realized that it can also be very beneficial not just for me but to the people around me. Most people won't agree with my opinion, but I think that despite the fact that Jean seemed selfish, she did the right thing for herself. Everything may not have went as planned but with her decisions, it became much easier for her at the end.