A TALE OF A THOUSAND STARS – 2021 – Thailand

BLISS Rating: ★★★★

“Do you know what is much harder than apologizing?” “Forgiving yourself” – Quote form A Tale of a Thousand Stars

In terms of cinematography, this series is outstanding. It is filmed in a remote village in northern Thailand with its scenic beauty a wonder to behold. Its detail to local architecture is authentic and a wonderful change from the usual college setting of most Thai BL series. But this is yet another Thai BL series for me that just makes it almost to the top of the mountain (literally) but never quite reaches its pinnacle. There is just something about this series that did not work for me. I know, I know. I am in a minority here, but it looks good, well-acted, very handsome leads, interesting story, but just falls flat for me. It should have worked but perhaps it was the lack of cohesiveness in the story that made me feel very little about this series. I could not get over its incongruities. I know my thinking in this case is perhaps myopic, but the story has to feel real and genuine for me to fall in love with it. And that it just did not do. Do not misunderstand. I liked this series; I just did not fall in love with it. 

While the story is simple enough, it gets convoluted and sometimes gets lost in the weeds. It is a story about a rich kid named Tian, played so beautifully by (I believe) a newcomer in acting Sahaphap Wongratch (Mix). More about him later, but he quite literally is this series. He so impressed me that I could not help but to be drawn to him. He is stunningly handsome and has a natural quality about his acting that makes his character so real. Initially he is a spoiled, pampered, indulgent rich son who is smothered by his family and therefore looks at life with a devil-may-care attitude. He knows his life will be short as he has a bad heart. The only thing that would save his life is a heart transplant and as the fates would have it, he receives one from a young female named Torfun, played quite softly but brilliantly by Sarunchana Apisamaimongkol (Aye). She is struck down by a car in a racing contest ironically connected to Tian. Torfun is an ordinary individual who has had a difficult life growing up but became a volunteer teacher in a small mountain village in northern Thailand. She has come back to Bangkok and is tragically struck down. 

Tian investigates whose heart does he have and how it came to be and realizes he now is both directly and indirectly connected to Torfun forever. Tian, under tremendous personal guilt and maybe because of a sense of an unaccomplished life, feels the need to fulfill some of the dreams and aspirations of Torfun after discovering her diary. In essence, her diary becomes his life’s cookbook and in it are the recipes for trying to find peace, forgiveness, redemption, and a deeper appreciation of life and the gift he has been given. Tian’s journey to finding himself is at times beautiful and he tries to break the shackles of control that his parents have over him. Along the way, he does find out about himself and what he discovers is perhaps not as redeeming as he once thought it could be. He starts to find peace and a contentment in the village as the new volunteer teacher and begins to understand why Torfun was drawn to this mountain village. His inner self awakens, and he realizes that there are individuals and people far worse off than him as he tries to help. Sometimes, successfully; sometimes not, but always with good intensions.

In this quest, he is drawn to Chief Phupha, played by Pirapat Watthanasetsiri (Earth). Chief Phupha is head of the security for this region and is essentially assigned to watch over Tian. But something happens and what may have started out as an assignment morphs into a deep connection on so many levels with another human being named Tian. 

And this becomes their journey to finding out about their connection. There are many bumps and stumbles along the way and the story concentrates so much on these pitfalls that it loses sight of what the real story is. And that is part of my confusion. Is it a story mainly about self-discovery? Or is it a love story? In this case, it cannot be both as the story does not fulfill either goal for me. Tian is racked with guilt as he gets to know this beautiful mountain community and the impact Torfun had on it. While he understands that he can also affect this community in positive terms, it just heightens his own sense of guilt as to part he played contributing to the death of Torfun. 

When he finally confesses what happened to Torfun, the story is incomplete with the consequence that the community shuns him not so much for what he did but for his dishonesty. His torturous road to winning their respect is a difficult one and it requires him to make sacrifices. Self-forgiveness becomes allusive. 

If this story had stuck to one of redemption and love, it would have been perfect. But it veered off into weird tangents that made no sense. Let me list some of them that are incongruous with the theme of this series. The whole business with the smuggler was superfluous and simply added artificial drama where none was needed. The insufferably slow development of their relationship is a standard apparently for Thai BL series. But in this case, it was somewhat torturous. Why does it take so long to intensify when everybody around them, including us, know what their relationship is? Although Tian is a volunteer, he seemed to have no sense of direction or curriculum of what to teach these children. That is impossible and unacceptable. I know this is a technical issue for me as a former educator, but it simply ‘wing-it’ is unacceptable and insulting to students you are trying to teach. They deserved more than that. The last time I was in school, it mostly centered around academics. Education is STILL one of the only ways to get out of poverty or improve oneself or to know and sense the wonders of the world. This should have been a priority. 

The twist in which his father knew where he was and asked Phupha to watch him yet again made the story convoluted and artificial as well as totally unnecessary. Stories like this should be natural, organic. Tian is in a world unfamiliar to him. You do not need to add artificiality to this. Growth is going to come in natural ways or failure on its own. Tian shows tremendous growth in finding out who he is and what he wants to do except for his continued inability to deal with his parents. Here he is remaining the passive, obedient son who is still afraid of his parents.

Why? You are an adult; start acting like one. Just once, I would like to see some growth in breaking with cultural norms and traditions for the betterment of the individual. Not merely to placate the wishes of the family. (I realize this might be an American ethnocentric way of thinking, but I do not understand how one understands the need to be yourself in all other areas except for those with family). 

The whole wedding scene in which Phupha knows that Tian is there but does nothing to communicate is yet another staple of Thai BL series. He came to see you and you him but will not make a move to share your feelings. Yet another example of the lack of growth of the character named Phupha. This is NOT due to bad acting; just a bad screenplay. Why is it that there seems to be one character able to make strides in their development while another remains rigidly unable to grow, even a little? While the scenes with the children were sometimes cute, they seemed more like window dressing. It all seemed so episodic and a little too much like “The Sound of Music’.

But the scene that really drove me off the cliff of wanting to scream is at the airport. Chief Phupha finally comes to see Tian off and in their confession of caring deeply for each other and professing to wait for each other, the best that could be mustered is a kiss on the forehead! Really? Honestly? I completely understand that I am NOT the target audience and there are different cultural norms working against one another, but I shall continue to speak out when these series deliberately go out of their way to NOT show even a small gesture of love between two men when it is called for. And in this case, it was called for. Tian will be gone for two years and the best you can muster is a kiss on the forehead! I am done with this timidity. It is time for everyone to realize that these are love stories and some romantic gestures are needed. If this were a ‘straight’ romantic series, can you imagine the look of puzzlement on audiences faces if there was not one minimal romantic gesture of commitment until the end when the last scene is a kiss on the forehead? This was disappointing and yet again continues to foster the idea that somehow gay romance is still not ok to show and if shown, cannot be in public. And even in public, we certainly do not want the family to see.

When Tian comes back to the village after a two-year absence, the children look the same which is inherently flawed logically. In two-years’ time, children would have changed and should have looked and been different. Whether it was simply an affectation of Earth or written into the script, but one thing he did that just drove me bonkers was the constant sighing of his. It was so distracting and sometimes incredibly annoying. The man is nearly flawless in handsomeness, but that constant sighing became quite unattractive. These flaws distracted me to the point that I had a hard time getting involved in the story.

Who really S.T.O.L.E. the series? While there were several candidates to consider, this was still relatively easy for me. The Doctor, played so convincingly by Krittanai Arsalprakit (Nammon) deserves an honorable mention. He of all the characters showed a consistency in depiction and a steadfastness to what the character was. He saw what was evident and did not hesitate to try and provide direction without sounding moralistically correct. He was intuitive and inquisitive enough to see the whole picture before drawing conclusions. He tried to have Tian and the Chief ‘see’ each other as they were without being authoritative. His character was certainly pivotal to this series. But the individual who hands down is central to this tale is Tian played by Mix. He did a remarkable job in the presenting the multifaceted aspects of who Tian was. He needed to show vulnerability, guilt, pain, and responsibility and you can see each of those expressions on his face. His growth from being a passive guilt-ridden individual initially to holding his own and in essence letting Phupha know who he is and what he wanted out of this relationship showed strength and growth and in a sense the beginning of his own self-forgiveness. This was a remarkable role in that the depth of character development had to be subtle yet palpable. He also had to convey all the time that life for him was a gift, and he was given a second chance with death staring him in the face constantly. The nuance of his performance is remarkable and worthy of tremendous praise. To say that I was moved by his portrayal of Tian would be an understatement. He gave this character life, a reflection of humanity, and a remarkable sense of realism. Well done!

I know this review is all over the map and perhaps makes little sense. This series simply tried too hard to get us to like it. It certainly tugged at our heartstrings. It had all the right elements – children, poverty, bad-guys, redemption, guilt, and a stab at romance. And many, many people certainly liked this series. But it all felt so empty to me, and I felt manipulated. I know that is what stories are supposed to do but I wanted and needed to feel something – a strong connection, something relatable, an emotional link. I simply just did not get it. I usually pay little attention to musical scores in these series but in this case, the music score did enhance this series a lot. If it were not for the musical score and for the intense emotional scenes from Mix, I am not sure much of this series would have triggered any emotional responses in me. (As a note to self, Mix knows how to cry which might sound silly but is an important tool for eliciting emotional responses from me. They were not crocodile tears either).

A masterpiece? Nope. A great story? Well no. A good story, sure. I do wish it were more though.