BLISS RATING: ★★★★+
“If the whole world judges him, we need to stand by his side. That is what family needs to do. Accept. Understand. And stand by his side.” – Quote from Love In The Moonlight
This is not so much a BL as it is a Lakorn and honestly, an exceptionally good one at that. I found myself completely engaged in these characters and what was happening. Truthfully, it has been a long time since I felt ‘good’ about watching a Thai series, but this one was exceptional and almost made it to my top 10 list. Almost. Some aspects of this series just could not be overlooked as it deflated what was otherwise an exceptional mythos for a change. Indeed, it sure is a soap opera-ish saga but the story line captures you from the beginning. Although the plot is your standard rather cliché-driven formatted subject matter, because of the enveloping acting, it excites your attention. It presented several unique factors that made watching hypnotic. While the premise is ubiquitous, it presented the evolvement with vicissitude to make the story compelling.
The city of Chansaeng, which has been ruled by royalty for some time, will be turned over to the republic of Nanta within 6 months for governance. However, a military coup takes place in Nanta, and now all royal wealth will be forfeited to the state. In a scramble to protect his wealth, Prince Kamfa (Nok Chatchai) forces his son Prince Saenkaew (Peak Peemapol) into an arranged marriage with a pretentious but destitute family in Thailand that has a sweet, but gullible adopted daughter named Pin (Perth Veerinsara). Although Saenkaew does not want to get married, he has little choice as it is his duty and obligation, and his father dominates him. Kamfa has discovered that Saenkaew is gay and now is desperately trying to ‘cure’ him of this affliction and to preserve honor and glory to the family name and its reputation. Marriage is a way he thinks will force Saenkaew to act normal. Meanwhile, Pin has never been fully accepted as a real daughter and has emotionally and no doubt psychologically been abused by her adopted parents for years. However, this arrangement suits everyone. Her family will benefit financially and Saenkaew’s family will be able to retain their wealth. While the title and wealth will be transferred over to Pin after they are married, as is customary, she will transfer it all back to Saenkaew’s family shortly after they are married. While Saenkaew is deeply upset with this arrangement, Pin is not necessarily so as she does know Saenkaew and has been romantically interested in him for a while.
Pin has a bohemian-style cousin by the name of Sasin (Pearl Satjakorn) who plays a violin and works in an alternative nightclub. Almost instantly upon meeting, there is a spark between them which simply cannot be extinguished. Even though they know it is wrong because Saenkaew must marry Pin and Pin is deeply falling in love with Saenkaew, the relationship between the two of them grows stronger without her knowing it. For sure, she senses something,an unusual closeness, but Pin is to a large extent a product of her time. Being the mid 60’s, she has been exceedingly controlled by family and has not yet matured to appreciate that she does not have to accept everything that they tell her what to do and what others may suggest she has to do with her life. She still feels as if she does not matter.
Saenkaew does everything he can to try and stop or at least thwart the marriage to further stop hurting Pin, but to no avail. At every turn, his father manages to find out his next move and his father will go to any length, including killing Sasin if necessary, to make sure the marriage takes place.
Also thwarting the efforts not only of Saenkaew and Kamfa is Kamfa’s younger brother Inthra (Nut Devahastin) and his wife Songsawat (Suzana Renaud). Unfortunately, here is where the story wavers. These two, while entertaining intermittently, end up being caricatures and act more like buffoons than serious individuals. At times, it almost became cringeworthy to watch them and how their antics were handled. It was not believable or plausible and frankly deflated the quality of this series considerably. In the end, however, Songsawat, does become instrumental in having a significant but gruesome role in getting poetic justice if not revenge, disturbing though it may be.
Who really S.T.O.L.E. this series? Let us put it all out there. There is one who deserves all the accolades and attention. And that is Perth Veerinsara as Pin. I have seen my fair share of supporting performers outshine protagonists in series, but none better than her. She is remarkable and was able to capture a deeply complex individual with such astonishing conviction. We see it through her facial expressions and emotional conveyances. Essentially, an individual who was and is beaten down by her family, and society in generally, she has done exactly what she has been told all her life. Yet, never ever getting anything she has wanted and no one ever recognizing her needs or desires let alone considering her at all. Everyone made decisions for her – except herself. This marriage to the person she loved the most was her ticket out. Yet, she felt unconditionally betrayed when she saw and realized that who Saenkweaw wanted and loved; it was not her but her own cousin, Sasin. She was angry, hurt, humiliated, and destroyed. We saw in the moment a turning point where she went from a girl to a woman. And she was going to get, finally, what she strived for. Control. I perfectly identified with Pin. For me, she is this series. Perth’s performance could and no doubt did solicit a wide range of emotions in people watching. I completely understood her and her actions, and never once did I think she was a ‘bad’ person. Frankly, what she did at the end for Saenkaew and Sasin is beyond nobleness. It was a sign of pure love and acceptance and a growth from being a milquetoast to a woman of veracity, honor, and righteousness. We saw all of that come to life in a performance that for me was simply nothing short of superb. She showed an unmitigated understanding of who Pin was – not just from a sense of weakness but of strength as well. A remarkable transition and transformation that made ‘Pin’ a most authentic character. One that we could also admire and respect. I could not stop watching her even if I wanted to.
The acting left me feeling empty at times. Some of the other supporting performers were also just outstanding as well while others tended to be a bit tropey and mundane. Peak Peemapol as Saenkaew was, for the most part, focused while not as deep as perhaps as I think he could have gone. I know that sounds and seems counterintuitive as he had so many emotional scenes; they just did not always play out as consistently as I thought they should. For example, if you cry, it must seem and be real (which was always the case with Perth Veerinsara). That was not always the case. I look and crave genuineness in those scenes. There were way too many scenes with ‘crocodile tears’. Pearl Satjakorn as Sasin had similar issues. Emotional scenes were not always consistent nor honestly deep. I also found their scenes together not as dynamic as I thought they could have been. I felt and saw slight hesitancy in being intimate with one another. This is a deeply, deeply emotionally-charged series that, at least for me, fell flat in the passionate scenes between them (maybe just slightly but noticeably) that should have come across as more intense.
The production of this series is some of the best I have seen. The costumes, sets, ambience especially in the bar were spectacularly spot on. Those were some first-rate production values. As to the storyline, it got a little too tropey to be honestly believable, which took away from it being more impactful. While the story build-up was good, it dragged on to a point where I was getting jaded. The relationship between Sasin and Saenkaew, while sweet, did tend to get overloaded with cliches. I also found the antagonists were always conveniently ‘there’ in the right place at the right time, making it truly a lakorn. That just does not happen in real life.
Outside of the obvious ‘bad’ individuals in this series, one is hard pressed to establish a blame here on individual actions. Sure, Kamfa is a wretched individual but deep-down, he honestly loved his son yet loved himself more along with his pride. Grandma needed to give him an honest lesson in life for him to finally understand who Saenkaew is. I am not excusing his behavior; merely explaining where he is in life. Pin is a complex individual who has never had a chance to live and in essence is a child wrapped up like a bow in a woman’s body; until she is confronted with an adult reality. And then her adulthood and womanhood explodes in an instant and she does not know how to handle it all. Sasin and Saenkaew are also sad figures, prone to do desperate acts to be together and clearly not thinking rationally. Saenkaew is a beaten-down suppressed and repressed young man, feeling helpless. Initially controlled by his father and then constrained by Pin with seemingly no way to escape; he is a man close to giving up. Sasin, more spontaneous and thus freer, tended to deeply withdraw into himself, sometimes dangerously so. The ending, however, while satisfying to be sure, is just a bit too sanitized and Pollyanna to be completely believable, especially for that period of time (the 60’s).
Nonetheless, I loved this series a lot. It is entertaining, thought-provoking, and full of moral quandaries that cannot easily be judged. Some central characters are clearly nefarious while others are immorally complicit and still others are sad products of the times in which they lived. All, however, are managed or affected by greed in some way, shape, or form. This story is equally as much about greed as it is about love. As Pin aptly put it, possessing does not necessarily mean love will be returned.
The title of this series has significant meaning as you will find out and is one of the tenets to watch for. There is great tenderness, compassion, and love in this saga that will perhaps make you more happy than sad. So, enjoy!
This easily could be in your top 10 list for this year and I would honestly understand that choice.
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