tin mine

this long weekend, i opted to stay within the confines of my fine home. naturally, i ran out of noteworthy things to do, leaving me with endless hours of channel surfing. fortunately, destiny cable has just added an all asian film channel, screen red asia, which provided fresh, pulsating and delightful flicks.

the tin mine was the first film i saw. this is the story of archin panchaphon, who after getting expelled from the university, was sent away by his father in southern thailand. there he found the tin mine of muang rae. with a recommendation letter, he applied for a job but found only manual labor. not wanting to be taken wrongly, he accepted the offer. from then on, a once in a lifetime 4-year journey greeted archin. in the tin mine, he encountered different people: the boss who taught him the value of self-worth, hardwork and enjoyment; uncle, from whom archin learned to let go of the regrets of yesteryears; kai, the childlike friend and assistant; cocksure supervisor who knew when to give up and move on; the store owner, who took to various gimmicks to fire up his business, among many others. all these interesting characters provided good flavor to the movie, which was told in chapters of freshman, sophomore, junior and senior years.

this was thailand's official entry to the oscar foreign language category in 2010. although it was not included in the final five, the movie was well-received locally and in some international screenings. some critics said that the movie lacked emotional depth. but for me, it provided just enough heart and soul. it was a completely delightful story of someone's last days of youth, which in an asian's case would normally be a little bit earlier. the movie touched on everyday issues of making the most out of your measly income, valuing even the most unexpected friendships and letting go of a lost love. ultimately, archin's experiences in the tin mine shaped the man he turned out after his 4-year odyssey as higher and deeper knowledge will not be learned just by achieving one's university diploma.