John Tawasil writes about Patiparn Boontarig‘s ‘Solids By The Seashore’. The film is part of the Asian Next Wave competition at the QCinema International Film Festival 2023.
Shati (Ilada Pitsuwan) works in an art gallery in a quiet seaside town. We first see her putting on a hijab as part of her daily routine. Her parents ask her when she’s getting married, eventually taking matters into their own hands and setting her up with the son of a family friend. Faisal (Khalid Midam). Her life seems set, though throughout the film there are pictures of restraint, of barriers in the sea, of birds in cages.
Her life is upturned when she meets Fon (Rawipa Srisanguan), an artist who comes to the gallery to present an exhibition based and set on the sea. It turns out that the barriers aren’t as beneficial as what the authorities that put them up may think. “What constrains us, erodes us,” she tells Shati. Feelings deep inside Shati begin to grow, feelings that run counter to her set life.
Solids on the Seashore is occasionally punctuated by Malick-esque scenes of sea life and other abstract things, as if the feelings burgeoning within Shati is being pulled from some supernatural force. When her feelings finally blossom, it culminates in a scene that feels so tactile, so intimate, yet so restrained at the same time.
Unlike other similar films, the film makes Shati’s choice not so clear cut; for all intents and purposes Faisal seems like a decent man, and it looks like if they did get married, their marriage would not be a troubled one. After laying bare Shati’s feelings, director Patiparn Boontarig leans on magical realism, trying to reflect the dual yearnings for a life where one floats along the waves and one where one simply lets the waves crash into them.
This review first appeared on Present Confusion
