Film Analysis Essay on Bad Genius

Synopsis: Lynn is a genius high school student who makes money by helping others cheat in exams. Suddenly, she is assigned a new task that requires her to travel to Sydney, Australia. In order to complete the millions-Baht task, Lynn and her classmate have to finish the international STIC (SAT) exam and deliver the answers back to her friends in Thailand, before the exam takes place once again in her home country.

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Review

From directing countdown and the library, Nattawut brings yet another adrenaline filled and suspenseful drama on the big screens. This film combines renowned cast and a couple of new faces. After a stream of academic achievements, Lynn, earns a scholarship which sends her to a top prestigious school. Lynn is befriended by and academically challenged Grace who's good-natured. Lynn offers to help Grace by leaking answers to her during the tests. Grace's rich Boyfriend also asks for assistance from Lynn in exchange for monetary gains. At first, Lynn was reluctant but later she agrees upon finding out that the school deducts her father's modest salary. To aid in cheating, she devises a method of using hand signal based on piano practices. This cheating doesn't go for long as she gets exposed by her fellow student bank. This leads to suspension of her scholarship as well as her chance to apply for scholarships to study in international universities.

Pat and Grace ask for Lynn's assistance in the STIC exam, a standardized test used for university admissions. In exchange, she is promised millions of Baht. Lynn knows that the plan would never work if Bank was not involved. As fate may have it, Bank gets attacked by thieves and he misses the exam, which prompts him to join Lynn in the quest. Bank and Lynn planned to travel to Sydney and take the exam before their colleagues after which they would send them the answers. In Sydney, they both complete the first section of the exam but Bank gets caught before finishing up due to increased anxiety. In one way or another, Lynn manages to pull through the scheme and avoids getting caught. Finally after the scheme succeeds, guilt creeps upon Lynn and she decides to confess to her father. The twists and turns, betrayals and suspense make this film worth watching. The cast of the film are young and relatively in experienced. Most of the people in the cast haven't had any major film roles. Lynn's father is the only veteran who has participated in other films. Due to lack of experience, the cast was subjected to a training workshop months before the movie was shot. Filming location was mainly in Thailand, with 30% taking place in Sydney, Australia. Shooting in Australia was more challenging than in Thailand due to the restriction in the filming times. In directing the film, Nattawut was inspired by 1970s thrillers such as the conversation and the Parallax view. The film's initial release date was 3rd of May 2017 in Thailand. Later on it was released internationally and other parts of east and Southeast Asia. The film's script was developed by Nattawut with a little help from Tanida Hantaweewatana and Vasudhorn Piyaromna and it took one and a half years to be completed. The concept was developed in a Hollywood-like thriller but it was customized for the Thai audience. Trying to come up with a concept of students taking an exam can prove to be boring. This is one of the challenges encountered by the script developers.

The film won in 12 categories of 27th Suphannahong National Film Award that was held in Thailand. This film dominated in areas such as the Best picture, Best actor and actress, Best director and the Best screenplay.

An Overview of Thailand

Bad Genius is a film that originated and filmed in Thailand. It is important to explore the socio-cultural, political and the everyday life of the people in Thailand. Thailand is a country centrally positioned in the Southeast of Asia. The nation is characterized by a diverse ecosystem, made up of a tropical climate and vast fertile rice fields. The country's culture has been evolving continually over time. The Chinese, Burmese and Indians confer a significant influence on Thai's culture. In addition, Buddhism and westernization have played a major role in influencing this culture. On a religious point of view, Thailand is mainly composed of Buddhists. Buddhism draws its influence from the strong traditional beliefs in the ancestral and natural spirits. Most people have spirit houses incorporated into their households as they believe spirits are part of them. These spirits are offered food and drinks to appease them due to the belief that annoying them could lead to chaos in the households. This country has embrace art and creativity. Literature in Thailand draws inspiration from the Indian Hindu culture. Art was in various forms such as images, dance, music and paintings. The country's music is mainly of the classical and folk music traditions such as the Piphat. Music was played with various instruments such as the drums and traditional guitars. In terms of sports, it's important to note that kickboxing is a signature sport that originated from Thailand. This type of boxing involves the use of kicks, knuckles, punches and elbow strikes. This form of sport has earned the country a lot of medals in the Olympic Games. In terms of holidays, the most celebrated is the Thai New Year, popularly known as the Songkran. This ceremony is observed on the 13-15th of April annually and it involves intense water throwing due to the hot climate at that time. The national elephant day is also widely celebrated in Thailand. This ceremony is held on March 13th and it aims at appreciating the importance of elephants to the Thai people.

Conclusion

This film is captivating and interesting to watch given its good reviews and the accolades it has won. This film helps in depicting the rich culture and talent present in Thailand. The themes and messages brought out in the film indicate that some vices such as cheating are not ethical. Cheating for monetary gains is a representation of the corrupt class dominated by the politicians. The socio-cultural, political and everyday lives of the Thai people have also been explored in the paper. These people have a rich culture that is influenced by Buddhism and westernization. Thailand embraces various forms of art such as music, dancing and games such as kick-boxing.