As a film, I found "Eternity", or "Chuafa Dinsalai", to be a good piece of storytelling, with several angles to praise. As a hidden political manifesto, this film is as shameless and self-righteous as those in Thailand who resist democratic changes at the point of destroying it today. Watching it is indeed a balancing act. This is a story of love, lust, and betrayal to the extreme. An adorable nephew lost himself in a blind love of his uncle's new and young wife, and received a brutal and inhuman punishment that eventually drives him insane. That is, of course, a straight story. Now, what is hidden as a political agenda indeed deepens. This is a critique to Thailand's class divide. The film director, a descendant of Thailand's royal family himself, tries to point out the decaying and disgust of "the room upstairs". The wealthy Papo represents power and control of the past, while his well-read nephew is all for knowledge and modernity. Between these two men, there is this young, beautiful, lustful, but well-educated, Madame Yupadee playing a dangerous game of forbidden romance with her husband's beloved nephew, who is almost a son to him. Yupadee, knowingly or not, represents an accelerating force of change in any society. She pushes, forces, and influences the breaking of ranks, as she is incapable of stopping herself from doing so. The result is pure disaster, and the total collapse of an old order. What most audience fail to realize is the devious way this is done. Papo, who is presented as cruel and black-hearted, is not even a Thai. He is introduced as a Burmese. This is the director's way of critiquing the Thai elites and at the same time rescuing them as crimes are committed by someone outside Thailand. If you care to understand why Thailand is in such a mess now, as the demigod King Bhumibol is dying, you just watch this film. Crimes have been exposed, but criminals manage to get away, even in death bed. "Eternity" is a beautifully-shot and well-told film. Just enjoy it. Do not take all the political craps it forces down your throat.
