Playboy and the Gang of Cherry (2017)

Fascinating and disturbing

I already expected that I would have to say more positive things about this movie than the previous reviewers. Disclaimer: I feel like there might be several versions of the movie out there, I watched the official one on GagaOOLala.

In short: I thought this movie was fascinating and somewhat disturbing, although not entirely satisfying.

Some background information on the movie would be helpful to better understand it. Sadly, I couldn’t find out a whole lot. I also don’t really know about the connections to “Bittersweet Chocolate”, as I have not seen that one. What I understood: the director wanted to pay tribute to classic Pink Films, a particular Japanese genre between art movie and porn. That’s also where the whole gangster/mafia background is derived from. Apart from some smaller Queer Film Festivals, the Movie had its probably most important screening at the Berlin Porn Film Festival, where they announced it as “probably one of this year’s most extreme movies” and explained that the director intended to portray a gay subculture obsessed with outdoor sex as well as a generation of women fascinated by gay sex. If anything, it can be derived from this background that the project was really ambitious. Most of it seems to have been done by the director himself in collaboration with his sister (?) and honestly, I am happy that there are talented actors like Gun Atthaphan out there willing to experiment with such projects, it really adds a lot.

Now, there are obviously things I did not like (or better: things I thought did not contribute in a positive way to the movie as a whole):
- The length. Two hours was way too long. If it had been filled with action (sex, torture, murder, whatever), I wouldn’t mind, but the overall pace of the movie was very slow. That is fine, but then you just need to cut it to a more digestible format. Many of the scenes could simply have been shortened, without cutting them completely, as they just went on for too long.
- The vagueness. By that I mean that there was a promising gangster story unfolding throughout the movie, but the hints given were too vague to understand it even in part. James and Mac had a talk about what? What deal did James and Cherry have? What happened to the drugs? Why did they keep Boy as a prisoner? The gang was dealing with drugs and offering sex work, but other than that the story did not explain any details.
- The character introductions. There were many interesting characters in the movie (and all actors were pretty good in their roles!), but the way they were introduced and how their screen time was split was really confusing. Gold Hair completely disappeared after the first scenes, James appeared rather randomly and Ladyboy and Big Boss were just thrown in somewhere.

But overall I did enjoy the movie. Positive aspects I would like to point out:
- The actors. As I said, they were all doing really well in their roles. Clearly, all of the characters had mental problems: Cherry was bipolar (and probably sexually frustrated), James a drug addict, Mac a BDSM addict, Boy was completely traumatised. I wish they had explored the Ladyboy and Gold Hair characters a bit more though. James got too little screen time, maybe because Gun did not agree to participate in more explicit scenes, but I really enjoyed his presence.
- The cinematography. The construction site was an amazing location for such a movie. The camera knew very well how to capture the scenery, both the buildings and the surrounding nature.
- The soundtrack. The strange drum beats during the explicit scenes and some interesting punk interludes fit very well with what was going on. The movie also wasn’t shy to work with long moments of silence.
- The story. Although I criticised its vagueness and its flawed character introductions, the overall messed-up story was fascinating. I think, with the few clear infos the audience receives, it can be condensed down to the fact that Mac was indebted with the mafia and worked for them as a prostitute. At the end he manages to quit and takes Boy with him, who he apparently fell for during his captivity, cutting ties also with the bad influence of his friend/partner (?) James. James probably kills Cherry for good and goes his own way (but he might also go after Mac and kill Boy as a witness of everything, who knows).

As I already said, I was not satisfied with the movie in the end. Less vagueness and better character introductions would have been great, and I also wouldn’t mind if it was even more “extreme” in some parts, that aspect wasn’t balanced very well. In any case, cutting it down to 90 minutes could work wonders. However, it is a movie that is ambitious, experimental, featuring good actors and giving a lot to think about. Definitely not for the mainstream, but I am thankful that such movies exist!

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I don't recommend this AT ALL.

While it may be an erotic movie (which is really obvious), the 'plot' they tried to put in was really bad, and didn't work at all. Honestly, I spend 2 hours watching this movie, and I still have no idea what was actually going on, besides some people almost being murdered and constant sex between multiple of the characters. Fighting one second, but having sex only a minute after that, was a really weird transition and I couldn't get a hold of whatever was going on.

I don't want to waste anymore of my time on writing this, since it really was that bad.

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First of all what the heck, I mean I'm so confused I have no idea what I just watched. The only reason I don't regret watching it was cause baby gun was in it. Even though I don't know why but every two seconds he would spit at the ground like wtf. The story line is so confusing did gun die did the cherry die, like what the heckkk. I seriously have no Idea what I just watched. It makes zero sense. Its such a let down as well cause they made us wait almost 2 years before they released it just to give us this confusing ass movie. The cast is pretty amazing don't get me wrong, I'm shocked that these talented actors even agreed to be in this mess of a movie. The sound track is the exact same as the last movie its quite boring but not the worse. I'm personally not going to be rewatching this anytime soon, its such a mess I'm sorry. Just for how long I waited for this movie for it to be this bad, its disappointing.

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Wow

Okay. I loved it. I’m not quite sure what I just watched, or exactly how the story all fit together, exactly... But I thought it was crazy, tragic, interesting and definitely not something you’ll see every day. I LOVE Gun, and was very surprised to see him in a film containing this subject matter. I am a big fan of “Sei no Gekiyaku“, and this film definitely delivered as well. It is definitely NOT for everyone. I thought the actors did a phenomenal job. The music was loud, and very jarring at times, but I think that added to the overall grittyness of the film. Again. Not for everyone. I don’t need the hate mail from people who hated it, and think I’m a freak for enjoying it. Everyone’s entitled to their own opinion, and this is mine! I think for people who are not faint of heart, and take into account this film contains multiple trigger-warning content, should check it out. You won’t forget it!

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THE GANG OF CHERRY: Playboy (Mac), James, Boy (the chained kid), Gold Hair and of course Cherry.

I'll summarize the movie then give my opinion.
Cherry is a bipolar lady who has a gang (in a deserted building) where Playboy and Gold Hair prostitute. James is an drug addict ( who in the movie "Bittersweet Chocolate" meets Playboy) who is the "trusted" of Cherry. Boy is Cherry's "sex instrument". James, Cherry and Gold Hair are in love with Playboy but Playboy is in love with Boy. James gets tired of Cherry and decides to betray her and free Playboy and himself (at the end, we don't know who finishes dead; James or Cherry) but Playboy leaves with Boy.
Lady Boy is Big Boss' "trusted" and "supervisor". The Man that at the end 'plays' with Playboy is Stranger (just a common client that somehow manages to know that Playboy has feelings for Boy).
I hope that helps...

My thoughts on this are:
I believe the story had more potential. The music was funny (because of the lyrics) but it was too spontaneous and loud. Still liked the music thou... As for acting, it was phenomenal, it was very good. I don think I'll re-watch it anytime soon but that's because I don't normally re-watch things and it was too slow (not as much as Bittersweet Chocolate).

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Lacks Focus & Skill

Tries to be too many things and fails at pretty much everything. This movie came off as a juvenile attempt at "indie art". It is INCREDIBLY BORING. I read that the director was inspired by Japanese pink films, as well as a few other things. This does seem like it fits that genre, it's just poorly done.

The only thing that kept me curious and watching was the character Playboy, acted by Steven Isarapong Furher (who is actually pretty good despite the crappy script). It's the first time I've seen a very masochistic character ALSO be such a dominant personality. I find that duality fascinating and wish that had been the focus of this film and explored further.

The directing, pacing, plot, script, cinematography, and music are all terrible. But I was able to finish it with some fast-forwarding and without feeling totally scarred by it so I'll rate it a 1.5.

When a character replies to another there is a pause the average of 3-5 seconds (sometimes longer!). It's ridiculously slow. Maybe the director really wanted the actors to fully feel the lines before speaking them but it completely dissipates any tension the incredibly vague and stupid plot tries to build up.

There's not a lot of background music/noise. When there is, it starts and stops abruptly and feels out of place. It always detracts instead of inhances. The simplistic drum beat during sex is awkward and distracting. The rap about rape is completely out of left field, bizarre, and disturbing. There's no cohesion.

If you want something extreme with a hopeful ending watch Dangerous Drugs of Sex instead (a 2020 Japanese film). That is very well done.

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confused

yes i'm a glutton for punishment and bored, otherwise wouldn't go watch this movie after the mess the prequel Bittersweet Chocolate was/is. this aint any better - there James cause of his addiction(?) cause of Playboy / Mac is driven into prostitution to finance his habit. as confusing as that movie was, this point was clear. considering Playboy / Mac was the drug dealer.
here for some reason Playboy / Mac the proustite and if that not enough, he into S& M and James is the pimp or dude that makes sure the whores r in line - or something along those lines - well he the one with the gun, so he not another boy selling his ass - even though he doing drugs - so i was like what did i miss

let alone how this starts off, with that poor boy chained like a dog - who he is or why he is being treated this way, from start to finish u never find out - another one of life's mysteries i guess... well this whole movie is tough to comprehend, cause its just a bunch or random scenes slapped together and u never quite understand the why of anything. is Gold Hair the client or the whore? where the frack LadyBoy and the Big Boss come in or disappear to. why James keeps spitting like a moron - and on and on the list of unanswered questions goes. would say one off but aint recommending either of these movies so whatever

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Perfection in Darkness

You know how I love inappropriate gross shit lol bruh even I got severely affected by some of the disturbing material. And just because a film is about sex and masochism doesn't make it porn. That said I completely freaking loved the uninhibited, twisted plot and the acting in most parts was so good it feels SO REAL because its RAW. seriously wtf is Gun even doing here XD but he did a good job too. And the ending was so organically bittersweet, all that good nihilist stuff ! If you don't get triggered you should watch. In general I love adult and horror Thai stuff, like Meatgrinder, shutter, blue hour, they always feel timeless and surreal. I just love that touch.

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If you don't have an interest in pink films, this probably isn't for you

Gun Attaphan fans will be better off rewatching Not Me.
However, if the first Thai pink film is what caught your interest, you're in for gorgeous cinematography, haunting acting and a great soundtrack. It's the last day of The Gang of Cherry as it's unravelling after a deal gone to shit, and no, the story does not always make sense. It's a stunning and mesmerising film nonetheless. Sometimes the acting is a bit stilted, and I'm docking some points for the story as I'm left with what feels holey and jarring rather than understated a fair bit of the time, and I actually have a great deal of patience with arthouse imprenetability... But the production is terrific and the film overall captivating. It slots neatly into the pink film tradition.

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