Bad Genius @ Thai Movie 模范生/鬼才

I'm not actually a fan of Thai movies. I love their advertisements but I don't get their movies. Although to be fair, most of the Thai movies I've watched were horror movies. Most were not as scary as I expected them to be. Once, I remember watching a movie expecting it to be scary and I ended up laughing a lot.

Chin Yee was intrigued by the trailer and asked me to watch it so we can review it. After watching the trailer, I was still not interested. However, after finding out that it scored a 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, I was intrigued (This was before I found out the formula rating for Rotten Tomatoes. Let's just say it's not very impressive after I found out the rating system).

说起泰国电影，很多人都会想到鬼片。这无可否认，泰国鬼片的确是闻名世界的。但最近这几年，泰国的小清新电影慢慢受到了关注，从《初恋这件小事》开始，我就开始注意泰国的非恐怖电影。

我陆陆续续看了很多泰国的爱情喜剧，也很推荐大家去看。直到这一部电影，我对泰国所出品的电影更加敬佩了。

Poster took from Amazon

For those who have not heard of the movie Bad Genius, it's a movie about a group of students cheating in exams. Sure, it doesn't sound as exciting as the actions movie we are used to. But trust me, the movie was freaking intense. If you have not watched the movie and do not want any spoilers, please stop reading now! Come back after you have watched the movie. For those who don't care about spoilers, read on.

First off, this movie was intense. It took me back to my own school days and you could really relate to their situation. I think Asians would relate more because of the school system, culture and especially the pressure of doing well in your studies (I am not saying other cultures do not pressure their children to do well in school. It just seem more prevalent in Asian culture).

这是一部关于作弊的电影，也是受到了真实故事的启发的一部电影。这种题材的电影很少见，所以我很佩服导演编剧的想法。
故事主要讲述四位不同背景的学生如何将作弊变成一笔生意，并以出乎意料的方式售卖答案。

我相信几乎所有人都有作弊的经验，不论是默写时或考试时作弊。当然的，作弊的手法也是层出不穷。这在东方的教育里很常见，因为我们都是被逼着随着规定好的流程被教育，而且教育手法也是千篇一律。不论你是否接收得到老师所教授的知识，老师也不多加理会，因为课务上的工作足以让他们忙不过来。
一视同仁的教育方式恰巧就是促成我们作弊的原因之一。

I loved the story line and how this movie made you really think. The story made you question the moral of cheating. I went in thinking that these pupils cheating were the bad guys but after watching the movie, it really made me question myself. I feel like you can't say that the teenagers in the movie were right but can you really blame them? The smart ones had to do the best with what they were given, even if it meant doing something morally questionable. The world was not kind to the poor and to survive they had to claw their way up, so I can understand their motivations and actions.

The actors were good and made you able to relate to them. In the movie, I found the two genius characters most interesting. The changes the character Lynn and Bank were interesting because they stared off opposite of each other. In fact, the relationship between Lynn and Bank became twisted as the story progressed. You see how a person changed because of their surrounding, like Bank who was a good person became twisted because the world was cruel to him. I think the audience felt regret or at least I did at the change of Bank's character, because if things were different, he would have been different. However, not all was lost as we see Lynn feeling remorse for her actions and her part in making Bank, a good person into a twisted person.

Although it was an intriguing film, I did not like the presentation and think it could have been presented better. Some of the scenes feel disjointed like it did not flow seamlessly. It's like cut scene jumping to another cut scene. Sometimes, you're like wondering what is happening right now? And not in a good way like Shutter Island.

电影中的学校是一间贵族学校，如果你没知识，不怕，有钱就能进来读书了。而女主角却是少数以好成绩被学校录取的学生。她的四周都是一些不会读书的有钱公子小姐，而在一次的帮忙朋友之下，她的聪明才智被另一个同学看见了。
同学提出了作弊的建议，而酬劳就是白花花的钞票。贫穷的女主角为了不想再过苦日子，就答应了同学的建议，开始了作弊的行为。

主角们的背景都让我们感同身受，而他们作弊的原因也都非常合理。有钱但不聪明的就花钱买成绩，没钱但聪明的就出卖聪明换取金钱。他们都渴望自己能够拥有对方的一半优势，也都清楚知道对方根本不会了解自己的处境。到底是什么让他们的思想扭曲了呢？是现实的迫害还是父母的期待？
男主角更是让我们看见了他心里的道德被金钱遮盖的转变，他从一个正直的模范生变成了被金钱俘虏的傀儡。在经历了那么一段后，他明白了世间的险恶，更加确定正直不能当饭吃，从而跌进万恶的深渊里。

整部电影的节奏和背景音乐都很快很紧张，让观众仿佛置身场景里。主角的一举一动也都让我们的心像是吊着一般，忽上忽下的，让人没有喘息的空间。根本就比看恐怖片更让人紧张嘛...
如果要说些不喜欢的部分，恐怕就是某些场景的呈现方式了。有些剧情的转换让我们的心情并没有随着转过来，明明前一秒还在紧张万分，下一秒就突然冷静了。而且有些场景也让我觉得很慢，不应该在快节奏里还有慢悠悠的感觉。
除此之外，我对于整部电影还算满意的。题材新鲜，角色新鲜，就连想要传达的讯息也都别于以往，是一部会让我们深思的电影。

Poster took from Balancemag

All in all, I would say Bad Genius was a thought provoking movie. It was good but not great, at least to me. I think you guys should still give it a try because it was an interesting movie that feels like a heist movie but in a high school setting, which is a fresh concept to me.

我很推荐大家去看这部电影，我相信无论你是什么身份，电影里总有一个角色是让你感同身受的。