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“I wanted to show...the aggression and hunger inside each of us”, Thai director Sitisiri (Dom) Mongkolsiri on Netflix original film “Hunger”
03 April 2023
Thai director Sitisiri (Dom) Mongkolsiri puts a philosophical spin on cooking and food in his latest film, Netflix original "Hunger", which premieres tomorrow (4 April).
The feature is Mongkolsiri’s first for Netflix, and follows indie film "Krasue: Inhuman Kiss", an episode of HBO Asia’s "Folklore" and several chapters of "Girl From Nowhere".
The worlds of fine dining and street food collide in Hunger, when Aoy, who runs her family’s street food stall, meets Chef Paul, an aloof culinary master who leads team of a top private chefs.
“Food involves a certain level of class and politics. It’s not just about price and materials; it has its own little world and subclasses as well,” Mongkolsiri says.
“That’s where the idea of using food as an analogy came from,” he adds, listing the rise of personal chefs in Bangkok as another motivation.
The production team enlisted the expertise of Thai-Indian gourmet chef, Chalee Kader, to help prepare food that is visually appealing onscreen and imparts culinary skills to lead actors Chutimon (Aokbab) Chuengcharoensukying and Nopachai (Peter) Jayanama.
“The script wasn’t originally created for Netflix” Mongkolsiri says, explaining that he and co-writer Kongdej [Jaturanrasamee] had put together partial funding before Netflix came onboard in 2021 with the balance.
The project was greenlit with no major changes.
“The story is about human hunger,” Mongkolsiri says, referring to characters driven by ambition and an insatiable thirst for recognition.
Stylistically, Mongkolsiri decided that the cinematography of the fine dining scenes should make the food appear both opulent yet repulsive.
“I wanted to show how people are feeling on the inside — the aggression and hunger inside each of us,” he adds.
“I used it as a kind of world-building tool to make it more fantasy-like so that people can immerse in that.”
Mongkolsiri says the streaming route on Netflix freed him, from both a business and creative perspective, from tailoring the film to a theatrical box office.
“I’m able to tell stories that I wasn’t able to in the past and I�...
Thai director Sitisiri (Dom) Mongkolsiri puts a philosophical spin on cooking and food in his latest film, Netflix original "Hunger", which premieres tomorrow (4 April).
The feature is Mongkolsiri’s first for Netflix, and follows indie film "Krasue: Inhuman Kiss", an episode of HBO Asia’s "Folklore" and several chapters of "Girl From Nowhere".
The worlds of fine dining and street food collide in Hunger, when Aoy, who runs her family’s street food stall, meets Chef Paul, an aloof culinary master who leads team of a top private chefs.
“Food involves a certain level of class and politics. It’s not just about price and materials; it has its own little world and subclasses as well,” Mongkolsiri says.
“That’s where the idea of using food as an analogy came from,” he adds, listing the rise of personal chefs in Bangkok as another motivation.
The production team enlisted the expertise of Thai-Indian gourmet chef, Chalee Kader, to help prepare food that is visually appealing onscreen and imparts culinary skills to lead actors Chutimon (Aokbab) Chuengcharoensukying and Nopachai (Peter) Jayanama.
“The script wasn’t originally created for Netflix” Mongkolsiri says, explaining that he and co-writer Kongdej [Jaturanrasamee] had put together partial funding before Netflix came onboard in 2021 with the balance.
The project was greenlit with no major changes.
“The story is about human hunger,” Mongkolsiri says, referring to characters driven by ambition and an insatiable thirst for recognition.
Stylistically, Mongkolsiri decided that the cinematography of the fine dining scenes should make the food appear both opulent yet repulsive.
“I wanted to show how people are feeling on the inside — the aggression and hunger inside each of us,” he adds.
“I used it as a kind of world-building tool to make it more fantasy-like so that people can immerse in that.”
Mongkolsiri says the streaming route on Netflix freed him, from both a business and creative perspective, from tailoring the film to a theatrical box office.
“I’m able to tell stories that I wasn’t able to in the past and I’m very happy about that,” he says.
Published in ContentAsia's eNewsletter 3-16 April 2023 edition
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