The title of Mor 8 refers to the final high school year under the old Thai education system, which divided schooling into four compulsory primary years and eight optional secondary years. The year was 1957 and the government’s pilot co-ed school project brought a group of well-behaved female students and two supervising female teachers from an all-girl school to an all-boy school whose male students were rowdy and the male teachers were equally problematic. This setup gives Mor 8 limitless potentials. It could be a quality high school drama, a women-empowering battle-of-the-sexes comedy, or even a Dead Poets Society-type tear jerker. Unfortunately, the director mishandles the movie and Mor 8 becomes empty, out of focus, and plagued with an incoherent plot and pointless sidetracks that neither humor the viewers nor add up to the supposedly tearful climax.
The famous sharp-tongued and quick-witted TV personality Pacharasri “Kalamare” Benjamas stars as Ms. Sompat, one of the two female teachers from the all-girl school. She has the look, the personality, and the role of a mean teacher whose mere presence can shake the very soul of every student. But, she is not afforded a chance to play it. The plot conveniently removes the students from screen time and instead explores in far too greater details the male teachers’ love letters to her colleague, Ms. Gaysorn (Meesuk Jaengmeesuk), and Ms. Sompat’s extreme annoyance by it.
The climax sees Ms. Sompat bursting into tears upon learning her acceptance by her students. With none of the preceding storyline focusing on student-teacher relationships, the scene comes out as flat and illogical and viewers may not fully appreciate the sacrifice Ms. Sompat has to make. Apart from a single act of cruel and unusual punishment, we never learn how Ms. Sompat is misunderstood and rejected by her students. In fact, I think I remember seeing her students throwing her a happy birthday party earlier.
Mor 8 does have its shining moments. Its art director brilliantly transports the audience two generations back. Its soundtrack satisfactorily provides entertaining breaks, although the music may have come from a later period as Thai pop songs did not yet exist in the 1950’s. Also, a staunchly feminist senator Rabiebrat Pongpanit lightens the screen with a cameo appearance as the government’s co-ed school project director.
Acting is weak across the board, but Kalamare proves she can be more versatile than previously thought. It is not entirely her fault. No great actors could shine in movies like Mor 8.
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