Thai Youth Cinema as Cultural Evidence: Social Well-Being and Everyday Connectedness in Bundit Rittakol’s Films
Keywords:
Bundit, Youth Film, 1980s, 1990s, Social Well-beingAbstract
This qualitative study revisits Bundit Rittakol’s youth films from the 1980s and 1990s to explore their cultural role in promoting social well-being an aspect largely overlooked in Thai film scholarship. The research adopts a detailed investigation of four selected films, including Khu Wun Wai Wan (1986), Bunchu Phu Narak (1988), Bunchu Hog, Lok Ni Di Ok Sutsuai Narak Nayu Tha Ngui (1991), and Anueng Khitthueng Pho Sangkhep (1992). It aims to explore how Bundit’s youth films represent values of inclusion, friendship, and emotional resilience and reposition Thai youth films as tools that contribute to cultural continuity. The study employs a combination of textual and contextual analysis to scrutinize narrative structures, character relationships, and cultural references in the selected films. This dual approach enables a nuanced understanding of how cinematic elements reflect and shape Thai concepts of social well-being. Rather than portraying well-being as an institutional or imported ideal, this study demonstrates that it emerges organically from daily interactions, traditions, and cinematic storytelling. The analysis situates Bundit’s work within broader discourses of Thai soft power, cultural identity, and emotional connectedness.
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