Regarded as one of the most influential working actors of his generation, Wongravee “Sky” Nateetorn shares with us his five favourite films of all time.
Like many of us around the world – there’s always a film, animation, or story that has touched us, left a mark, changed us, and will remain with us forever.
This is especially true when it comes to the stories or films that have left an impression on us when we were kids – there’s always a difference in how we take in or are influenced by them as children versus as adults. We may understand the films we see more clearly and critically as adults, but as children, we’re always connected to them in a much deeper, emotional way.
Yes, we are talking about the power of nostalgia. It’s a feeling that is often hard to describe in words, an emotion that is at once bittersweet and wistful; a sentiment that longs for the past.
Nostalgia is powerful because it’s unchangeable and permanent. It’s the rosy memories we have of our past, especially during our youthful years, before we were exposed to the harsh realities and cruelties of the world.
Art often has a big effect on our emotions, and hence how we see and perceive the world and think back on our past.
Sky Wongravee, our Digital Cover Star of this month, seems to be a big fan of nostalgia. When asked about his favourite films of all time, the actor’s answer was simple – “most of the films I like are the cartoons I saw as a child,” he shares. “Perhaps it’s because they’re from during the period where I was growing up, being moulded, and was starting to recall things. Whatever I saw, I would feel an emotional connection.”
Sky Wongravee’s top 5 films that can always take him back to the good ol’ days
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1 /5
“I was very young when this movie premiered, and it’s a story about kids that are my age. You get to see them grow up, how they live their lives,” Sky shares. “I was in elementary school at the time, where I was still a provincial kid. I was into it because the film was also set in a provincial town, and the scenes and settings you would see are not places found in Bangkok – from the barber shops to the schools.”
“It was as if I got to see myself in the film, too. My favourite character in the film is Jiab (the main protagonist).”
Often regarded as one of the most successful Thai films of all time, Fan Chan is a coming-of-age film that takes you on a nostalgic look back at the past to the friendship of young Noina and Jeab, as they grow up in a small provincial town in Thailand during the 1980s.
2 /5
Finding Nemo is a computer-animated comedy-drama adventure film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It follows the adventure of an overprotective clownfish, Marlin, who, with the help of his regal blue tang fish friend named Dory, swims across the ocean in search of his missing son Nemo.
“This is the first animation that was able to make me cry,” Sky confesses. “I loved the character of Nemo’s dad, Marlin. He had to go out of his way and risk his life to find his son. It’s an ocean adventure I never thought could ever be told in such a way, let alone through animal characters. I never knew that something of this sort and genre would be able to make me cry.”
“I haven’t seen it in a long while, so I don’t think I would feel exactly the same way now if I were to rewatch it again,” he muses. “I would probably be way more into it, actually, because it’s become a film that has captured my heart. I grew up with Finding Nemo.”
3 /5
Ah, the boy who never wants to grow up.
Released in 1953 by Walt Disney Pictures, Peter Pan is a fantasy animated film based on the 1904 play Peter Pan, The Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. The story revolves around three children – Wendy, John, and Michael – who meet Peter Pan one night and travel to the island of Never Land to stay young forever. It is also where they meet Peter Pan’s protagonist – Captain Hook.
“As I said, I like cartoons from my past,” says Sky. “I love Peter Pan because I don’t want to grow up, I just want to be a kid forever [laughs].”
“What I like more about this film is that it has all these kinds of adventures,” he continues. “The kids meet Captain Hook and they get into these battles together. Maybe it’s because I’m a boy, so I love these action-packed kind of things.”
“However, personally, the character I like the most in Peter Pan is Tinkerbell.”
4 /5
“A movie that I love very much is The Terminal, starring Tom Hanks,” Sky tells us. “His character gets stranded at an airport while a war erupts in his country. He is forced by officials to stay there until his identity is confirmed, and he can’t go home. He has to continue living his life inside that terminal, and encounter all these events and emotions at the same time.”
Partially inspired by true events, The Terminal, starring Academy Award-winning actor Tom Hanks and directed by Steven Spielberg, tells the story of Viktor Navorski, an Eastern-European traveller from a fictional country called Krakozhia. Viktor gets stuck when he arrives in New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport terminal after he learns that a coup d’état has occurred back home in his country. He is denied entry to the United States as the country no longer recognises Viktor’s new government, and at the same time is unable to go back home as his passport is no longer considered valid.
“It’s a very touching film, because the character is so naive and innocent,” Sky explains. “Because his [Tom’s] character comes from a small country with no history of intrusion – no innovation, no capitalistic pursuits, it has shaped him to become this innocent and very sincere person.”
“When you see such a character going through something like this, you feel sympathy and admiration for them – despite all that Viktor is going through, he is still able to remain himself, humble and kind, and is still his own person.”
5 /5
“Lastly, I want to highlight the James Bond film franchise. I have seen every single one of the James Bond films,” Sky says proudly. “I even went way back to watch the old films from before I was born, such as Eagle Eye, Goldfinger, and so forth.”
“Personally, though, I like the James Bond played by Daniel Craig the most, with Casino Royale being my favourite,” the actor continues. “The reason why I like the version played by Daniel Craig is also because the films were released during my childhood growing up, and now this version is also over.”
Like many other boys out there, it’s quite clear that apart from nostalgia, Sky is a big action movie fan as well.
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