“Ko Lanta” by backpacklife.com

The Good: This short film features a unique style that I almost found unfit for sites like YouTube — with the average attention span of less than four seconds. This isn’t necessarily the nature of the person watching, but instead, a reflection of how we want our clips on the net. Fast edits, cut to the punchline, “I’ve-got-to-sneak- this-in-between-actually-working” kind of clips.

Instead, this film decides to take it’s time.

It follows a few divers they make their way through the stunning blue water. Slow fade to staring up at the roof of a bungalow, Bob Marley wafting in through the window. Followed by a lazy afternoon conversation at a bar.

Then suddenly it’s evening and we’re being mesmerized by fire-twirling instead of ocean waves. (Nice use of shorter-frames-per second) with another slow fade between the full frame footage. Then we’re shown a shot of a bar, with the bartenders mixing drinks to the music. They have nowhere else to be except enjoying themselves.

Having been to Ko Lanta myself, it took me a second to realize the film is all about adjusting to Ko Lanta time. This isn’t the land of “hurry up”. It’s a place to stay awhile, to watch the sunsets bleed on the horizon, and contemplate why we never do these things back home.

What did you think of the film? Anything that stood out? Anything that could have been improved?