Scala (ที่ระลึกรอบสุดท้าย)

My sister-in-law got me this job in 1974.

It's been fun. The cinema life is never boring.

In those days, kids didn't want to…

I mean, kids wanted to work here.

Cinemas used to be grand. They were exciting.

For us small town kids, not the city kids.

I only finished fourth grade. So that was me.

I've been here since there was nothing.

All the buildings were the same height as The Scala.

-Why do you live here? -I'm all alone.

I split from my wife 20 years ago.

I have a daughter and a grandchild, that's it.

I remarried but was always working here.

She couldn't take it, so we split up too.

I decided to call this place home.

Please try again.

Access granted.

There are fewer employees now.

So I mop the floor and tear tickets.

Do a bit of everything, actually.

We must all help out.

Some old customers still come here.

Been coming since they were kids.

I don't know their names.

But they always ask "You're still here?"

And I always say, "I'm here to stay".

"I'll welcome you to the end."

The Scala is old now.

Makes it difficult to maintain.

I even sought advice from an architect.

-What's wrong? -Wear and tear.

See, look at this.

The scars are starting to show.

It has been over forty years.

How did you start working here?

It was my uncle's business.

Well,

I'm the only daughter.

So I did whatever my parents ordered.

That's the Thai nature.

Always be obedient.

I'm an old-fashioned girl.

So I never questioned it.

Siam Square grew up around our cinemas.

The Siam was the first, but it's gone now.

Perished in a fire during the 2010 political riots.

The Lido was built a year after The Siam.

It suffered a fire in 1991.

So we converted it into three small cinemas.

The Scala was built last.

It's the only stand-alone cinema left today.

How many seats are there?

One thousand, originally.

Now there's about 700.

Seven hundred or so.

Approximately.

They take out seats during concerts.

The stage used to be smaller.

But we expanded it for talk shows and concerts.

And removed seats instead.

These curtains are new. Took forever to change them.

The original ones were old. These are beautiful.

The guys who changed them…

The last one died a few years ago.

Did you think you'd be here forty years later?

I started here over forty years ago.

I was hired to do accounting and international relations.

Until…

today, I have to do everything.

My friends got me a job here in 1970.

I started fixing chairs at The Siam.

But was more interested in the projection room.

So I went to talk to my boss.

Told him I wanted to move.

He asked why I wanted to work upstairs.

I liked the projection room, that was all.

But it was competitive.

You had to be serious and responsible.

I got the job and moved here to The Scala.

Been here ever since.

Over forty years at The Scala.

This is my personal room.

Anything broken, this is where it gets fixed.

-What's your duty? -Fixing the projectors and speakers.

Sound and image, that's my duty.

I help out with everything.

What about this week?

I'm discussing with the manager…

To change the lights around The Lido sign.

The original bulbs are hard to find.

So I want to change them to LED lights.

It will surround the sign like before.

But you won't see the bulbs anymore.

The manager gave me the go-ahead.

So I'm going to buy some lights.

I need some plug sockets.

Plug sockets, yes.

Yes, like these.

Give me three bags.

How many control boxes do I need?

Can't you call a contractor for this?

That's the easy way.

But it doesn't help the company.

If I pass the job to a contractor,

the company loses.

But if I do it myself, it will be much cheaper.

A contractor would cost twice as much.

It looked simple enough, so I chose to do it myself.

LIDO MULTIPLEX

I started working here in 1981.

Now I sleep here too.

I'm a projectionist.

NO ENTRY UNLESS AUTHORIZED TAKE OFF SHOES FIRST

I start at 9:00am in The Scala projection room.

To prepare for the day's first screening.

How are the projectors different?

Between the digital projector and the old one?

The old one is more fun. I started on it.

This is a change.

The kids are smarter now.

I'm like the old model.

Slow to change.

I wasn't raised on smart phones.

I never thought water could be sold in bottles.

Or coffee would be in cans in the fridge.

Sometimes I can't keep up with technology.

The machines have left me behind.

I'll be back if there's a problem.

Wait a bit.

-What are we waiting for? -It's processing for five minutes.

Then I will enter the code.

It doesn't work.

-What's the code? -You don't need it.

-Are you sure? -Yes.

It's already been typed in.

Ah, okay.

Still doesn't work.

It's still red!

This title.

The seat covers must be changed.

I do five or six rows at a time.

Because I wash them by hand.

Today six rows, tomorrow another six rows.

Must keep everything clean.

Got to scrub hard.

Why not send it out?

Out where?

-A shop. -The company is broke!

We must save money.

Detergent and fabric softener is all we need.

Do you find any dirty ones?

Yes. Some people wipe their feet on it.

Others wipe their popcorn hands.

I remove those immediately.

Those are mostly foreigners.

They put their filthy shoes up here.

But I can't complain. The customer is king!

SHOW TIMES 12.15, 14.15, 16.30, 18.30, 20.30

SAT, SUN EXTRA 10.15

It's not finished. It will go all the way around.

-It's too bright. -I'll drop it down.

We're looking at the bulb. That's the control box.

Can you cover it?

Will it be less bright?

-It's still bright. -Should be okay outdoors.

Now,

I will push down the wires.

With the cover on, you won't see the bulbs.

Only the colored light.

-Okay. It's fine. -Like now.

This should get people's attention.

It will be bright and colorful.

Today, we're taking the new lights to The Lido.

The electricians have removed the old bulbs.

So we're going to install the new ones.

We can probably pull it up at the same time.

Make it align with where you sit.

Make it align with the cement beam.

Up, up, up.

LIDO MULTIPLEX

Who's gonna be responsible?

-The cover is cracked. -Try to fix with some coating?

Needs to be fixed. Big crack.

Push it. Yeah.

Nok is not here yet.

Cut the ends. Or just one end. And put one line.

Everything was fine this morning.

But the electricians were careless.

When they attached it…

The drill tangled with the wire and cut through it.

So the light went dead.

They couldn't find the problem.

So we brought the whole thing down.

We checked it thoroughly. Now it's fixed.

White screw?

LIDO MULTIPLEX

It looks good.

It used to bug me.