Nay Wunn Ni's sophomore short “Late Summer Day” has a deceptively simple plot. Wutt Yee (Thiri May Thu) works at a small cellphone store in Yangon together with her boyfriend Min Htet (Kaung Sett). She is unhappy with her job and wants to apply to a better one suggested to her by a neighbor. It is the last day of the month and she waits for her boss to come, so he can pay her and she can tell him that she quits. After work, Min Htet walks her to the bus stop.
The atmosphere of the short fits its title. Watching the characters move and speak in a very languid pace, the editing by Hsu Lae Nandy doesn't hurry either. It waits for them, gives them time, while Marvin's camerawork gives them room. We see a lot of the space Wutt Yee and her colleagues occupy with the camera only sometimes hovering closely to show important for the story details. Wutt Yee and Min Htet holding hands, their feet stepping side by side, later, she freeing her hand from his.
The tension and eventual tranquil conflict between Wutt Yee and Min Htet that culminates in her freeing her hand from his clasp can also be seen as a desire for independence. The young woman doesn't want to be controlled by him. She wants to make her own choices and experience their repercussions, even if she has to suffer from them. But he doesn't understand that, so he asks their boss to re-hire her when she doesn't get the new job. It is not the first time he's done that, we learn. And probably won't be the last.
Min Htet's overprotection of Wutt Yee might come from a good place, it is, nevertheless, suffocating the young woman. We sense that not through words or direct action but through Thiri May Thu's quiet performance. Her character is wary and annoyed by her boyfriend and that shows in the actress' every action. She might have a reason for that, we learn in passing, he might have been flirting with other girls online he tells a colleague.
In a way, we might even see Wutt Yee's desire to get a new job also as a way for her to get away from his unduly protection. She is quietly rebelling against him and possibly the patriarchal control of women he knowingly or unknowingly represents. In the soft and tranquil climax, Wutt Yee tells her boyfriend that she is tired of being helped. It is through such unassuming words that that “Late Summer Day” and its character show their silent strength.
