The Siamese Military in the First World War

Another 25 titles have been added to the growing list of “Films as National Heritage” by the Culture Ministry and the Thai Film Archive, ranging from 1918 footage of soldiers going off to battle in World War I to puppy-love romance between teenage boys in the 2007 drama The Love of Siam.

Updated each year on October 4, which is Thai National Film Preservation Day, the historic-film registry now numbers 125 titles.

Many of the entries this year are from the U.S. Information Service, the propaganda arm of America's diplomatic corps. These include Thai Army Goes to Korean War, which shows Thai troops joining the fight against communism, and Heritage from King Mongkut, which recounts the contributions of American missionary and physician Dan Beach Bradley.

USIS also made The Ordination of the King, documenting the ceremony by which His Majesty King Bhumibol entered the monkhood.

The growth of commercial Thai cinema is represented by entries from the 1970s through the 1990s, ranging from director Piak Poster’s erotic island romance Choo, to Baan Phi Pob 2, the second film in the popular horror-comedy franchise, which had villagers endlessly running around and screaming and they tried to escape the gut-stabbing ghost-granny Pob Yip.

Ta-mone Prai

Aside from Piak, other notable filmmakers on this year’s list are Manop Udomdej, with 1981's On the Fringe of Society, Cherd Songsri with his 1983 sibling-rivalry romance Puen-Pang, Bhandit Rittakol and his 1987 farming drama Duay Klao, Pen-ek Ratanaruang with his 1999 black comedy Ruang Talok 69 and Jira Maligool with his 2002 Nong Khai festival yarn Mekhong Full Moon Party.

Historical battle epics now become history themselves, with the inclusion this year of Thanit Jitnukul’s Bang Rajan from 2000 and MC Chatrichalerm Yukol’s Suriyothai from 2001.

And recent global hits are represented by 2003’s martial-arts drama Ong Bak, which introduced Tony Jaa to the world, and GTH’s 2004 thriller Shutter, which introduced Thai horror to the world.

Here's the list, which is translated by Thai Film Archive deputy director Sanchai Chotirosseranee, who also offered commentary on some of the more-obscure entries.

Ngoa Ba

Films as National Heritage 2015

1. The Siamese Military in the First World War (unofficial title) / ภารกิจทหารอาสาสยามในสงครามโลกครั้งที่ ๑, 1918/63.26 min. – King Rama VI sent 1,233 Siamese volunteer soldiers to join World War I in 1917. According to newspaper ads from the era, the film was shown in Siam in 1919. It was thought to be lost, but resurfaced last year as France observed the centenary of the war. The French Embassy and the Alliance Francaise exhibited rare photographs and this film footage, which was well-preserved at the archives of the French Ministry of Defense.
2. The Playful Kids in the Reign of King Rama VII (unofficial title)/เด็กซนสมัย ร.๗, 1927-32)/7 min. – This "found footage" was shot on 16mm. There is no information on who made the film. It shows youngsters putting on a performance for the camera, playing traditional games, dancing, play-fighting and comic acting in the style of Western films, showing the already pervasive influence of film on Siamese society.
3. Pan-Tai Norasingh/พันท้ายนรสิงห์, 1950/98 min. – Directed by Prince Bhanubandhu Yugala (grand-uncle of MC Chatrichalerm Yukol) with cinematography by then-budding auteur R.D. Pestonji, this is the first theatrical feature of a historical tale that has been adapted many times for theater, film and television. The story, which takes place during the reign of Ayutthaya's King Sanphet VIII, is about an oarsman on a royal barge who loses control of the vessel in strong currents, causing it to hit a tree and become damaged. The king, understanding the difficult conditions, did not wish to punish Norasingh, but the ever-dutiful and devoted sailor insisted that no exceptions should be made, and he was beheaded according to law.
4. Thai Army goes to Korean War (unofficial title)/ทหารไทยไปเกาหลี, 1951–52)/7.42 min. – The United States Information Service in Bangkok made this clip of Royal Thai Army troops joining the United Nations' "police action" against the communist North Korean invaders.
5. Heritage from King Mongkut/มรดกพระจอมเกล้า, 1954/60 min. – This USIS dramatization depicted the influential contributions to Thai society of Dr. Dan Beach Bradley, an American Christian missionary and physician, whose close relations with the King Rama IV court helped Western medicine gain acceptance in Thailand. Bradley also published the first Thai newspaper, the Bangkok Recorder.
6. The Ordination of the King/พระบาทสมเด็จพระเจ้าอยู่หัวเสด็จออกผนวช, 1956/13.42 min. – When His Majesty King Bhumibol entered the monkhood for 15 days in 1956, the USIS was there with its film cameras to record the royal ceremony.
7. The Commercial of the Monk Coin for 25th Buddhist Century Anniversary/โฆษณาพระเครื่องฉลอง ๒๕ พุทธศตวรรษ, 1957/4.52 min. – Commemorative coins were minted in observance of the 25th Buddhist century anniversary, which the government aimed to use to raise funds to build the massive "Buddhist Vatican" called Phutthamonthon, near Salaya, Nakhon Pathom.
8. Ta-mone Prai/ทะโมนไพร, 1959/42 min. – King Kong has a starring role this an artifact from a lost era of regional cinema. It was made by a filmmaker in Narathiwat and screened only there and in nearby southern provinces. “Only a few of these films survive,” Sanchai says, adding that the complete movie was 50 minutes but one reel was damaged, leaving just 42 minutes of the tale of triangular romance and a giant ape.
9. Field Marshal Sarit Thanarat Performing the Duty for His Nation as Head of Government and Military Commander Until He Fell Ill and Died/การปฏิบัติหน้าที่เพื่อประเทศชาติในตำแหน่งหัวหน้ารัฐบาลและผู้นำทางทหารจนถึงล้มป่วยและอสัญกรรมของ ฯพณฯ จอมพลสฤษดิ์ ธนะรัชต์, 1963/25.16 min. – Their Majesties the King and Queen make an appearance, visiting the bedridden military ruler, who in an act of devotion, takes His Majesty's hand and places it over his head.
10. Yuthana und Siripon Monch auf Zeit/ยุทธนา –ศิริพร, 1963/44.54 min – Another monkhood ordination is depicted in this travelogue documentary by German documentarian Hans Berthel in collaboration with noted lensman Tae Prakardwuttisan, following a middle-class Bangkok couple as they visit tourist attractions. Tae was made a National Artist in film in 1999.
11. The Spread of Kinship/สายเลือดเดียวกัน, 1966–68/103 min. – Another Cold War relic, made with support of the USIS, this feature-length drama aimed to attack and defame communism.
12. Choo/ชู้, a.k.a. Adulterer, 1972/145 min. – While he's probably best known for his string of teen-oriented comedies, movie-poster-artist-turned-filmmaker Somboonsuk Niyomsiri, a.k.a. Piak Poster, also made many solidly dramatic films, including this erotic island romance. "Although the film was not successful in term of box-office earnings, it was much-acclaimed and became the Thai representative at the 19th Asia-Pacific Film Festival in Singapore, where it was awarded the special award because of its outstandingly unconventional story," Sanchai notes.
13. Wai Tok Kra/วัยตกกระ, 1978/122 min. – Here's a Thai cinema “first” – the first commercial feature to have elderly people as central characters, with “actual senior actors, not young, famous actors in makeup,” Sanchai explains.
14. Ngoa Ba/เงาะป่า, 1980/86.21 min. – Two generations of master filmmakers, Prince Bhanubandhu Yugala and Piak Poster, came together to collaborate on this adaptation of a popular play from the King Rama V era. It's a "Romeo and Juliet" romance taking place in land of the Sakai, an indigenous tribe in the South of Thailand.
15. On the Fringe of Society/ประชาชนนอก, 1981/90 min. – Manop Udomdej directs this flipside view of all that anti-communist propaganda, with the story of community activists who were wrongly persecuted and killed for their socialist leanings. It was funded by the Roman Catholic charity Caritas Thailand.
16. Puen-Paeng/เพื่อนแพง, 1983/131 min. – Auteur director Cherd Songsri's best-regarded film is the tragic romance Plae Kao (The Scar). But I saw Peun-Pang several years ago and liked it better. Sorapong Chatree stars as a poor farmboy in 1930s Siam, who is in love with one sister, but the girl's plucky younger sister likes him more. It was another entry in Cherd's campaign to introduce the concept of "Thainess" to this world, which I think he accomplishes with subtlety and sensitivity.
17. Duay Klao/ด้วยเกล้า a.k.a. The Seed, 1987/107 min. – Like Piak Poster in the 1970s, director Bhandit Rittakol in the 1980s was primarily known for his teen-oriented Boonchu movies. Duay Klao was his attempt at "serious" cinema, and he succeeded. Made in celebration of His Majesty the King's 60th birthday, the drama stars folksinger Jarun Manupetch as a farmer who nurtures a rice crop from a single seed he obtained from the Royal Ploughing Ceremony. A story of drought-hit farmers and opium-growing indigenous people, the movie depicts many of the His Majesty's Royal Projects, including cloud-seeding and crop replacement. The movie had a brief revival run in 2006 to celebrate the King's 60th anniversary of accession.
18. Baan Phi Pob 2/บ้านผีปอบ 2, 1990/91 min. – This is the second entry in a crazily popular ghost comedy franchise, which for many Thais are the films that defined the '90s. The films all involve hayseed villagers endlessly running around and screaming and they tried to escape the gut-stabbing ghost-granny Pob Yip, portrayed by Natthinee Sittisaman.
19. 6ixtynin9/เรื่องตลก 69 (Ruang Talok 69), 1999/115 min. – With an iconic poster that features actress Lalida Panyopas pointing a gun into her mouth, I'm not sure Ruang Talok 69 would fly in today's squeamishly conservative and politically correct Thai culture. Directed by Pen-ek Ratanaruang, the biting black comedy is about a desperate jobless woman who comes across an instant-noodle box full of cash outside her apartment. She then haplessly racks up a body count as various thugs try to retrieve the loot.
20. Bang Rajan/บางระจัน, 2000/118 min. – Produced by Film Bangkok, this was one of the first Thai titles to make global impact during the "new wave" period of the late '90s and early 2000s. Thanit Jitnukul directs the blood-soaked tale of farmers mounting a last-ditch defense against the invading Burmese hoards in 1767.
21. Suriyothai/สุริโยไท, 2001/142 min. – Directed by MC Chatrichalerm Yukol and supported by Her Majesty the Queen, this epic historical drama recounts the life of an Ayutthaya-era queen who famously took up arms and rode an elephant into battle, and perished in defense of her king. A box office hit that was only recently unseated from the top spot by Pee Mak Phra Khanong, Suriyothai served as the prequel and template for Chatrichalerm's six-film Naresuan saga.
22. Mekhong Full Moon Party/15 ค่ำเดือน 11 (15 Kham Duean 11), 2002/120 min. – Jira Maligool's charming comedy offers an explanation of the mysterious fireballs that arise from the Mekong River during the annual Full Moon Festival in Nong Khai. While scientists and various experts offer their theories on the phenomenon, there's a local boy and a monk who know the truth.
23. Ong-Bak/องค์บาก , 2003/104 min. – Directed by Prachya Pinkaew, this is the definitive showcase of the abilities of martial-arts star Tony Jaa and the innovative choreography of Jaa's former mentor Panna Rittikrai, who passed away last year.
24. Shutter/ชัตเตอร์ กดติดวิญญาณ, 2004/92 min. – Banjong Pisanthanakun and Parkpoom Wongpoom wrote and directed this thriller, which is based on the notion of ghostly images turning up in photos, and has Ananda Everingham as a lensman who is haunted and slowly goes insane. It was one of the first Thai films to get the Hollywood remake treatment.
25. The Love of Siam/รักแห่งสยาม, 2007/171 min. – Widely acclaimed and winner of dozens of awards, this was the hit that brought gay romance to the Thai mainstream. It was a breakthrough for director Chookiat Sakveerakul, as well as the film’s stars, leading man Mario Maurer, actor-musician Witwisit Hiranyawongkul and the August band.

(Adapted from an article in The Nation)

The Love of Siam

Related posts:

• 2011 Registry of Films as National Heritage
• 2012 Registry of Films as National Heritage
• 2013 Registry of Films as National Heritage
• 2014 Registry of Films as National Heritage

The Culture Ministry and the Thai Film Archive have added another 25 films to the National Film Heritage Registry, running from 1897's visit to Stockholm by King Chulalongkorn (Rama V) to 2003's smash-hit childhood drama Fan Chan and including 1953's Santi-Veena, which was thought for years to be lost.

The oldest entry, King Rama V visits Stockholm, is footage that was found last year. According to Film Archive director Dome Sukwong it is one of the two oldest surviving filmed records of Thais. The other, a 2011 Registry entry, is Rama V's visit to Berne, Switzerland, also in 1897, by Francois-Henri Lavancy-Clarke. In Sweden, pioneering cinematographer Ernest Florman captured Chulalongkorn and King Oscar II greeting each other with kisses.

Established in 2011, the film registry now numbers 100 entries. The latest additions were announced by Culture Minister Vira Rojpojchanarat on October 4 at the Archive.

This year's listing also includes Apichatpong Weerasekthakul's debut Mysterious Object at Noon, Pen-ek Ratanaruang's Monrak Transistor and Nonzee Nimibutr's Nang Nak, Oscar-submitted social-issue dramas by M.C. Chatrichalerm Yukol and Bhandit Rittakol and two films with cinematography by pioneering auteur R.D. Pestonji.

Among Pestonji's films is the 1953 drama Santi-Veena, which had been feared lost.

Sanchai Chotirosseranee, deputy archive director, said that copies of Santi-Veena were recently discovered at Gosfilmofond in Russia and at the China Film Archive. "We are now trying to do digital restoration," Sanchai says.

A romantic drama, Santi-Veena was the first Thai film to win awards overseas, grabbing four prizes at the 1954 Asia-Pacific Film Festival in Tokyo, including best cinematography for Pestonji, who was awarded a Mitchell camera. In a quirk of history, he was charged $5,000 tax for the $16,000 camera. Also, the filmmakers were fined 1,000 baht by Thai authorities for failing to clear the film with censors before exhibiting it overseas. The camera is now the centerpiece of an exhibit with a wax figure of Pestonji at the archive's Thai Film Museum.

In the following list, Sanchai adds information about some of the lesser-known entries.


2014 Registry of Films as National Heritage

1. King Rama V visits Stockholm, (ร. ๕ เสด็จประพาสกรุงสต็อกโฮล์ม ), 1897 – Cinematographer Ernest Florman filmed the meeting of Chulalongkorn and Sweden's King Oscar II. 
2. Siamese Society, 1920 – A record of Siamese tradition and culture by noted travelogue maker Burton Holmes. 
3. King Rama VII Visits Indochine (เสด็จอินโดจีน พ.ศ. ๒๔๗๓ ), 1930 – The film is also the first football match between the Siamese national side and Saigon's team.
4. Sound Patch Work, 1930 – Introduces the first Thai radio station in Phaya Thai Palace.
5. Past Pattani (ปัตตานีในอดีต ), 1936 – Depicts tourist attractions, the constitution ceremony and a boxing match between famous fighters Saman and Sompong. 
6. Handful of Rice (ข้าวกํามือเดียว), 1940 – A Swedish filmmaking team was invited by high-society northerners. Shot in Chiang Mai, it shows the importance of Thai rice.
7. Pry Ta Khean (พรายตะเคียน ), 1940 – The oldest surviving Thai ghost film includes many comic gags that are used in Thai horror comedies to this day.
8. The Birthday Ceremony of Major General Luang Piboon Songkarm, the Prime Minister at The Parliament at Suan Kulap Palace (งานวันชาตะ นายพลตรีหลวงพิบูลสงคราม นายกรัฐมนตรี ณ ทําเนียบ วังสวนกุหลาบ ), 1941 
9. Brother (พี่ชาย ), 1951 – Adapted from a stage play, the film starred many important Thai actors.
10. Jumruen–Jimmy (จําเริญ -จิมมี่ , 1953 – World-champion boxer Jimmy arrives in Bangkok to face his opponent Jumruen.
11. Santi–Veena (สันติ -วีณา , 1953 – Directed by Tawee "Kru Marut" na Bangchang with a screenplay by Vichit Kounavudhi and cinematography by R.D. Pestonji, it won three prizes at the 1954 Asia Pacific Film Festival in Tokyo, the first Thai film to be awarded overseas.
12. Forever Yours (ชั่วฟ้าดินสลาย, Chua Fah Din Salai), 1954 – Kru Marut with cinematographer R.D. Pestonji directed this adaptation of Malai Choopiniji's novel about adulterous young lovers chained together. 
13. Poor Millionaire (เศรษฐีอนาถา ), 1956 – The winning Best Thai Film of the first national film awards in 1957.
14. Envy Love (รักริษยา, Rak Ritsaya), 1957 – A romantic drama starring 1954 Miss Thailand Universe Ammara Assawanon, a.k.a. "the Thai Elizabeth Taylor".
15. Rice Carriage, Threshing Rice, Rice Mill, Wedding in Southern Thailand, (หาบข้าว นวดข้าว สีข้าว แต่งงานภาคใต้ ), 1968-69 – A record of many interesting Thai rice customs.
16. Virginity Market (ตลาดพรหมจารีย์ , Talad Prom Charee, 1973 – Veteran director Sakka Charuchinda's drama criticizes male hegemony in Thai society with a story about a fisherman who sells his stepdaughter to buy a new motor. 
17. Chinatown Montage (สําเพ็ง, Sampeng), 1982 – Surapong Pinijkhar directs this pioneering experimental look at Bangkok's Chinatown, from morning to night.
18. Silhouette of God (คนทรงเจ้า , Kon Song Jao), 1989 – Jazz Siam's social-issue drama for Five Star Production takes a critical view of black-magic beliefs in Thai society. Classic screen couple Santisuk Promsiri and Chintara Sukapatana star.
19. The Elephant Keeper (คนเลี้ยงช้าง , Kon Liang Chang), 1990 – M.C. Chatrichalerm Yukol addresses environmental issues in this gritty action-drama about a mahout (Sorapong Chatree) who takes his elephant to work in the illegal timber trade. It was a submission to the Academy Awards.
20. Rolling Stones, กลิ้งไว้ก่อนพ่อสอนไว้ , Gling Wai Kon Por Son Wai, 1991 – A famous teen film by director "King" Somching Srisuparp.
21. Once Upon a Time ... In the Morning (กาลครั้งหนึ่งเมื่อเช้านี้ , Kalla Khrung Nueng ... Muea Chao Nee), 1994 – Another Oscar submission, Bhandit Rittakol's social-issue drama deals with children who run away from their divorcee mother (Chintara Sukapatana). They fall in with gangsters as they travel cross-country to find their father (Santisuk Promsiri).
22. Nang Nak (นางนาก ), 1999 – Nonzee Nimibutr's adaptation of the famous ghost story of Mae Nak of Phra Khanong was a box-office hit and swept up most of the National Film Association Awards, the Netpac Award at Rotterdam and several prizes at the Asia-Pacific Film Festival.
23. Mysterious Object at Noon (ดอกฟ้าในมือมาร, Dokfa Nai Meuman), 2000 – Winner of awards in Fribourg, Yamagata and Vancouver, Apichatpong Weerasethakul's debut feature is an experimental documentary in which a film crew travels the length of Thailand, getting various folks to take part in an "exquisite corpse" storytelling exercise.
24. Monrak Transistor (มนต์รักทรานซิสเตอร์), 2001 – An Oscar submission and winner at festivals and the National Film Association Awards, Pen-ek Ratanaruang's sprawling musical-comedy-drama pays tribute to singer Suraphol Sombatcharoen with a story about a young man who goes AWOL from the army and leaves his wife in order to be a big luk thung star.
25. Fan Chan (แฟนฉัน, a.k.a. My Girl), 2003 – The smash-hit childhood drama launched the careers of six young directors and led to the formation of the GTH studio.

Related posts:

• 2011 Registry of Films as National Heritage
• 2012 Registry of Films as National Heritage
• 2013 Registry of Films as National Heritage

The first Thai film selected for the Cannes Film Festival, Tears of the Black Tiger, is among this year’s additions to the Registry of Films as National Heritage by the Culture Ministry and the Thai Film Archive.

Established in 2011, the Registry of Films as National Heritage aims to select entries based on their historical and artistic value and influence on society, and make them a priority for preservation. With 25 entries selected each October, this year’s listing brings the registry’s number to 75.

Other notable entries this year include three films submitted to the Academy Awards and films by King Rama VII.

The earliest addition this year is from 1901, Visit of the Prince of Siam. The two-and-a-half-minute clip by British film company Mitchell and Kenyon shows the then-Crown Prince Vajiravudh on a trip across the Mersey during a visit with radio pioneer Guglielmo Marconi. The Oxford-educated prince was crowned King Rama VI in 1910.

The Royal family were among the first filmmakers in Thailand, with Vajiravudh’s brother, Prajadhipok – King Rama VII – a keen lensman. Two of his films were added to the registry.

One is 1929’s Magic Ring, a home movie the monarch made on a trip to Koh Pha-ngan. The 25-minute short with silent-film intertitles is about a cruel stepfather who abandons his children on the island. One of them meets a nymph who gives him a magic ring that can grant wishes.

“All the actors are the royal family and King Rama VII shot the film himself,” Chalida uabumrungjit, the Film Archive’s deputy director, says in The Nation.

The other entry from the King Rama VII collection is 1930’s Mon Ram Phee at Pak Lad, the monarch’s recording of a traditional Mon dance.

From 1927 is Chang: A Drama of the Wilderness, the oldest surviving Hollywood production made in Thailand (or maybe it was made in Laos). It’s directed by Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack, who later made King Kong. The documentary-style silent adventure, complete with deaths of multiple species of wildlife, depicts a rural Isaan family beset by a marauding herd of elephants.

The newest entry is 2005’s The Tin Mine (Maha’lai Muengrae), an expensively mounted historical drama directed by Jira Maligool and produced by GTH. Thailand’s submission to the Academy Awards in 2006, it’s adapted from the semi-autobiographical short stories by Ajin Panjapan, of a university dropout sent to work in the tin mines of southern Thailand in the 1950s.

Another Oscar submission is 2004’s The Overture (Hom Rong), directed by Ittisoontorn Vichailak. Loosely based on the life of palace musician Luang Pradit Phairoh, it follows a ranad-ek (xylophone) player from boyhood in the late 19th century to the 1940s. The film sparked a revival of interest in Thai classical music and the ranad-ek.

And Thailand’s first Academy Awards submission, 1983’s Story of Nam Poo, makes this year’s list. Directed by Euthana Mukdasanit, the factual drama is adapted from the book by award-winning writer Suwanni Sukhontha, which she wrote after her son died at age 18 of a heroin overdose. Singer Amphol Lumpoon stars as the son with theatre doyenne Patravadi Mejudhon as the mother.

More social issues are depicted in 1973’s Khao Chue Karn by MC Chatrichalerm Yukol, about the problems encountered by an idealistic young physician in the countryside, and 1979’s Mountain People (Khon Phu Khao) by Vichit Kounavudhi, depicting the lives of hilltribes in the North.

The lighter side of Thai teenagers is shown in a pair of classic comedies on this year’s list – 1976’s Wai Ounlawon by Piak Poster and 1988’s Boonchu Phoo Narak by Bhandit Rittakol. Both spawned series of teen comedies by Five Star Production, which rebooted the Boonchu franchise in recent years. Another popular entry is 1990's Pook Pui, a childhood drama by Udom Udomroj.

And from the Thai New Wave period of the late 1990s and early 2000s is director Nonzee Nimibutr’s feature debut, 1997’s Daeng Bireley’s and Young Gangsters (2499 Antapan Krong Muang), a stylish, fact-based drama about James Dean-obsessed teenage hoodlums in 1950s Bangkok.

Scripted by Wisit Sasanatieng, it was the start of a movement of films that revitalised the local film industry and brought widespread attention to Thai cinema on the world stage.

Wisit made his directorial debut with another entry on this year’s list, 2000’s Tears of the Black Tiger (Fah Talai Jone), which was the first Thai film to be selected for the Cannes Film Festival. It competed in the Un Certain Regard category.

A hyper-colourful western with six-gun-toting bandits on horseback, Tears of the Black Tiger was an homage to an earlier era of Thai film – the action movies of the 1960 and ’70s – like another entry on this year’s list, 1966’s Operation Bangkok (“Petch Tad Petch”), a Hong Kong co-production featuring superstar leading man Mitr Chaibancha and Hong Kong starlet Regina Piping.

Films as National Heritage 2013

• Visit of the Prince of Siam, 1901, Mitchell and Kenyon
• Chang: A Drama of the Wilderness, 1927, Merian C Cooper and Ernest B Schoedsack
• Magic Ring (แหวนวิเศษ), 1929, Nai Noi Sorasak (pseudonym of King Rama VII)
• Mon Ram Phee at Pak Lad (เสด็จทอดพระเนตรมอญรำผี ปากลัด ๑ มีนาคม พ.ศ. ๒๔๗๓ , 1930, King Rama VII
• Giant Swing Ceremony (พระราชพิธีโล้ชิงช้า), 1931, HRH Prince Rangsit Prayurasakdi, Prince of Chainat
• Acquiring Torpedo Boat (การรับเรือตอร์ปิโด), 1935, Luang Kolakarn Jan-Jit (Pao Wasuwat)
• Ruam Thai (รวมไทย), 1941, Prince Sukornwannadit Diskul
• Sand to Glass (ทรายมาเป็นแก้ว, 1950-51, Tadsong Satiensut
• Silpa Bhirasri (อาจารย์ศิลป์ พีระศรี), 1951
• Our Bangkok, Capital City (กรุงเทพเมืองหลวงของเรา ), 1957, United States Information Service
• Boribool Balm commericial (โฆษณาขี้ผึ้งบริบูรณ์บาล์ม ชุดหนูหล่อพ่อเขาพาไปดูหมี), 1958-62, Sanpasiri Agency
• The Site of Lue’s Grave (หลุมศพที่ลือไซต์ ), 1962, Somboon Wiriyasiri
• Operation Bangkok (เพชรตัดเพชร, Petch Tad Petch), 1966, Vichit Kounavudhi, Promsin Siboonrueng, Prakob Kaewprasert
• The Conqueror of Ten Directions (ผู้ชนะสิบทิศ, Phu Chana Sib Tid), 1966-67, Naramitr (Amnuay Klatnimi)
• Dr. Karn (เขาชื่อกานต์, Khao Chue Karn), 1973, MC Chatrichalerm Yukol
• Nora Khunoupthamnarakorn (โนราขุนอุปถัมภ์นรากร), 1973, Songkla Teachers College
• Wai Ounwalon (วัยอลวน ), 1976, Piak Poster
• Mountain People (คนภูเขา , Khon Phu Khao), 1979, Vichit Kounavudhi
• Naam Poo (น้ำพุ ), 1983, Euthana Mukdasanit
• Boonchu Phoo Narak (บุญชูผู้น่ารัก), 1988, Bhandit Rittakol
• Pook Pui (ปุกปุย) 1990, Udom Udomroj
• Dang Bireley’s and Young Gangsters (2499 อันธพาลครองเมือง , Song Si Kow Kow Antapan Krong Muang), 1997, Nonzee Nimibutr
• Tears of the Black Tiger (ฟ้าทะลายโจร , Fah Talai Jone), 2000, Wisit Sasanatieng
• The Overture (โหมโรง , Hom Rong), 2004, Ittisoontorn Vichailak
• The Tin Mine (มหา’ลัยเหมืองแร่ , Maha’lai Muengrae), 2005, Jira Maligool

Charoen is flanked by the cast and crew of The Red Eagle, with star Ananda Everingham in the stocking cap and director Wisit Sasanatieng wearing sunglasses.

While Hollywood mourns the death today of Top Gun director Tony Scott, the Thai film industry is in mourning over the loss of one its own.

Charoen Iampungporn (เจริญ เอี่ยมพึ่งพ), executive chairman of Five Star Production, died this morning. He was 62.

He took over Five Star, which was formed in 1973 and is one of Thai industry's oldest movie studios, after the death of his brother Kiat in 1981. He was president of the studio with nephews Kiatkamon and Kiattikul and niece Aphiradee as executives.

Charoen produced many of the studio's most-successful films, including Bhandit Rittakol's Boonchu series of teen romantic comedies in the late 1980s and early '90s and Bandit's 1995 childhood adventure drama Once Upon a Time ... In the Morning, which was among several Five Star productions submitted to the Oscars.

As executive producer, he helped preside over the "Thai New Wave" of the early 2000s, which saw Thai movies reach great acclaim on the international festival and market circuit. Among them were Pen-ek Ratanaruang's Last Life in the Universe, Wisit Sasanatieng's Citizen Dog and the Art of the Devil horror franchise.

Other recent Five Star movies include The Red Eagle, a reboot of the famous Thai action series of the 1960s, and Dark Flight 407, the first Thai feature to filmed in 3D.
According to news reports, Charoen died of a lung infection. Religious rites are being held for the next seven days at Wat That Thong.

Over at CNNGo, there's a rundown of all 18 of Thailand's Oscar submissions, spanning the years from the first pick in 1984 – Euthana Mukdasanit's teen drugs drama Story of Nam Poo (คนโขน) – to this year's critically panned flop Kon Khon.

The CNNGo piece is a long one, and I'm grateful they actually ran it. I believe it's the most comprehensive list of Thai Oscar submissions anywhere on the Web.

And from there, I want to cherry pick, and offer a Top 5. At first I thought it would be easy – just choose the three Pen-ek Ratanaruang Oscar hopefuls and add two more. But then I got to thinking, which is always dangerous, and came to the conclusion that I'd have just one Pen-ek, in order to make the list more diverse.

5. Ahimsa...Stop to Run (อหิงสา จิ๊กโก๋ มีกรรม), 2006

There have been better Thai movies submitted to the Oscars, but Leo Kittikorn's loopy Buddhist morality tale, with its confusing predestination paradoxes, is nonetheless hard to ignore by virtue of its batshit craziness.

Visually, Ahimsa ... Stop to Run has some pretty stunning moments, which include the Pattaya party scene. But the most eye-catching is Ahimsa's red-haired, red-tracksuit-clad karma ghost (Teeradanai Suwanahom), wielding a two-by-four to whack Ahimsa (Boriwat Yuto) upside the head. Even better is when red-karma dude is driving a fire-engine red Chevy convertible with painted-on flames, chasing Ahimsa down. He's a fun character, who squeals like Bruce Lee when he's kicking Ahimsa in the gut.

Another highlight is Joni Anwar as Ahimsa's eccentric bar-owner friend, Einstein, who is always conducting "experiments" and sits in a powered wheelchair even though he doesn't need one.

4. Once Upon a Time ... This Morning (กาลครั้งหนึ่ง เมื่อเช้านี้), 1995

I was fortunate enough to see Once Upon a Time back in 2008 at the Bangkok International Children's Film Festival, and it made me cry like a little kid.

Directed by Bhandit Rittikol, this was one of the string of acclaimed social-problem movies that were among the first to be submitted to the Academy Awards. The issues include divorce, broken homes, homeless children and child prostitution – unflinching portraits of contemporary Thai society that just aren't seen that often in movies these days.

The story is about three kids ho run away from their vain mother (Jintara Sukkapat) to be with their doting dad (Santisuk Promsiri), who told the kids stories using paper dolls. The children fall in with a gang of drug-dealing homeless boys and are chased by gangsters.

What trips my emotional trigger is that recapturing of lost childhood innocence. There's no way to go back, except in the movies.

3. The Elephant Keeper (คนเลี้ยงช้าง), 1989

Before veteran director MC Chatrichalerm Yukol was making epic palace-intrigue dramas, he was into social-problem movies, which go back to the 1970s, and they remain his best work.

One of my favorites is The Elephant Keeper (Kon Liang Chang), an environmentally conscious drama that has its share of rip-roaring action.

Chatrichalerm's regular leading man Sorapong Chatree stars, playing the title character, a mahout named Boonsong who works the forests with his magificent elephant Tang-on. It's a time when logging companies are shifting to mechanization and the authorities are clamping down on timber harvesting, so Boonsong and Tang-on are put out of work. Feeling sorry for himself, Boonsong gets drunk on white liquor, which sets up a scene that likely hasn't been done in any other film – a man puking down the side of his elephant. Maybe The Hangover boys can come back to Thailand and do that.

The action ramps up thanks to Chatrichalerm's designated hitter for badassery, Ron Rittichai, playing the hardened, shotgun-toting forestry department officer Sergeant Kam. He comes to respect Boonsong and Tang-on after initially insulting the elephant and getting his Land Rover pushed into a creek for his harsh words. He apologizes to the elephant, who then pushes the Land Rover back out. Later, Boonsong and Tang-on help the officer battle the bad guys, which makes Boonsong a target. He's a desperate working man caught in the middle, and the machine-gun-equipped outlaws look to be the ones who put the squeeze on.

Ittisoontorn Vichailak, who would later go on to direct another Thai Oscar contender, 2004's The Overture (โหมโรง), also stars, playing the rookie deputy forestry official who narrates the tale as a campfire story. And one of the youngsters listening to the story is singer Ad Carabao.

2. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (ลุงบุญมีระลึกชาติ), 2010

A snorting buffalo, an awkward dinner with a ghost wife and a monkey ghost and the story of the princess and her talking catfish boyfriend make for one of the weirdest movies ever, but Apichatpong Weerasethakul's tale of reincarnation and karmic retribution is also one of the most magical and heartfelt.

I don't know what else to say about it at this point, except that I'm glad Thailand's industry-leaning Oscar panel put aside its differences with indie director Apichatpong and submitted Boonmee, which was the winner of last year's Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival.

1. Monrak Transistor (มนต์รักทรานซิสเตอร์), 2002

Pen-ek Ratanaruang's musical comedy was among the first Thai movies I ever saw and it remains one of my favorite films of all time. Monrak Transistor one of those breathtakingly sprawling, shaggy-dog tales in which I see something new everytime I watch it.

For all its sunny humor, the story of a simple country boy who goes AWOL from the army to pursue his dreams of being a singer, meanwhile leaving behind his wife and baby, is actually pretty bleak.

On the CNNGo list I was dismissive of its actual cultural significance, except for its role in showcasing the songs of luk thung singer Suraphol Sombatcharoen. But really, the whole movie is a tableaux of Thai culture, awash in the things folks see and do everyday in Thailand but take for granted, things like temple fairs and canal villages.

Of course, it isn't the high-minded stuff the Culture Ministry usually likes to promote as "Thai culture", so I suppose it's easy to dismiss. And I missed mentioning something that I believe is unique to Thai culture – the travelling medicine show that puts on a movie screening, with the medicine salesman dubbing all the live voices. And the movie he's showing? Why it's Tears of the Black Tiger, of course.

• Directed by Kiat Kitjaroen
• Starring Thanachat Tulayachat, Santisuk Promsiri, Jintara Sukapat, Natthaveeranuch Thongmee, Gaewglao Sintaypdon
• Released in Thai cinemas on August 5, 2010; rated 13+
• Wise Kwai's rating: 4/5

Lost and stolen wallets hold the currency for new friendships in Boonchu 10, the latest episode in the long-running teen comedy series from Five Star Production.

Director Bhandit Rittakol created the series in the late 1980s and was in pre-production for Boonchu 10 when he died last year. The closing credits are a heartfelt tribute to Bhandit. During the film, there's even misty-eyed hearkening back to the olden days.

Long-time Boonchu cast member Kiat Kitjaroen took over the helm for this one (actually the eighth in the series – parts 3 and 4 were skipped back in the '90s in a marketing gimmick).

The result is seamless. Boonchu 10 Yoo Nai Jai Samer Ja (บุญชู จะอยู่ในใจเสมอ, roughly "Boonchu, forever in our hearts") is just as wholesome, earnest, nostalgic and full of laughter as the previous entries.

Production values are high, with the cinematography capturing lush picture-postcard scenery, cool green-screen action involving a tiger licking a guy and surprisingly well-choreographed and framed action scenes. In short, Boonchu 10 is pretty fun.

In the original series, Santisuk Promisiri portrayed Boonchu, the country boy from the central plains ricefields who goes to Bangkok to study agricultural science. There, the talkative hick meets a group of wacky friends and his true love, Moree (Jintara Sukapat), or "Miss Mo" as he sweetly calls her to this day. When the franchise was rebooted in 2008, Boonchu's and Mo's equally motor-mouthed son Boonchoke (Thanachat Tulayachat) was sprung from the Buddhist monkhood, where he'd spent his entire childhood, and sent to school in Bangkok, where he met a group of wacky friends.


Now, as Boonchu 10 opens, Boonchoke is back home in Suphanburi, bidding his parents farewell as he heads off to his new studies in applied Thai traditional medicine at Mae Fah Luang University in Chiang Rai.

After a quick stop through Bangkok and Chester's chicken to bid farewell to his school friends there from Boonchu 9, he heads up to Chiang Rai, where he offers prayers to the statue of the university's namesake, the Princess Mother. If a certain other director had filmed this scene perhaps it would have been cut by censors.

Boonchoke quickly makes a new friend, a wiseacre named Doc. But Boonchoke's heart is already set on a button-cute young woman named Janhom ("Jeen" Gaewglao Sintaypdon). Using advice from his lady's man friend Doc, Boonchoke tries a line on Jamhom that is totally inappropriate.

But then Boonchoke makes up for that by retrieving the girl's lost wallet and then running his motorbike into a lake trying to give it back to her.

Meanwhile, Boonchu and Mo are set on visiting their boy at the university. Boonchu and his Bangkok buddies all come up to Chiang Rai and visit the northern city's night market.

The men take time out for a meal at a northern restaurant and encounter the same irascible restaurateur they traded barbs with back in Bangkok. How'd he get up to Chiang Rai? Who cares? It leads to plenty of wordplay and jokes that don't really translate well to the subtitles but had the audience rolling in the aisles.


In fact, the genius of the jokes in Boonchu is that they are actually smart, full of puns and idiomatic Thai wisdom, which makes Boonchu such a refreshing departure from the usual lowbrow slapstick that's pulling in crowds these days. (Boonchu 10 was third at the box office earning around 7 million baht its opening week compared to Phranakorn's Luangphee Teng 3, which on its opening week was No. 1 with a whopping 24 million baht.)

Boonchu makes a couple of new friends, one a hilltribe man selling wooden frog noisemakers.

Boonchu then has his wallet stolen, which leads to a knock-down, drag-out chase of the thief by all of Boonchu's buddies through the crowded marketplace. To the rescue comes a spirited young woman, who chases down the street hood and dispenses of him with a few well-placed kicks. It's JaJa, and with a name like that she should be an action star.

It's none other than "JaJa" Natthaveeranuch Thongme, best known for her co-starring role as Ananda Everingham's girlfriend in the original Shutter.

Turns out her character's name is Janpah – a fantastic blowgun-wielding Indiana Jones-style heroine environmental activist who always has exactly the helpful herb she needs in her shoulder pouch. Rightly, she's a legend at the university for her herbology course for fourth-year students.


Of course, an incredible string of coincidences puts her in the path of Boonchoke, who has gone into the forest to forage for herbs and natural remedies with his friend Doc. After the boys have a run-in with a trio of hilarious wildlife poachers, Janpah comes to the rescue and sets the animals, including a tiger, free.

And as the action escalates, Boonchu, his buddies and the hilltribe frog salesman find their way into the forest to locate Boonchoke, leading to a climactic fight involving the wildlife-poacher stooges, the high-kicking Janpah, a chainsaw and a gunshot with a gut-wrenching, mournful impact that leads to a big twist.

And Moree has a secret.

I wouldn't be surprised if there were more of the Boonchu series to come.


Related posts:

• Boonchu 10 in 3D (just kidding)

If you're not looking too closely at the poster, you might be led to believe the latest installment in Five Star Production's long-running Boonchu teen-comedy series has joined the 3D trend, which might be a historic first for Thai cinema.

But it's all just another marketing gimmick, with the 3D action actually presented in 2D.

What do you expect from the franchise that is on its eighth instalment but is called Boonchu 10? The series skipped from Boonchu 2 to Boonchu 5 in a similar display of good-natured showbiz hucksterism.

Kiat Kitjareon, a Boonchu cast member from when the series started back in the 1980s, takes over as director for Bhandit Rittakol, the veteran helmer who died last year when this movie was in the early stages of production.

From what I can tell in the trailer (embedded below), it has the same flavor, with loads of wholesomeness and nostalgia.

The original series starred Santisuk Promsiri as a country boy who gets up to adventures after he goes to university in Bangkok, where he meets his lifelong love Mo, played by Jintara Sukapat.

When the series was rebooted in 2008 with Boonchu 9, the action shifted to a new generation, with Boonchu's son Boonchoke leaving the monkhood to go to the city to study.

Thanachat Tulayachat reprises his role in Boonchu 10 (บุญชู จะอยู่ในใจเสมอ, Boonchu 10 Ja Yoo Nai Jai Samer) as the earnest Boonchoke. He's now attending Mae Fah Luang University in Chiang Rai, and still adjusting to life outside the temple and struggling to keep his racing hormones from running off the road.

Meanwhile, parents Boonchu, Mo and their friends come to the university to try and visit the kids, but find that Boonchoke and his friends have headed off on a camping trip to the mountains of northern Thailand.

There they all get into an adventure that involves a high-kicking hilltribe girl, played by Natthaveeranuch Thongme. The Shutter leading lady is doing her best Jeeja impression as she mows down a pack of villains with a flying double knee drop. Nice.

Boonchu 10 opens in Thai cinemas on Thursday. It's said to be the final entry in the series. But maybe that's just another gimmick?

The nine-segment short-film anthology Sawasdee Bangkok (สวัสดีบางกอก) is set for broadcast on Monday, July 12 on TV Thai, the Thai Public Broadcasting Service (TBPS).

Commissioned by TPBS, the shorts are by an all-star roster of Thai directors: Bhandit Rittakol, Ruethaiwan Wongsirasawasdi, Pen-ek Ratanaruang, Wisit Sasanatieng, Kongdej Jaturanrasamee, Prachya Pinkaew, Aditya Assarat, Chookiat Sakveerakul and Santi Taepanich.

The series leads off with Maha Nakorn (มาหานคร), the last film by veteran director Bhandit Rittakol. The short premiered at last year's Bangkok International Film Festival on the eve of his death on October 1. Maha Nakorn stars Supakorn Kitsuwan and Intira Charoenpura as a country couple visiting the city.

Wisit directs Sightseeing (ทัศนา), which stars "Tak" Bongkot Kongmalai as a blind woman who lives under a bridge. She's given a unique tour of the city by an imaginative fellow who makes her think the mundane modern city is actually a fantastic mythical land.

Ruethaiwan, the director of Wai Onlawan 4, aka Oops, There's Dad, recalls nostalgic memories of Bangkok's Chinatown in Lost But Not Forgotten (หลงแต่ไม่ลืม), which has musician-actor "Pe" Arak Amornsupasiri and singing star Winai Bandurak encountering each other on the No. 40 ordinary bus to Yaowarat Road.

Silence by Pen-ek follows a young woman (Diet Pills singer Ploy Horwang, the little sis of Cris) on a rough night out. She suffers car trouble and gets help from a strange street character played by Pen-ek's Nymph star "Peter" Nopachai Jayanama.

Aditya's Bangkok Blues stars the comedy team of Ananda Everingham and Louis Scott, who deadpan their way through a segment that has Louis dealing with girl problems while Ananda encounters a young woman in a wrecked urban playground.

Bangkok Stories (เสนห์บางกอก) by Prachya is a lively series of short observations about city life, including traffic-light countdown clocks, food courts, censorship and a tip on using the toilet when there's no toilet paper – a frequent occurrence in Bangkok.

Chookiat's Sisters (พี่น้อง) is a childhood drama about an awkward little girl struggling in the shadow of her swan-like gymnast older sister.

Perhaps my favorite segment is I Love BKK (กรุงเทพที่รัก) by Santi Taepanich. It's a fast-paced documentary look at Bangkok that focuses on various colorful characters, including Chuwit Kamolvisit, the wild-eyed former massage parlor king who became a crusading politician and unsuccessful candidate for governor of Bangkok.

Finally, there's Pi Makham (ผีมะขาม) by Kongdej. The story, which turns out to be a rather dark thriller, is about a young man's night with a woman he picked up in Sanam Luang.

Aside from BKKIFF '09, the Thai PBS broadcasts are the only way to see all the shorts, which each run about a half hour. A package of four, comprising the shorts by Wisit, Pen-ek, Aditya and Kongdej, have previously been featured at various other film festivals.

The entire package of nine shorts, running about 4.5 hours in all, will be broadcast over two nights on July 12 and 13 at 8.20pm. And then each short is scheduled to be shown again over the
course of July and August.

Update: The July 12 broadcast wasn't the full versions of the films. Rikker tweets that the broadcast consisted of "spoilery synoptic trailers". Seems to me like a pointless waste of airtime.

Update 2: The shorts will be aired individually, at 8.20pm as follows: July 19, Mahanakorn; July 20, Sightseeing; July 26, Lost But Not Forgotten; July 27, Silence; August 2, Bangkok Blues; August 3, Bangkok Stories; August 9, Sisters; August 10, I Love BKK; August 16, Tamarind Ghost; August 17, A Look at the Nine Shorts. Kong Rithdee in the Bangkok Post has more.

(Via Deknang)

Last year was historic for Thai cinema, with the enactment of a ratings system that was supposed to replace the 80-year-old censorship regime of cutting, blurring and banning. There are six ratings: P for films that are promoted as educational, G for general audiences, 13+, 15+ and 18+ age advisories (no ID check) and the 20+ restriction, with ID check mandatory. And there's a seventh hidden category -- films that are banned for broad and vaguely stated reasons of having to do with "national security". And movies are still being censored, particularly if they have any content about politics, recent history or current events. Seems the Culture Ministry's minders aren't quite ready to grant freedom of expression to filmmakers or audiences. Nonetheless, there were still Thai films released in 2009 that were worth seeing. Here's nine of my favorites, and one that couldn't be seen.

10. Sawasdee Bangkok


The full package of nine shorts, spanning three hours, from some of the best known directors in Thailand's film industry, Sawasdee Bangkok played just once on the Bangkok big screen, as the closer of the Bangkok International Film Festival. Sadly, the omnibus contains the last film by veteran director Bhandit Rittakol. I thought it was one of the highlights as the opening segment. Others are by Ruethaiwan Wongsirasawasdi, Pen-ek Ratanaruang, Wisit Sasanatieng, Kongdej Jaturanrasamee, Prachya Pinkaew, Aditya Assarat, Chukiat Sakveerakul and Santi Taepanich. Among the crowd pleasers was Prachya's segment -- comic vignettes about the absurdities of life in Bangkok. The finale by Santi was a powerful documentary on street characters that pretty well blew away everything that came before it. A shorter compilation with the films by Aditya, Kongdej, Pen-ek and Wisit premiered in Toronto and is touring the international circuit. Commissioned by the Thai Public Broadcasting Service, they are all to be shown on TV Thai at some point, in some form.

9. Meat Grinder


Squeamish censors ordered cuts to director Tiwa Moeithaisong's Meat Grinder (Cheuat Gon Chim) because they feared the story of a woman whose beef noodle soup doesn't contain beef would be bad for the business of Thailand's food-stall vendors. It was still a bloody, violent and gore-filled dish, but also a satisfyingly and surprisingly tasteful thriller with a social message, served up by Mai Charoenpura. She's a noodle vendor who's led a hard life, struggling to survive the only way she's known how -- grabbing a big sharp knife and hacking away at the people who cause her problems. Mai and producer Poj Arnon and Phranakorn Film will go for round two with Die a Violent Death (Tai Hong, ตายโหง), due in cinemas on January 28.

8. Phobia 2


This sequel to GTH's 2008 horror hit See Phrang (4Bia) offered five more scary short stories. Phobia 2 (Haa Phrang, literally five intersections) was stronger, with moralistic parables seemingly ripped from the headlines. Young director Paween Purijitpanya offered his best work yet with a tale of a rock-throwing teenager whose growth is his karma in Novice. GTH executive Visute Poolvoralaks made his directorial debut in the sure and steady Ward, about a battle for the soul of a young hospitalized man (Dan Worrawech). Backpackers met zombie drug mules and a used-car dealer is taken for a ride in segments by Songyos Sugmakanan and Parkpoom Wongpoom. Banjong Pisanthanakul capped it with his laugh-filled In the End, with the crew of a horror film putting their star Marsha Wattanapanich through her paces as they search for the perfect ending while there's possibly a real ghost on the set. It's now out on English-friendly DVD from Hong Kong. Also, the success of the Phobia series seems to have inspired other horror anthologies, with Sahamongkol releasing the pretty good Haunted Universities (Maha'lai Sayong Kwan) by young director Bunjong Sinthanamongkolkul and Sutthiporn Tubtim -- another pair of horror directors to watch.

7. Wongkumlao


Prolific multi-hypenate comedian-actor-writer-director-producer Petthai "Mum Jokmok" Wongkumlao directed two features this year, with his country comedy Yam Yasothon 2 topping the box office last month, repeating the success of July's Wongkumlao, a broad satire of the type of high-society families that are seen on the nightly soap operas. With a fantastic cast of comedians that included Apaporn Nakonsawan, Sudarat "Tukkie" Butrphom and veteran character actor Somlek Sakdikul, it wasn't just slaps among bickering females that were traded -- it was karate kicks and non-stop insults.

6. Nymph


Pen-ek Ratanaruang combined romantic drama, ghost story and nature show in this thriller about a marriage that’s lost in a thicket of dysfunction. When it premiered in the Un Certain Regard compeition at the Cannes Film Festival, critics didn't quite know what to make of Nymph (Nang Mai), which is set in a deep and forboding forest. Pen-ek joked that it was simple -- a man falls in love with a tree. Along with stunning work by cinematographer Charnkit Chamnivikaipong, whose cameras floated like fairies, there were outstanding performances from Wanida "Gybzy" Termthanaporn of Girly Berry as the cheating wife and Nopachai Jayanama as the cuckhold husband who finds what he's looking for from the forest spirit.

5. Colors of Our Hearts


Director Supamok Silarak and producer-writer Th’blay Paw of the Friends Without Borders relief group in Chiang Mai weave together four stories about Thailand’s migrant workers and minorities. Colors of Our Hearts expands on a short called Hongsa's Schoolbag, about a Mon schoolboy who wants to learn the Royal Thai language so he can write a letter to His Majesty the King -- the only person the boy sees as having the moral authority to deal with the violence and corruption that causes migrant workers to be treated as non-humans in Thai society. Other stories deal with women who are trafficked into the sex trade and an activist who works to foster dignity and pride in the migrant communities. The Colors team is starting work on their next project, a follow-up to 2007's documentary on Burmese schoolchildren, The Songs of Eh Doh Shi, looking at how the youngsters are doing now that they are grown up.

4. Mundane History


Taking the idea of non-linear storytelling to new heights, Mundane History begins in the middle and ends with a beginning. It reaches highs that zoom into outer space, into the heart of a supernova, and comes crashing back down to Earth with a big splat. A startling debut feature from Anocha Suwichakornpong, Mundane History (Jao Nok Krajok), is ostensibly a drama about a young paralyzed man from a wealthy family and the friendship that develops between him and his male nurse from upcountry. Full of symbolism and metaphor, the film comments on class-based society, shattered dreams and the fragile impermanence of life. It premiered at the Pusan festival last year and opened the World Film Festival of Bangkok. This month, it's headed for competition in the Rotterdam fest, and it's hoped there will be a general release in Thailand sometime this year. Containing a controversial bathtub scene of full-frontal male nudity, it's the first Thai film to be rated 20+, but was reportedly almost banned.

3. Slice


A bloody, dirty, depraved and violent thriller on its surface, Slice (Chuen) is at its heart a sweet tale of childhood love. Directed by Kongkiat Komesiri and co-written Wisit Sasanatieng, the story takes a convict (Arak "Pe" Amornsupasiri) out of prison. He's tasked by a corrupt policeman (Chatchai Plengpanich, at his sleazy best) to track down a serial killer. The case takes the convict back to his hometown, where he recalls his childhood and an intimate relationship with an abused outcast boy. The recollections gets closer to the truth and the noose tightens, leaving the story to kick, spin and violently twist. Released in October, Slice was rated 18+ and appears to have benefited from the ratings system in that nudity, sexuality and explicit violence were allowed to unspool without any apparent cuts. But audiences, seemingly turned off by the dark subject matter of Slice, stayed away. They opted instead to watch the romantic comedy Bangkok Traffic (Love) Story, which was the year's biggest hit and an indicator of more things to come.

2. This Area Is Under Quarantine


With its scenes of explicit sex between two young Thai men -- one a Buddhist from the Northeast and the other a Muslim from the South -- Thunska Pansittivorakul's documentary on Islam and homosexuality seems designed to provoke the censors. But, "nudity is not their concern at all. It's the politics," World Film Festival of Bangkok director Victor Silakong said of the censors' decision to ban This Area Is Under Quarantine. "Thunska's film is quite strong. It's really up front, about everything." What got the Culture Ministry's censors riled was footage of 2004's Tak Bai incident, in which Muslim men were rounded up, stripped of their shirts, made to lie on the ground, tied up, beaten and prodded by soldiers and then herded into trucks. Eighty-five detainees died, mostly of suffocation. The footage is widely available, but is also banned. So the World Film Fest couldn't show this challenging film, which had premiered almost a year ago at the Rotterdam festival. Thunska remains undaunted, and his new feature Reincarnate is set for this year's Rotterdam festival.

1. Agrarian Utopia


Everything is beautiful through his unblinking high-definition digital camera lens, but director Uruphong Raksasad does not shy away from the hardships of rice farmers in rural northern Thailand. For his documentary Agrarian Utopia, Uruphong engaged two families to work a plot of land. There is back-breaking labor in the blazing sun and pounding rain. And there are conversations, which turn to politics. But politicians of whatever stripe or color are about has helpful as the families' recalcitrant water buffalo. Mostly the talk is about food -- one evening's bedtime chat starts with the mention of a particularly large frog that was eaten that day, and circles back to it. Food is an obsession when there is little to eat. Agrarian Utopia (Sawan Baan Naa) was the toast of the festival circuit last year, and was featured in the Bangkok International fest. Its makers are hoping for at least a limited theatrical release in Thailand this year.

(Cross-published in The Nation, "xp" section, Page 2B, January 8, 2010)

More than a year has passed since I first heard about Five Star Production dipping into its storied vaults with plans to release a line of its remastered classics.

The DVDs are out now, and over on Thai 101, Rikker offers the third in his series of Thai movies on DVD with a look at The Legend Collection.

The name of the DVD line is not an exaggeration. Some of the films in this series are regarded as masterpieces. Among them are Euthana Mukdasanit's Butterfly and Flowers, which continues to elude me, and The Story of Nam Poo and Vichet Kounavudhi's Luk Isaan (Son of the Northeast). There's also movies by Piak Poster, Sakka Charuchinda, Narong Charuchinda and the recently departed Bhandit Rittakol.

In all there are 70 titles so far, which Rikker has helpfully compiled on a spreadsheet.

None have English subtitles. And I am unaware of any plans by Five Star to license the masters to English-speaking territories, though many of the titles would make a fine addition to any specialty label's collection.

The last film he completed premiered the night before he died.

Veteran director Bhandit Rittakol, who had made a comeback in recent years and was working on continuing his run of success, died at around 11 this morning in Bangkok's Vajira Hospital. He was 58. The director had suffered heart and kidney diseases and diabetes. He was at the hospital receiving dialysis treatment when he had a heart attack.

The night before, Bhandit's latest and last film, Maha Nakorn premiered as the first segment in Sawasdee Bangkok, an anthology of nine shorts by well-known Thai directors. It was the closing film of the Bangkok International Film Festival. Though many of the directors were present for the world-premiere screening at Siam Paragon, he wasn't among them.

Starring Supakorn Kitsuwan and Intira Charoenpura as a pair of country bumpkins wandering around Bangkok taking photos of landmarks, Maha Nakorn highlighted the clash of rural and urban lifestyles in Thailand. It was a common theme that Bhandit had explored in many of his films, including the Boonchu series, which he had revived in 2008 and was doing pre-production and had finished casting for Boonchu 10 when he died.

According to The Nation, Five Star Production says it plans to continue with Boonchu 10. It will actually be the eighth in the franchise, which was popular in the 1980s and '90s. The series about a country boy's adventures in Bangkok skipped from Boonchu 2 to Boonchu 5 as a marketing gimmick. It was revived in 2008 with Boonchu 9, which was a box-office hit.

Earlier this year he released the teen romance A-Nueng Kidthueng Pen Yang Ying, which was a revival of his Miss You series, which were also popular in the ’90s.

Bhandit graduated from Assumption College and joined the staff at The Nation, then an upstart, activist newspaper in 1971. As a reporter, he covered the 1973 uprisings by democracy activists.

He later became a film critic and screenwriter, and directed his first movie, Khad Cheak, in 1984.

Among his well-regarded films is 1987's Duay Klao (The Seed), a drama that stars folksinger Jarun Manupetch as a farmer who nurtures a rice crop from a single seed he obtained from the Royal Ploughing Ceremony. A story of drought-hit farmers and opium-growing hilltribes, the movie was made to celebrate the 60th birthday of His Majesty the King and depicted many of the King's Royal Projects, including cloud-seeding and crop replacement. The movie had a revival run in 2006 to celebrate the King's 60th anniversary of accession.

Bhandit also contributed to a 2007 short-film anthology in celebration of the King's 80th birthday. The short revisited the cloud-seeding program, with a tale about a young reporter on assignment in a rural, drought-stricken village, who becomes stranded when the truck delivering water becomes stuck.

Bhandit’s 1995 drama, Once Upon a Time...This Morning (Kalla Krung Nueng...Muea Chao Nee), about how family problems affect children, was Thailand’s submission to the Academy Awards that year.

His 2001 film The Moonhunter (14 tula, songkram prachachon or 14 October: War of the People) drew on his beginnings as a reporter during the 1973 democracy movement, with a biographical drama on Seksan Prasertkul, one of the many student activists of that era who fled the capital and joined the communist rebels in northeastern Thailand. Although there was controversy over whether it would be censored because of its sensitive political nature, the film was released without cuts and was submitted to the Oscars.

Other films have included the the 2002 jungle adventure Tigress of King River, 2004's sci-fi drama Ukkabat (The Meteor) and 2006's swashbuckler The Magnificent Five.

Despite mounting health problems, Bhandit continued to work.

"What else I can do? Run a noodle shop?" the director was quoted as saying in The Nation's Soopsip in 2006. "I have to work. I don't have much time because a director of my age is going to be out of fashion soon."

Funeral rites will be held at Wat Makutkasat.

Update: Limitless Cinema in Broken English rates Bhandit's filmography, with The Seed and Once Upon a Time being his best-regarded works.

Update 2: The Nation/Daily Xpress has an obituary with reflections from Bhandit's colleagues.