Thai cinema looks typically complex this year, with an unpredictable future and signs of more changes to come. While there was industrial and artistic progress in 2007, studios still complained about low box office results and pulled out of big-budget investments. Only established projects like Prachya Pinkaew’s Chocolate and Nonzee Nimibutr’s Queen Of Lungsaka continued. Similar complaints have echoed through the first three months of the year, with several films facing the same problem. Studios have adopted a wait and see attitude before investing in new films.
But generally, things look positive. 2007 saw several political upheavals, economic growth and some artistic films. There were protests against censorship, and a new censorship law was endorsed. Although piracy is abundant, box office takings increased. New film genres came into play, new studios and production houses opened, and new art house indies emerged. So how can anyone say the industry is down?
First the good news. Domestic releases numbered around fifty, including a few limited distributions by the independents. But for the first time in a few years, the first two box office winners were domestic films. Prince Chatreechalerm Yukol’s epic The Legend Of Suriyothai was a hit in 2001 and is still the highest grossing film even to date. He continued with another historical epic series King Naresuan, which was this time divided into three episodes. The first two parts were released early last year, coinciding with the political rifts and nationalism spreading across the country. They not surprisingly beat Hollywood blockbusters Harry Potter 4 and Spider-Man 3, to become the year’s top releases. Funded by the Thai Royal Government, King Naresuan told about a king who declared independence from Burmese occupation in the 16th century. The final installment is being made and aiming for international exposure. It casts Tony Jaa and veteran actress Jintara Sukphat, who once played opposite Robin Williams in Good Morning Vietnam.
Apart from King Naresuan, comedy was the major winner of the year. Five comedies were runner-ups in the top ten list - The Bodyguard 2, Teng And Nong: The Movie, Bus Lane, Ponglang Amazing Theatre, and Kungfu Tootsie. Only Bus Lane and Ponglang Amazing Theatre were made by professional directors; the rest , as usual, were made by the country’s leading comedians-turned-directors. But horror still fills the Thai screen. A quarter of overall film releases last year fell into this genre, followed by comedy. Interestingly, a genre-bending comedy-slapstick style started to become popular with many directors. These featured top comedians. Films like Poj Arnon’s Haunting Me (aka Hor Taew Taek) and Yuthlert Sippapak’s Ghost Station were just some of these films.
Among the spooky titles last year, Alone and The Body were the most talked about. They had quality art design and good scripts. Both films were made by young directors. Alone portrays the strange encounters of a woman who returns to her old house where her Siamese twin sister died. The lead role was taken by Thai star Marsha Wattanapanich, who returned after a twenty-year absence from the big screen. Alone became the top horror box office hit of the year. A few months later, Paween Purijitpanya used some shocking headlines from a few years ago in the multi-layered The Body. This was about a famous doctor charged with killing his wife and cutting her into pieces to get rid of the evidence.
The film was co-written by the 13 - Beloved script team, Chookiat Sakweerakul and Ekasith Thairath. The director smartly interplayed psychological suspense and horror in detailing the life of a medical student who has the same dream over and over again. He sees a woman whose body has been slashed into pieces. Body became one of the most complex horror scripts of the last few years. But it did not win the top script awards, which went to the family drama The Love Of Siam, which was written by Body’s co-writer director Chookiat Sakweerakul.
Other horror directors included the duo Piraphan Laoyont and Thospol Sirivivat who made the catchily entitled title horror Sick Nurses. Both of them worked together on Suicide Me (2003), a comedy influenced by Korean romances, which flopped at box office to become the lowest grossing Thai film for ten years. But their comeback worked well, with a good combination of visual interplay and some funny characterisation. Sick Nurses is about seven nurses in a strange hospital. Each of them has a different weird obsession.
Despite the success of horror and comedy, 2007 was still a rich year for other genres and themes. One of the most talked-about films of the year was Chookiat Sakweerakul’s third feature The Love Of Siam, a gay coming-of-age story about teenage boys. The film was a hit with young audiences on its October release, and the success continued with the director’s cut. It remained on limited release in one art house theatre for over three months, which is a phenomenal achievement for a Thai film. That was not all. The Love Of Siam swept all of the local best film awards, plus the majority of director and script trophies. Chookiat even beat internationally-acclaimed director Pen-Ek Ratanaruang, who was in the running for his sixth work, Ploy.
Ploy is a return to basics for the director Pen-Ek after his international co-productions Last Life In The Universe and Invisible Waves. The introverted and dark story of a jealous married couple became a favorite film of many international critics after its premiere in the Cannes’ Director Fortnight. However, Ploy was too complicated and dark to be appreciated by local audiences. So far, it’s won few local awards.
Five Star Production’s Muay Thai Chaiya, has been more welcome at local awards ceremonies. Despite domestic box office failure, it won several awards, especially the top two acting male and production design trophies. Muay Thai Chaiya exploits the country’s recently international popularity of Thai-boxing theme, and was crafted in a well executed Raging Bull and Rocky style. Director Kongkiat Komesiri made a promising shift from his previous horror film Art Of The Devil to a fast-cutting, bloody, dramatic story about three friends who try to maintain their childhood friendship amidst the encounter of gangster lives.
Several films had gay themes last year. Bangkok Love Story borrows the idea from Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain, and changes the setting to homosexual hit men’s lives. Even though it was praised as the best work by commercial director Poj Arnon, his previous reputation for making bad films counted against him with audiences. Me Myself, by first-time film director Pongpat Wachirabunjong, seemed to be more appreciated by the locals. He has long been praised as the country’s top actor and has made some promising television series over the last few years. The credibility of the story was heartily discussed by gay groups. Me Myself, written by one of the two top scriptwriters in Thailand, Kongdej Jaturunrassamee – the other is Chookiat - starts with an accident which makes a man lose his memory. He’s taken care of by the lady who owns the car. The two develop a relationship before he finds out that he used to be a transvestite. It was the best performance ever by Thailand’s top actor Ananda Everingham, who is now also popular in several Asian countries.
Several new companies moved in to the industry in 2007. They are generally of two types. While the old faces only reshuffle the shareholding teams and continue the usual genre filmmaking, a few other indie houses chose to follow Apichatpong Weerasethakuk’s artistic adventures. The first group include Nang Nuk Co Ltd, a joint venture between AG Entertainment, Kantana Film, Box-Office Co Ltd, and Premium Digital; Alangkarn Studio, run by a team of several entertainment business operators; and Petchpanna Productions, operated by the son of a former action king. The second group prefers to raise funds from foreign organisations or the local Culture Ministry, so that they can create the works that show their independent spirit. This latter group includes Adiya Assarat’s Pop Pictures (Wonderful Town), and Pimpaka Tohveera’s Extra Virgin (The Truth Be Told: the Cases Against Supinya Klangnarong).
The industry actively tried to eradicate piracy and change the censorship laws in 2007. But there’s no happy ending to this tale. Early in the year, Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s fans angrily stormed in the censorship board offices to protest the deletion of four scenes from Syndrome And A Century – shots of Buddhist monks playing a guitar and flying a remote-controlled airplane, a doctor making an adjustment inside his trousers during a kiss, and a group of doctors sharing a bottle of whiskey in their hospital basement. There would have been no objections if the same board had not allowed several scenes of verbal and aggressive manners and language in recent comedies. The fact that Syndrome and A Century was distributed by a small new organization, the local publisher of film magazine Bioscope, meant it did not have any personal connections with the committee. So it lacked negotiating power.
The incident was followed by many protests and campaigns for the change of the censorship law. Several leading directors like Pen-Ek Rattanaruang, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, and Wisit Sasanatieng, also rallied for change. There was a change, but it did not go far enough for many. A bill was finally passed in March. Called the Film Act, it stipulates a rating system - but maintains the government’s freedom to cut.
Several pleas have also been made to the police department to take severer action against piracy. Many films lost money due to pirated discs. They appear as quickly as the opening weekend. Now the pirate gangs are quick to change their tactics. For example, teenagers were lured into smuggling video recorders into cinemas, while small kids were used to sell pirated videos on streets. Despite ongoing actions, piracy is still widespread. And there seems to be no end to it.
While some commercial indie companies have made profits with their debut works, others did not have any luck. Also, although independent directors like Aditya Assarat (Wonderful Town) have been travelling to festivals, others can only show their works in a few screenings at home. Despite the new Film Act, Apichatpong’s Syndrome and A Century had two more cuts. You never know what’s going to happen in the world of Thai cinema. So perhaps the studios’ wait and see attitude is a good idea.
Anchalee Chaiworaporn