A number of surprises rocked the Thai film industry in 2010. While the country suffered from a month-long political crisis and its inevitable aftermath, Apichatpong Weerasethakul became the first Thai director to win the Palme d’Or, for Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives. Independent filmmakers swarmed into the film industry, but some studios delayed their new projects. The number of productions increased but local box office nosedived —the lowest local box office in the history of Thai cinema was recorded. Fewer films were made, romantic comedy emerged and horror pictures no longer guaranteed success. Most surprising was the government’s investment of US$6.7 million to support local filmmaking. These events caused shockwaves that are likely to impact the industry for the next few years.
In the first half of the year, as the political situation intensified, film business soared. But as the weeks turned into months and no political solutions were found, box office declined. People did not feel like going to the cinema, even when summer arrived. Admissions dropped off considerably. Several films were rescheduled, and takings shrank, even for the surefire sequels My Trip with Che (Saranae Sib Lor) and Tony Jaa’s Ong Bak 3: The Final Battle. My Trip with Che, the follow-up to the 2009 hit God Bless Trainees (Saranae Hao Peng), earned a third less than the earlier film. In the same way, Ong Bak 3: The Final Battle only took US$1.40 million, compared to the US$3.80 million made by Ong Bak 2 in 2008.
As the country descended into violence in May, everyone appeared to forget that a Thai film was competing at Cannes. And then, on the Monday morning following the crisis, news came in of Uncle Boonmee’s success. Apichatpong came back home with a great present for the country. The film was immediately released at home with one screening a day in one theatre. For almost three months, it travelled from Bangkok to the northeast, centre and south, and earned US$350,000.
It took almost three months for the film business to regain a bit of steam. August saw releases of two romantic comedies: Banjong Pisanthanakul’s Hello Stranger and debut directors Puttipong Promsakha Na Sakonnakorn and Wasin Pokpong A Crazy Little Thing Called Love. Hello Stranger details the growing romance between two strangers in Korea. An old hand at this style of film, after Shutter and Alone, Pisanthanakul walked away with the year’s box-office honours after his film took US$4.40million.
The second hit A Crazy Little Thing Called Love came as a surprise, as both directors were new and the film had no stars except the lead actor Mario Mauer. A Crazy Little Things Called Love shows the hidden love of a young schoolgirl and her school senior. She keeps it a secret for three years. She changes her looks and studies hard to win his heart. With the promo slogan ‘based on everybody’s true story’, girls, women and gays rushed to see it more than once. It came second in the top ten chart before being replaced by another romantic comedy, A Loser Lover. Romantic comedy immediately became a popular genre, with several new titles in 2011.
Other comedies performed well. In fact, it was the most successful genre in 2010. Nine of the year’s top ten hits had comedy elements. Rergchai Poungpetch’s A Loser Lover was released on New Year’s eve and replaced A Crazy Little Thing Called Love at the top of the box office chart. Blockbuster king Poungpetch told the story of a loser who wants to win a girl’s heart and have his own music album released. There was also Pornchai Hongrattanaporn’s Tukkie’s Dairy, starring top female comedian Sudarat (Tukkie) Budprom. It was about a vendor who sells frogs and suddenly becomes a princess.
Two comedian-directors were also successful last year. Ped Chernyim’s The Lullaman cast the star team of a popular TV series in a tale about about mischievous husbands who trick their wives. Petchtai Wongkamlao’s Clue[less] offered a parody of filmmaking in Thailand. The sequels of the Saranae series —My Trip with Che and Saranae Hen Phee (no English title — it literally means Saranae team encounters ghost) also did well after their 2009 hit God Bless Trainees (Saranae Hao Peng). Last but not least, The Little Comedian forged some dramatic chemistry with a story about a boy who fails to make jokes as well as his father. It stars famous comedian Jaturong Jokmok as the father. Only Ong Bak 3: The Final Battle does not offer laughter. Perhaps due to the political and economic tension, Thai people have wanted comedy in recent years more than ever before.
There was a noticeable decline in horror — only seven titles in 2010. Sahamongkol Film made only one horror while Phranakorn Film made two. Only commercial independents continued making the genre for domestic markets.
Due to the uncertainty of politics and the economy some studios and big companies delayed their new projects.
The top two studios Sahamongkol Film International and Phranakorn Film stuck to their annual production of 12-15 titles for the former and 5-8 titles for the latter. On the other hand, GmmTaiHub and Five Star Production clearly reduced their slate from five to three movies each. In general, GmmTaiHub did well with good performances by Hello Stranger and The Little Comedian. Its Cool Gel Attacks didn’t do much, but it broke even. However, in the first four months of 2011, GTH revved-up production with Chayanop Boonprakob’s SuckSeed, a teen comedy about losers who form a rock band to impress a girl.Horror made a slight return with Sophon Sakdapisit’s Laddaland, which was based on the real story of a housing estate in the North of Thailand that had been haunted decades ago.
Five Star Production suffered most. Its two comedies My Valentine, and Boonchoo 10 did break even, but the company was not lucky with its most eagerly awaited and costly film, Wisit Sasanatieng’s The Red Eagle. The film took just US$400,000. A remake of The Golden Eagle, whose status stems from the death of Thai star Mitr Chaibancha in a helicopter accident during production, Sasanatieng’s film was updated with the anti-hero disposing of corrupt politicians. Having had big losses over last two years, Five Star Production slowed its investments. So its art house directors had to find somewhere else for their new projects. Pen-Ek Ratanaruang went independent with his eighth work Headshot. Wisit Sasanatieng at first announced his resignation before following the footsteps of his colleague Ratanaruang with his fifth project Suriya, a drama about a mysterious the real-life Thai boxer. Kongkiat Khomsiri (Slice) is moving to Sahamongkol Film with his new project.
Sahamongkol Film International became a company to watch. Several good directors like ML Pundhevanop Dhevakul and Kongkiat Khomsiri returned or moved to work there, in addition to big names like Nonzee Nimitbutr, Prachya Pinkaew, Chookiat Sakweerakul. Last year, it did well in both takings and awards. It had six of the top ten hits and the majority of awards were swept by ML Pundhevanop Dhevakul’s Eternity, and Phawat Panangrasiri’s In the Shadow of the Naga. Some of its productions flopped at the domestic market, but sold very well overseas —like Panna Rittikrai’s and Morakot Kaewthanee’s Bangkok Knockout. It was sold to Magnolia in the US, UK, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Benelux, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Indonesia, and South Korea.
The team of stuntmen who work under the control of Rittikrai showed-off in front of the camera for the first time in Bangkok Knockout. The story starts with a group of friends called The Fighting Club who audition for a Hollywood job. But they are lured into a gambling game with millionaires and have to fight to rescue their friends and families. Rittikrai and his assistant Kaewthanee produced several stunning shots from different martial arts — Capoeira, Free running, Tai Chi, Taekwando, Kung Fu and Muay Thai. Rittikrai himself also appears in the movie as the bad guy who fights with the Fighting Club.
MThirty-nine, the affiliate of Major Cineplex, the biggest theatre operator in Thailand, proved itself to be on the right track. It made four movies with the same team of producers and directors that once worked for RS Film. They had some box-office losses in the beginning because of the political crisis. But they finally turned-up trumps with the release of Rergchai Poungpetch’s A Loser Lover. Meanwhile, RS Film reorganised its filmmaking team and changed its name to FilmRus, with two productions that were distinctively targeted at domestic audiences. (Both films had no English titles).
Half of the year’s releases failed to make US$300,000 —the standard breakeven figure for a Thai film. Yes, the triumph of Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives saw a friendlier approach to independent films in Thailand. But “independent” here does not mean only art house filmmakers like Weerasethakul. Indies in Thailand can be classified into three groups — commercial indies, arthouse start-ups, and art house indies. The commercial indies started to emerge a few years ago. This group of indies usually make genre films like horror, action and comedy, in the same way as the mainstream directors — just only they have fewer budget. They come from all kinds of backgrounds — home video distributors, television program producers, actors, directors, etc.
Some of these filmmakers can make quite promising works. Producer-director Tom Waller tried directing his first Thai-language feature Mindfulness and Murder. Based on Nick Vilgus’s novel, it explores the murder of a boy in a temple in Bangkok. While the police ignored the case, Phra Ananda picks-up the clues on his own, using his experience as a former detective. His findings lead to unexpected corruption and misbehaviour by the temple’s monks.
But commercial independents sometimes do not have the power to negotiate with the theatre operators to release their films. So they don’t get wide releases. If a film doesn’t perform on the first weekend, its screenings are immediately cut. Consequently a lot of newcomers leave the industry very fast, after only one movie. Some companies also change their names frequently, in order to fool audiences into thinking they are new.
The second group —the art house start-ups —are serious amateur filmmakers like film students or technicians who make films and then release them in one art house theatre in Bangkok. They do not expect high takings, only exposure.
Last, and most importantly, are the art house indies, like Weerasethakul. These filmmakers usually ask for foreign funding and then use recognition from abroad to snag a domestic release. But after the success of Uncle Boonmee, they are now often given an earlier release at home. Four local art house independent films were given limited releases over the last year, including Uruphong Raksasad’s Agarian Utopia and Anocha Suwichakornpong’s Mundane History.
One of the surprises of the year was the Thai government’s film fund, which has alloted US$6.7 million to 69 features and 21 television projects, as well as other platforms and support initiatives. But not every project will receive full support and, even then, only a number of the funded projects will reach completion. However, the fund became controversial with the month-long protest by the independent filmmakers when half of the fund was given to the third and fourth installments of Legend of King Naresuan. Originally, the movie had only three installments, and the first two had already been released in 2007. The film also received another US$10,600,000 million from the Ministry of Commerce. With the protest led by Weerasethakul, the amount of US$1,600,000 million was taken back, to be distributed for the other applicants who failed in the first run.
Apichatpong’s Cannes winner was one of the recipients, as was Pen-Ek Ratanaruang’s Headshot, a film noir about a hitman and his strange experiences after he is shot in the head. Other films that will benefit from the fund include Aditya Assarat’s semi-autobiographical feature, Hi-So, about a man living in two cultures; Kong Rithdee and Panu Aree’s Baby Arabia, a documentary on the lives and music of a Muslim band; Sivaroj Kongsakul’s Eternity about the romance of his parents.
One controversy last year was the ban of Tanwarin Sukkhapisit’s Insects in the Backyard that shows the dysfunctional family of a gay father. The father writes porn novels, dresses up as a transvestite, and is deemed unacceptable by his teen daughter and son. The film was banned for its subject matter and because it exposed some taboos in Thai society. Director Sukkhapisit was filing a lawsuit with the Constitutional Court at press time.
If Thai politics stays steady in the following months, Thai cinema will be even more fluid and active, with a lot of new productions and the return of the studios and the independents. But with the National election looming, no one knows what’s around the corner. Anything could happen here.
Anchalee Chaiworaporn