"Love" from "Live at the Scala"

Following his cheeky shot-for-shot remake of “Bangkok Traffic Love Story” for last month’s “Live at the Scala” performance-art micro-festival, some folks may have wondered why British filmmaker Richard DeDomenici didn’t opt for another Thai film that might have been closer to home, such as 2007’s “Love of Siam”, which had a pivotal scene that was actually filmed in the theatre’s spacious art-deco lobby.
Well, before he left Bangkok, DeDomenici rectified that oversight, and sat down on the landmark Scala bench to re-enact a one-minute scene from Chookiat Sakveerakul’s “Love of Siam”. He calls its “The Love of Siam: Redux”.
With DeDomenici taking Mario Maurer’s role, he got help from fellow “Live at the Scala” artist Brian Lobel. He was the guy who set up shop in the theatre’s ground-floor lobby and staged a three-hour performance of dances from famous movies.
With Lobel doing Witwisit Hirunwongkul’s part, the pair acted out a conversation in which Witwisit’s Mew and Mario’s Tong meet on the bench in the Scala, and Mew ends up inviting Tong over to his house so he can make him a music CD.
Forest Fringe’s Andy Field, curator of “Live at the Scala”, pitched in as “best boy”.
It’s a short and simple scene – not near as complicated as the six-minute remake of “Bangkok Traffic Love Story”, but is perhaps even more valuable as a video homage to one of Thai cinema’s great moments inside Bangkok’s last remaining single-screen movie theatre.
THE DIGITAL FUTURE

If Internet rumours are to be believed, the Apex cinemas in Siam Square will close for good in 2016. That’s the word from a Facebook post last week from House RCA that was in turn tweeted by Thai film blogger Jediyuth.
The Lido had been slated to close this year at the end of its lease to make way for another shopping mall, but now it’ll remain open for another three years and presumably close at the same time the Scala’s lease is finished.
After an outcry about its vision for more malls in an area already saturated by malls, landlord Chulalongkorn University said last year that “plans have yet to be developed regarding the future” of the Lido and Scala sites.
Meanwhile, the Apex chain has added digital projection. It’s a move that rankles film purists but ensures the theatres will remain competitive.
And, instead charging more for digital “films” like other theatre chains do, the ticket price at Apex remains the same bargain as it has always been – Bt100 – less than half the price than the flashy mall multiplexes charge on some days for some movies.
Digital projectors are in operation at the Scala and the Lido 2.
The old film projectors are still fired up to show the previews as well as the Royal Anthem.
While it’s sad to see film projection fade, the switch to digital is a necessity, as many new releases are only available in digital format.