THURSDAY, March 28, 2024
nationthailand

Cinema as history

Cinema as history

Another 25 entries are added to the Archive's historical registry

TWENTY-FIVE NEW titles have been added to the listing of “Films as National Heritage” by the Culture Ministry and the Thai Film Archive, ranging from 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.
Made in 1918, the oldest entry on this year’s list is “The Siamese Military in the First World War”, which depicts 1,233 Siamese volunteers sent to France by King Rama VI. Produced by the French government, the hour-long film was actually shown in Thailand in 1919, according to Thai Film Archive deputy director Sanchai Chotirosseranee, who cites newspaper ads from the era.
“The film had been considered lost until last year, when France observed the centenary of World War I. The French Embassy and Alliance Francaise exhibited rare photographs and this film footage, which was well preserved at the archives of the French Ministry of Defence,” Sanchai says.
Another early clip is “Playful Kids in the Reign of King Rama VII”, seven minutes of anonymous “found footage” from the late 1920s or early ’30s that shows children playing traditional games, dancing, pretend-fighting and acting out scenes from Western films. “The footage shows the influence of film on Siamese society in that period,” Sanchai notes.
Several entries come from the US Information Service, the propaganda arm of America’s diplomatic corps. Among them is “Thai Army Goes to Korean War”, which shows Thai troops joining the fight against communism. “Heritage from King Mongkut”, from 1954, recounts the contributions of American missionary and physician Dan Beach Bradley, who popularised Western medicine in Thai society and rigged a printing press with Thai script to publish the first vernacular newspaper.
From 1956 is the USIS-produced “The Ordination of the King”, documenting the ceremony by which His Majesty King Bhumibol entered the monkhood. Another Cold War relic is “The Spread of Kinship”, a 1960s anti-communist propaganda film produced with support from the USIS.
Their Majesties the King and Queen also appear in “Field Marshal Sarit Thanarat Performing the Duty for His Nation as Head of Government and Military Commander Until He Fell Ill and Died”, which depicts the bedridden Sarit taking the hand of the King and putting it over his head.
Another monkhood ordination is depicted in 1963’s “Yuthana und Siripon Monch auf Zeit”, which was made by German documentarian Hans Berthel and National Artist lensman Tae Prakardwuttisan, following a middle-class Bangkok couple as they visit tourist attractions and attend an ordination ceremony.
King Kong has a starring role in an artefact from the lost era of regional cinema, 1959’s “Ta-mone Prai”, which 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.
A Thai cinema “first” came in 1978’s “Wai Tok Kra”, which was the first Thai film to feature elderly people as central characters. “The film had actual senior actors, not young, famous actors in makeup,” Sanchai explains.
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”, which won a special award at the 19th Asia-Pacific Film Festival in Singapore, 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, portrayed by Natthinee Sittisaman.
Aside from Piak, other notable filmmakers on this year’s list include Manop Udomdej and his 1981 activist drama “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” (“15 Kham Duean 11”).
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.
Finally, there’s 2007’s “The Love of Siam”, the widely acclaimed, award-winning hit that brought gay romance to the mainstream. It was a breakthrough for young director Chookiat Sakveerakul, as well as the film’s stars, leading man Mario Maurer, actor-musician Witwisit Hiranyawongkul and the August band.


NOTABLE CLIPS
 Here are the 2015 additions to the registry of “Films as National Heritage” by the Thai Film Archive and the Culture Ministry:
“The Siamese Military in the First World War”, 1918/63.26 min
“The Playful Kids in the Reign of King Rama VII”, 1927-32)/7 min
“Pan-Tai Norasingh”, 1950/98 min
“Thai Army Goes to Korean War”, 1951-52)/7.42 min
“Heritage from King Mongkut”, 1954/60 min
“The Ordination of the King”, 1956/13.42 min
“The Commercial of the Monk Coin for 25th Buddhist Century Anniversary”, 1957/4.52 min
“Ta-mone Prai”, 1959/42 min
“Field Marshal Sarit Thanarat Performing the Duty for His Nation as Head of Government and Military Commander”, 1963/25.16 min.
“Yuthana und Siripon Monch auf Zeit”, 1963/44.54 min
“The Spread of Kinship”, 1966-68/103 min
“Choo”, 1972/145 min
“Wai Tok Kra”, 1978/122 min
“Ngoa Ba”, 1980/86.21 min
“On the Fringe of Society”, 1981/90 min
“Puen-Paeng”, 1983/131 min
“Duay Klao”, 1987/107 min
“Baan Phi Pob 2”, 1990/91 min
“Ruang Talok 69”, 1999/115 min
“Bang Rajan”, 2000/118 min.
“Suriyothai”, 2001/142 min.
“Mekhong Full Moon Party”, 2002/120 min
“Ong-Bak”, 2003/104 min
“Shutter”, 2004/92 min
“The Love of Siam”, 2007/171 min
 

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