Controversy in the wings
The controversial 2015 Thai film “Arbat” (“Apatti”) is likely to again be the subject of heated discussion this month when it returns to cinemas on March 16, albeit re-edited, in a “director’s cut” version and with a new title, “Pret Arbat”.
Rookie director Kanittha Kwunyoo knew right from the start that her horror movie was likely to cause controversy and her fears were confirmed when the movie was banned by the board of censors and had to undergo severe editing and a title change to “Apatti” before it could be re-submitted to the censorship board and finally released.
But every cloud has a silver lining and a film that probably would not have attracted too much attention became a box office success, raking in more than Bt50 million in takings. Praise was heaped on the story and the Federation of National Film Associations of Thailand even went as far as submitting “Apatti” as the Thai entry for the Oscar’s best foreign language film award.
Back then producer Prachya Pinkaew told XP that he would find a way to release the original version again and now he’s keeping that promise.
The director, who also wrote the script, says that the five years she spent on the project inspired her to tell a slightly different version of the story. She also admits that the director’s cut has given her the opportunity to include an issue she omitted from the initial screenplay knowing that it would be edited out.
The film is thus coming out in its complete version and represents what she really intends to say. The gist though and its central messages about sin and the karma in the Buddhist faith remain the same.
However, the film has yet to be submitted for rating purposes, so watch this space.
