FRIDAY, March 29, 2024
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Artistic courage overcomes fear to create a hit movie

Artistic courage overcomes fear to create a hit movie

Thai blockbuster 'Pee Mak' breaks the mould by being funny, romantic and contemporary, bringing deserved plaudits to its director and producers.

One defining moment in the local blockbuster film “Pee Mak” is when the hero throws away his Buddha amulet in a brave act inspired by love. The movie poses the question of whether love can overcome the fear of ghosts, but the filmmakers should also be praised for overcoming the fear of treating an immensely popular tale in an entirely different light. They have taken Thailand’s best-known ghost story and come up with something romantic, funny and extraordinary.

It has been quite a while since Thailand last saw a locally made film become the talk of the town, but “Pee Mak” has ended the drought. GTH’s remake of the classic story is the 30th filmed version – we’ve had 24 movies and six TV series – so it’s refreshing that director Banjong Pisantanakun has taken such a unique approach. 
It takes artistic courage to break away from the conventional “Mae Nak” tale, which customarily involves sadness, violence driven by extreme protectiveness, and the fear of ghosts. The new version replaces all that with clever humour and teen-style romance. Rather than a drama-horror, “Pee Mak” is a horror-comedy.
The new approach was carefully planned, starting with the title “Pee Mak”. This is the first time the name Mae Nak isn’t used in the film title. The story is told through husband Mak’s perspective, instead of the ghost’s as in previous movies. Casting teen heartthrob Mario Maurer as Mak was a follow-up surprise. He’s half-Thai and half-German and doesn’t look like any Mak we’ve known in the past. The director adapts the character by making him half-Thai, half-American, and his name is actually Mark. “You can call me Mak,” he tells his Thai friends, “like all Thais do.”
Mak’ four best friends crack up the audience every time they appear on screen. The so-called “gang of four” are GTH-nurtured actors who have appeared before as a group – in the studio’s hit horrors “Phobia” (“See Phrang”) and “Phobia 2” (“Ha Phrang”). 
“Pee Mak” is by far the cinema sensation of the summer, taking in Bt260 million after 11 days up to Sunday, so it’s easy to conclude that the comedy approach has struck a chord with the public. But before its release, no one could guarantee success. All the director could do was take on the challenge and follow his artistic instinct. 
Generations of Thais know the “Mae Nak” story by heart. Many people even believe the ghost really existed. Some even worship the spirit of Mae Nak at Mahabutr Temple in Bangkok’s once-rural Phra Khanong district. Dealing with such well-known subject matter wasn’t easy. In 1999 veteran director Nonzee Nimitbutr made his “Nang Nak” as a beautiful love story while still maintaining the scary parts in the film. The film won awards locally and internationally, for its artistic direction. Fourteen years later, Banjong picks up the same story, adding “artistic courage” as the main ingredient. 
The fresh approach is to portray Nak and Mak as a modern couple in a contemporary setting. Both Mae Nak (played by Davika “Mai” Hoorne) and Mak are characters with whom teens can identify. They tease each other like today’s teens do. There is neither old-fashioned language nor poetry, but their characterisations are not too modern for older generations of Mae Nak fans. 
All the so-called “Mae Nak signatures” are there in “Pee Mak”, including the extended hand picking a lime from a tree under the house, Mae Nak’s worms and leaves for supper, and the upside-down Nak. Yet the most daring part of “Pee Mak” is the extremely unexpected ending. Banjong might be criticised by “purist” Mae Nak followers, but he was brave enough to have it played his way. It is the first time in the history of the “Mae Nak” tale that the female ghost is not forced to part with her lover. 
Mak pretends everything is normal after learning about Nak’s death so that he can live with her. Even better, they – Mak and Nak and the gang of four – can go on with their lives as others do – playing games, doing business and going to temple fairs. The movie’s ending breaks all the “Mae Nak” stereotypes, and it is an ending that Mae Nak herself might have liked the most. 
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