Thai film industry hits new highs despite crisis
Thai film industry hits new highs despite crisis
By Peter Janssen
BANGKOK (DPA): This year is slated to go down in Thailand's
cinema history as the year of the first Thai blockbuster and the
making of the most expensive local film.
Naang Nak, a remake of one of Thailand's most popular love-
ghost stories, grossed 140 million baht (US$3.7 million) at the
box offices during its first three weeks at Bangkok theaters,
making it the highest earning Thai film in history.
Titanic, the Hollywood blockbuster, earned 200 million baht in
Thailand, leaving Naang Nak in its gigantic wake, but not too far
behind.
Suriyothai, a period piece of the 16th century Queen
Suriyothai of the Ayutthaya kingdom, will open in Bangkok
theaters at year-end, timed to coincide with Thai King Bhumibol
Adulyadej's 72nd birthday celebrations on Dec. 5.
The movie, directed by the renowned Prince Chatrichalerm
Yukol, has an estimated production budget of 200-300 million baht
($5.3 million to $7.9 millions).
"I'm not at liberty to say the exact amount but it is very
expensive," said the prince. He added coyly that the film is
being financed by "someone whom I have a lot of respect for", a
remark that appeared to reinforce rumors that Thai Queen Sirikit
is footing the bill.
"I think it is definitely Thailand's most expensive film," the
prince added.
Such extravagance seems misplaced in Thailand this year, when
the country is only beginning to recover from its worst economic
recession in decades.
Although Suriyothai is an exceptional case, industry experts
say the recession has, in general, been good for the quality of
Thai films, if not the quantity.
"If Thai films are getting better it's because people are
getting more careful about where they put their money," said
Brian Bennett, organizer of the Bangkok Film Festival.
Thailand's local film industry has been on a downward slide
for almost two decades. In it's heyday in the late 1970s, when
the local industry was protected by high tariffs on imported
movies, Thai producers churned out about 200 films per annum.
Last year 14 Thai films were made, and this year only nine are
expected. While it is easy to blame their declining popularity on
competition from Hollywood and video stores, local directors
admit that part of the problem is domestic.
Five years ago the only films Thai directors dared to make, or
could expect financial backing for, were teenybopper flicks
targeting Thai youngsters - presumably the only people who hang
out at Bangkok malls and multiplexes and demand movies they can
identify with during their self-centered pubescence.
The commercial success of Naang Nak may have killed the teen
trend.
Nonzee Nimibutr, maker of Naang Nak and one of Thailand's new
generation of Thai directors, said, "I don't know where the idea
that only teenager films can make money came from but it was a
dangerous notion."
"The audience for Thai films is still out there but you have
to offer them something different and of good quality," said
Nonzee in an interview with Deutsche Presse-Agentur.
While Naang Nak hardly offers a new plot (the story has been
remade on film and for TV at least 20 times), Nonzee has won
accolades for his cinematography, scenery and for emphasizing the
love story rather than the scary aspects of the legend.
Naang Nak is based on a story about a couple who lived in a
Bangkok suburb more than a century ago. The young Thai woman,
Nak, dies during childbirth when her husband, Mak, is away at
war, and then continues to live with him as a ghost upon his
return.
Noonzee says his movie cost 25 million baht ($657,895) to
produce, leaving the producer with a handsome profit.
"As far as I know of the nine films made in Thailand this year
none made money except for Naang Nak," said Bennett, who plans to
include the film in the Bangkok Film Festival on Sept. 17-26.
Bennet said that one reason the quality of local films has
improved is because directors are broadening their target
audience.
"In the past they only made very, very Thai films, but that
has died out," said Bennett.
For instance, Naang Nak was one of the first Thai movies to
include English sub-titles. Director Noonzee hopes to enter the
movie in the Seoul or perhaps even Cannes film festival.
Suriyothai director Prince Chatrichalerm is unabashedly
planning to enter his film, one of 40 movies and documentaries
that he has produced, in next year's Oscar's competition.
His film required five years of research and painstaking re-
creation of Ayutthaya style props, not to mention an elephant
battle scene with a cast of 10,000 extras.
The prince, one of the few established Thai directors already
known for high standards, is the first to admit that even quality
films need a common touch to succeed at the box office.
"A good film has got to touch people," said Chatrichalerm. "If
the story line is good, if it brings a tear to the eye or a laugh
to the lips, people will come to see it."