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."