| Cinema of Thailand | |
|---|---|
 | |
| No. ofscreens | 757 (2010)[1] |
| • Per capita | 1.2 per 100,000 (2010)[1] |
| Main distributors | GDH 559/GTH Sahamongkol Film International Five Star Production[2] |
| Produced feature films (2005-2009)[3] | |
| Total | 45 (average) |
| Number of admissions (2010)[4] | |
| Total | 28,300,000 |
| Gross box office (2012)[5] | |
| Total | $142 million |
Thecinema of Thailand dates back to theearly days of filmmaking, whenKing Chulalongkorn's 1897 visit toBern,Switzerland was recorded by François-Henri Lavancy-Clarke. The film was then brought toBangkok, where it was exhibited. This sparked more interest in film by theThai Royal Family and local businessmen, who brought in filmmaking equipment and started to exhibit foreign films. By the 1920s, a local film industry had started and in the 1930s, theThai film industry had its first "golden age", with a number of studios producing films.
The years after theSecond World War saw a resurgence of the industry, which used16 mm film to produce hundreds of films, many of them hard-driving action films. The most notable action filmmaker in the 1970s wasChalong Pakdivijit. Known internationally as P. Chalong or Philip Chalong, Chalong became the first Thai director who could successfully break into the international market and made a profit with his 1973 action-packed film called 'GOLD' (S.T.A.B.).[6]
Competition fromHollywood brought the Thai industry to a low point in the 1980s and 1990s, but by the end of the 1990s, Thailand had its "new wave", with such directors asNonzee Nimibutr,Pen-Ek Ratanaruang andApichatpong Weerasethakul, as well as action heroTony Jaa, being celebrated at film festivals around the world.
Auguste and Louis Lumière had a film exhibition that toured inSoutheast Asia in 1894, and on 9 June 1897, "the wonderful Parisian cinematograph" was screened inBangkok, and is the first known film screening in Thailand.[7]
That same year, the film of the visit to Europe by KingChulalongkorn was brought back to Thailand, along with camera equipment acquired by the king's brother, Prince Thongthaem Sambassatra. (Thai:พระองค์เจ้าทองแถมถวัลยวงศ์ กรมหลวงสรรพสาตรศุภกิจ) The prince, considered "the father of Thai cinema", made many films and his work was shown commercially.[8]
Japanese businessmen opened the first permanent cinema, the Japanese Cinematograph, in 1905. Japanese films were so popular thatnang yipun became the generic term for all moving pictures. European and American films were callednangfarang (after thenang drama (shadow puppet plays) that were a Thai traditional art).[9]
Under another member of the royal family,Prince Kamphangphet, the Topical Film Service of theState Railway of Thailand was set up. The service produced many promotional documentaries for the railroad and other government agencies and became an important training ground for many filmmakers.[10] One of the early works produced wasSam Poi Luang: Great Celebration in the North (Thai: สามปอยหลวง), a docudrama that became a hit when it was released in 1940.[11]
Another of the first Thai films wasNang Sao Suwan, orMiss Suwanna of Siam, aHollywood co-production with the Topical Film Service that was directed and scripted byHenry MacRae. It premiered on 22 June 1923, in Bangkok at the Phathanakorn Cinematograph.Miss Suwanna has been lost over the years, with only a few still photos from it remaining.[12]
The first all-Thai feature wasChok Sorng Chan (Double Luck), produced by the Wasuwat brothers' Bangkok Film Company in 1927 and directed byManit Wasuwat (Thai: มานิต วสุวัต). That same year, a film company, Tai Phapphayon Thai Company, producedMai Khit Loei (Unexpected).[11]
Seventeen films were made between 1927 and 1932, but only fragments have survived, such as a one-minute car chase fromChok Song Chan[13] or a two- to three-minute boxing match fromKhrai Di Khrai Dai (None But the Brave).[14]
Hollywood would also make movies in Siam during this time, including thedocumentaryChang, byMerian C. Cooper andErnest B. Schoedsack, about a poor farmer struggling to carve out a living in the jungle.[15] In making the film, they were assisted by PrinceYugala Dighambara, grandfather of modern-day filmmaker PrinceChatrichalerm Yukol.
Robert Kerr, who served as assistant director to Henry MacRae onMiss Suwanna, returned to Siam in 1928 to direct his own film,The White Rose. It was shown in Bangkok in September 1928.
By 1928, the first "talkies" were being imported, providing some serious competition for thesilent Thai films. In the tradition of thebenshi in Japan, local cinemas had entertaining narrators to introduce the films as well as traditional Thai orchestras that were often as big an audience pleaser as the films themselves, but within two or three years, silent movies had given way to the talkies.
The first Thai sound film wasLong Thang (Gone Astray), produced by the Wasuwat brothers, and premiered on 1 April 1932. Considered an ideological film in the period of political reform, the film proved a big success and led to the building of the Sri Krung Talkie Film Company inBang Kapi.[16] It produced three to four films a year.
In 1933, Sri Krung made the first colour Thai film,Grandpa Som's Treasure (Pu Som Fao Sap).
This period up until 1942 is regarded by scholars as the "Golden Age" of Thai film.
Among the hit films of this period was the 1938musical,Klua Mia (Wife-phobia) by the Srikrung studio. It was shot on35-mm colour stock. The stars were Chamras Suwakhon and Manee Sumonnat, the first Thai actors to be recognized as movie stars by having their names painted on their chairs while filming at the studio.[17]
As theSecond World War loomed, and the country being led by adictatorship under Field MarshalPlaek Pibulsonggram film companies were pressed into service to makepropaganda films to whip upnationalism.
Opposition politics found their way into film, too, with statesmanPridi Phanomyong producingKing of the White Elephant, in 1940. With all the dialogue inEnglish, Pridi hoped to send a message to the outside world that he was unhappy with the militaristic direction his country was taking. The film depicts the story of an ancient Siamese king who only goes to war after he has been attacked.
The advent of sound raised another problem for cinemas in Thailand: the language of the talkies. Soon adubbing method developed in which a dubber would provide a simultaneous translation of the dialogue by speakingThai into a microphone at the back of the theater. The first Thai dubber was Sin Sibunruang, or "Tit Khiaw", who had worked for Siam Film Company and was the editor of the company's film magazine. Tit Khiaw and other talented dubbers became stars in their own right. They would perform all the roles in the films, both male and female, as well as such sound effects as animal noises, cars and gunfire.
Also, there were film companies that could not afford to make sound films, and would make films with the intention that they would be dubbed at screenings by live performers reading from a script. These dubbed films proved as popular as the talkies, especially if the dubber was well known.
Due to the extensive use of16 mm film in the 1970s, the technique has lasted up until recent years, especially foroutdoor screenings of films at temple fairs in rural areas. Examples of a dubber at work can be seen in contemporary Thai films,Monrak Transistor (2000) andBangkok Loco (2004).
After the end of the Second World War, filmmaking got under way again in Thailand using surplus16 mm black-and-white stock from wartimenewsreel production.
At least two Thai films were produced in 1946. One was anaction film,Chai Chatree (Brave Men), directed by journalist-turned-filmmaker Chalerm Sawetanant. The screenplay was by writer Malai Chupinij, who would go on to script other films of the era, includingChao Fah Din Salai (Till Death Do Us Part). The other film noted by the National Film Archive for 1946 was an adaptation of aThai folktale,Chon Kawao (The Village of Chon Kawao).[18][dead link]
The post-war boom in filmmaking really took off, however, with the use of 16-mm colour-reversal film, which was easy to obtain and make films with. The vividly coloured films were popular with audiences as well, prompting dozens of new filmmakers to enter the business.[19]
Similar to thedubbing of films during the pre-war years, some of these films used dubbers to provide dialogue and sound effects as the film was running, further adding to the entertainment value of the movies. From 1947 until 1972, 16 mm was the industry standard for Thai film production.[19]
The first hit of the era was 1949'sSuparb Burut Sua Thai (Thai Gentlemen Fighters), which outgrossedHollywood films at the local box office. That success prompted more enthusiasm for filmmaking, giving rise to the second "golden age" of Thai cinema.[20]
At the height of the 16-mm era, cinematographer and directorRattana Pestonji sought to use35 mm film and generally improve the artistic quality of Thai films. Most of his films are regarded today as masterpieces, includingSanti-Weena, which was the first Thai film to be entered into international competition, at the 1954Asia Pacific Film Festival inTokyo, and 1961'sBlack Silk, the first Thai film in competition at theBerlin International Film Festival.
Though Rattana made relatively few films, he worked tirelessly to promote the industry, and died in 1970 as he was to make a speech to government officials about setting up a national film agency.
Thailand saw an explosion of locally produced films during the 1970s after the Thai government imposed a heavy tax on imported films in 1977, which led to a boycott of Thailand by Hollywood studios. To pick up the slack, 150 Thai films were made in 1978 alone. Many of these films were low-grade action films and were derided by critics and scholars as "nam nao" or "stinking water".
But socially conscious films were being made as well, especially by PrinceChatrichalerm Yukol, a US-educated filmmaker and member of theThai Royal Family, whose own family had been involved with filmmaking since the industry started in Thailand. Among Chatrichalerm's films during the 1970s wasKhao Chue Karn (Dr. Karn), which addressed corruption in the Thaicivil service and was nearly banned by the military-dominated regime ofThanom Kittikachorn.[21] Chatrichalerm also madeHotel Angel (Thep Thida Rong Raem), about a young woman trapped into a life ofprostitution. He made dozens of films along these socially conscious lines through the 1990s, working up to his lavish historical epic,The Legend of Suriyothai in2001.
Another filmmaker active during this time wasVichit Kounavudhi, who made his share of action films as well as more socially conscious works likeFirst Wife, about the custom of men taking "second wives" or "mia noi" – aeuphemism formistress. Vichit also madeHer Name is Boonrawd (1985), aboutprostitution around anAmerican militaryairbase during theVietnam War. Vichit's best known works are two semi-documentary films,Mountain People (Khon Phukao), an adventure tale about a younghill-tribe couple, andLook Isan (Son of the Northeast), about a family of subsistence farmers in 1930sIsan.
Also in 1985, directorEuthana Mukdasanit madePee Seua lae Dawkmai (Butterfly and Flowers), highlighting hardships along theSouthern Thailand border. Not only did the film help expose urban Thais to regional poverty, the film broke new ground in its portrayal of aBuddhist-Muslim relationship. It won the Best Film award at theHawaii International Film Festival.
By 1981, Hollywood studios were once again sending films to Thailand. Also,television (see alsoMedia in Thailand) was a growing part of Thai culture. This was a low period for the Thai film industry, and by the mid-1990s, studio output was averaging about 10 films per year.[22]
In the wake of theAsian financial crisis in 1997, three directors oftelevision commercials –Nonzee Nimibutr,Pen-Ek Ratanaruang andWisit Sasanatieng – were thinking that films needed to be more artistic to attract investors and audiences.
The first breakthrough was in 1997, with Nonzee's crime drama,Dang Bireley's and Young Gangsters (2499 Antapan Krong Muang), which earned a record box office take of more than 75 million baht. Also in 1997, Pen-Ek's crime comedy,Fun Bar Karaoke, was selected to play at theBerlin Film Festival – the first time in twenty years that Thai cinema had had any kind of an international presence.[22]
Nonzee's next film, the ghost storyNang Nak, was an even bigger success, earning 149.6 millionbaht – the highest-grossing film at the time.
Wisit, who wrote screenplays forDang Bireley's andNang Nak, broke out withTears of the Black Tiger, a super-stylisedwestern homage to the Thai action films of the 1960s and '70s. It was the first film to be included on the programme at theCannes Film Festival.
There were also thePang Brothers fromHong Kong, who came to Thailand to make stylish movies, starting withBangkok Dangerous and the nod toJ-Horror,The Eye.
With theNew Wave directors achieving commercial and artistic success, a new crop of filmmakers has grown up outside the traditional and often restrictive Thai studio system to create experimental short films and features.[23]
The leader of this indie movement isApichatpong Weerasethakul, whose2002 featureBlissfully Yours won theUn Certain Regard Prize at theCannes Film Festival. Featuring a risqué sex scene involving aBurmese man and aThai woman in the jungle, the movie received only limited screenings in Thailand and a Thai-releasedDVD of the film was censored.[24] Apichatpong's next film,Tropical Malady, featuring a gay romance between an army soldier and a country guy, was a jury-prize winner at Cannes. It, too, only received limited screenings in Thailand.[25]
Other indie directors includeAditya Assarat (Wonderful Town),Anocha Suwichakornpong (Mundane History),Pimpaka Towira (One Night Husband),Thunska Pansittivorakul (Voodoo Girls),Sivaroj Kongsakul (Eternity),Wichanon Somumjarn (In April the Following Year, There Was a Fire) andNawapol Thamrongrattanarit (36).
With the emergence ofGMM Grammy's own film studio,GTH and nowGDH 559, Thailand's current mainstream film industry had made a slate of numerous commercially & critically successful films such asFan Chan,Shutter,Kung Fu Tootsie,Bangkok Traffic Love Story and Thailand's most successful and its highest-grossing film,Pee Mak, which earned has earned more than 1 billion baht ($33 million) in revenue worldwide (mostly in Asia), and is currently the highest-grossing Thai film.[26]
Under GDH, formed after an internal company dispute it continued to produce a slate of successful films such asOne Day,The Promise andNattawut Poonpiriya's school heist thriller,Bad Genius starringChutimon Chuengcharoensukying, which grossed around 112.15 million baht ($3.3 million).[27]Bad Genius is currently registered as a national heritage film by theThai Film Archive in its eighth annual listing, given its significance to the modern Thai film industry and contemporary Thai culture.[28][29]
All films,VCDs and DVDs are placed under scrutiny of a censorship board. Until 2009, films were regulated by the Film Act of 1930.[30]
The first board ofcensors included both men and women and was drawn from the ranks of aristocracy, the civil service and the police. Each film passed by the censors had to include a stamp on each reel, and each item of printed advertising had to contain the stamp, too. The National Police was responsible for screening films and videos until September 2005, when the government's Ministry of Culture took over the function. Every VCD and DVD sold for home viewing must bear a stamp that it has passed the Censorship Board.
On some VCDs and DVDs produced in Thailand, the censors sometimes take a hard line against depictions ofnudity,sex,smoking, the presence ofalcohol andguns being pointed at people, images that are forbidden on broadcast television. In other instances, violent acts might pass through uncut, but sex and nudity will be edited out.
Before thedigital age, scissors andpetroleum jelly were the tools of the trade for censors. Today the offending images are blurred out electronically. The effect ofpixelization is so pervasive that the practice has been satirised in films, including2004's action comedy,Jaew orM.A.I.D., as well as thezombie comedy,SARS Wars.
Imported DVDs are generally not altered by the Thai authorities, though the Ministry of Culture's watchdogs do ban items, or at least strongly encourage retailers to not carry them. From the time the Ministry of Culture took over the censorship board until March 2006, about 40 VCD or DVD titles were banned, though a list of the banned items was not made available.[31]
In 2007, the independent film,Syndromes and a Century was to undergo cuts before public release in Thailand. The censors objected to depictions of aBuddhist monk playing guitar, a physician kissing his girlfriend, some doctors drinking whisky in a hospital conference room and some monks playing with a remote-control flying saucer.[32] DirectorApichatpong Weerasethakul would not make the cuts and withdrew his film from release in Thailand. It had previously screened in other countries uncut.[33]
After the controversy overSyndromes and a Century, the Free Thai Cinema Movement started to gain momentum in late April 2007.[34] A petition signed by artists and scholars was submitted to theNational Legislative Assembly, which was considering a newmotion picture ratings system. The proposed system, passed by themilitary-appointedNational Legislative Assembly proved controversial as well, as it would not imposes ratings structure but also keeps censorship in place.[35]
The 1930 Film Act was replaced in 2009 by a film-ratings system. The ratings system has six classifications – G for general audiences, P for "promote" as educational, 13+, 15+ and 18+ suggested viewing ages and the restricted 20- rating, which requires ID checks at the cinemas.[36] A hidden seventh tier of the system is an outright ban by the Film and Video sub-committee.[37]
Action films are a predominant genre of Thai film. During the 1960s and '70s, whenMitr Chaibancha andSombat Metanee were the leading action heroes, hundreds of hard-hitting, explosive features were made.
In recent years, themartial arts films starringTony Jaa,Ong-Bak: Muay Thai Warrior andTom-Yum-Goong, have put Thai action films on the international map.Kerd ma lui (Born to Fight) is in the same vein, and gives more exposure to action choreographerPanna Rittikrai, who toiled for decades making low-budget,direct-to-video action films featuring dangerous stunt choreography.
The culture of Thailand's B-movie stuntmen is further examined in the 2005 documentary,Crying Tigers, bySanti Taepanich.
Action comedies have also proven to be popular, including 2001'sKiller Tattoo byYuthlert Sippapak, who cast well-known Thai comedians, includingPetchtai Wongkamlao andSuthep Po-ngam, in roles as bumbling hitmen.
Thai animation got underway after theSecond World War, when artistSanae Klaikluen was asked by the Thai government to make a shortanimated cartoon that instructed Thai citizens to wear hats and farmers to wear boots.
Sanae in turn influencedPayut Ngaokrachang, who made a 1955 short about a traffic cop calledHaed Mahasajan. Payut went on to make Thailand's first and only cel-animated feature film,The Adventure of Sudsakorn, in 1979.
Because of the labour-intensive work involved with animation, it was cheaper for studios to make live-action films, so animation was eschewed. But in recent years, Thailand's technology community has sought to make the country a hub forcomputer animation, with many animated television shows, commercials and video games being created in Thailand.
In 2006, Thailand's first computer-animated feature film was released,Khan Khluay, aboutKing Naresuan the Great's war elephant. It is directed byKompin Kemgunerd, on suchDisney features asAtlantis: The Lost Empire andTarzan andBlue Sky Studios'Ice Age. Although the work is being done on computers, Kompin has faced many of the same difficulties in funding and human resources that Payut faced.
No matter what the genre of Thai film, most films – be they action, horror or romantic dramas – have some element of comedy.
One of the classic comedies from the 1960s is calledNgern Ngern Ngern (Money, Money, Money). It starredMitr Chaibancha andPetchara Chaowarat in a story about the nephew of an unscrupulous moneylender who takes sides with a group of debtors against his uncle. The remake of the film was done in the 1980s.
In 2005, the comedyLuang phii theng (The Holy Man) starring comedianPongsak Pongsuwan as a street hood who becomes aBuddhist monk, was one of the top films at the domestic box office.
Most of the films byPen-Ek Ratanaruang have beencrime films, from his debut feature 1997'sFun Bar Karaoke to 2006'sInvisible Waves.
A true-crime film, 2003'sMacabre Case of Prom Pirom (Keunbab prompiram) by veteran directorManop Udomdej, about a 1977 murder-rape of a young woman in a rural village was controversial because the village where the case took place did not want the incident revisited. The film played at many overseas festivals, including theNew York Asian Film Festival.
Another true-crime case about a cannibalistic serial killer in 1946Bangkok was depicted in the 2004 filmZee-Oui.
Kathoey (transgender people) or gay people are often featured ascomic relief orvillains in mainstream Thai films, but there have been a number offilms that make gay people and kathoey the main characters.[38] Transgender people and gay people are also known as "tdoot", originated from the title of the 1982 American filmTootsie.One of the first wasYoungyooth Thongkonthun'sIron Ladies, orSatree lek, based on a true story about a transgendergay men's volleyball team that won a national championship in 1996. It was a huge hit on the international festival circuit. The 2000 comedy spawned a sequel in 2003,The Iron Ladies 2(Satree lek 2).More loosely based on a true incident was the 2002 filmSaving Private Tootsie, which tells the story of a group of gay and kathoey entertainers who are lost in rebel-held jungle territory after their plane crashes. A squad from the Thai army, led by a gruff, homophobic sergeant played by veteran actorSorapong Chatree, goes to the rescue.And the life oftransgenderMuay Thai championParinya Kiatbusaba (or Nong Tum) is related in 2003'sBeautiful Boxer, directed byEkachai Uekorngtham. UnlikeThe Iron Ladies,Beautiful Boxer was less comedic in tone.The 2003 filmTropical Malady, directed byApichatpong Weerasethakul, depicts a romance between a Thai army soldier and a local small-town boy. The narrative of the film then abruptly shifts in the middle to relate afolk tale about a tigershaman, with the soldier alone in the jungle, haunted by the tiger-shaman's spirit. The film won a jury prize at theCannes Film Festival.Apichatpong also co-directed the low-budget digital movie,The Adventure of Iron Pussy, with artistMichael Shaowanasai, who portrays a transgender secret agent. A musical, the movie also was an homage and a parody of the Thai films of the 1960s and '70s, with Shaowansai basing his character on the actressPetchara Chaowarat.In 2005, Thai filmRainbow Boys, depicting a contemporary gay relationship, produced byVitaya Saeng-aroon, saw a limited-release screening. Vitaya also produced the comedy-dramaClub M2, set in a gay sauna.[39] And in 2006 there wasThe Last Song, a remake of a 1985 Thai film about a transsexual cabaret dancer and her struggle to find acceptance and true love.Me ... Myself (Thai:ขอให้รักจงเจริญ orKaw hai rak jong jaroen) is a 2007 Thai romantic drama film written and directed by actor-singer Pongpat Wachirabunjong. In the film,Ananda Everingham stars as a male dancer in a drag cabaret who must re-find himself after being struck by a car and suffering fromamnesia.Another 2007 film,Bangkok Love Story, directed byPoj Arnon, was critically hailed as a departure from the stereotyped view of homosexuals as transvestites.Gay Thai independent film producer similarly praised the film, saying directorPoj Arnon was "brave enough to shake society up".
In 2011, Thanwarin Sukhaphisit'sInsects in the Backyard, a movie depicting the struggles of a family in which a transgender teenage son and daughter's lives are tormented by a lack of communication and an inability to communicate with their biological father to the point that they end up selling their bodies looking, very much in vain, for a way out of their own lives, became the first film to receive the Haw Heep rating, which banned the distribution and showing of the film.[40] There is one scene which the national board of film reviewers deemed to be pornographic in nature and therefore determined in an impediment to national order.
In 2012, Thanwarin'sIt Gets Better is marketed to a more mainstream audience, and was admitted by the film committee. The film portrays the story of a young boy whose father forces him to become a monk after he catches him wearing his mother's clothes and dancing around effeminately in his room. At first the boy resists, but is then captivated by the beauty of the monk who comes out of the temple, and so immediately changes his mind. The story runs alongside two other narratives, one of a man returned to Thailand to sell his father's business and the other of a woman whose purpose seems unclear throughout the story until the very end. We find out that the monk is the woman, who has come back to see her father but is killed by a thief before she can make amends with him. It turns out the bar/dance club was hers and her death is the reason for her son's return to Thailand; his father's identity was kept from him his whole life, but after he learns everything from his biological father's office, he goes to see his grandfather and the story ends.
Another staple of the Thai film industry, among the biggest was 2003'sThe Legend of Suriyothai byChatrichalerm Yukol, who had done research for many years to write the screenplay. With a huge budget, support from the royal family and the cooperation across the nation's film industry, this film is considered a true "national film".[41] A follow-up epic is 2007'sKing Naresuan, about 16th century rulerKing Naresuan the Great, which topped the budget forSuriyothai, and was shown in two parts.
Other epics includeBang Rajan byThanit Jitnukul, who has made several other historical battle epics, includingSema: Warrior of Ayutthaya andKun Pan: Legend of the Warlord.
More recent history is depicted inThe Overture, covering the life of a palace musician from the late 19th century to the 1940s, andThe Tin Mine, set at a mine in southern Thailand in the 1950s.
Many of the Thai early horror movies such as 1958Mae Nak Phra Khanong and 1973 movieKrasue Sao (Ghosts of Guts Eater),Thai:กระสือสาว,[42] featuredMae Nak andKrasue, ancient villageghosts of Thai folklore that became very popular.Nonzee Nimibutr'sNang Nak in 1999 was a ghost story based on the same folkloric theme that had been depicted dozens of times throughout the history of Thai cinema and television. But it gave rise to a new crop of Thai horror and suspense films, including thePang Brothers'The Eye, Nonzee's pan-Asian compilationThree,Bangkok Haunted, directed byPisuth Praesaeng-Iam andOxide Pang and the 2004 box-office smashShutter byBanjong Pisonthanakun andParkpoom Wongpoom.
In 2013,Pee Mak Phra Khanong, another spin-off fromMae Nak folklore, became an instant hit throughout Southeast Asia, earning more than ฿1 billion.Pee Mak is currently the highest grossing Thai film in the history of Thai cinema.[citation needed]
Examples of slasher movies includeArt of the Devil and a 2005 sequel (Long khong), as well asScared andNarok (Hell), also in 2005.
The horror genre also has spawned a number of genre-blending horror comedies, most notably the films ofYuthlert Sippapak,Buppah Rahtree (featured at theToronto International Film Festival) and a sequel, andKrasue Valentine. There has even been azombie movie, 2004'sSARS Wars.
The biggest hit musical was 1970'sMonrak luk thung (Magical Love in the Countryside), starringMitr Chaibancha andPetchara Chaowarat. It was hugely popular, playing in cinemas for six months.
As a result, a whole genre ofluk thung musicals, rhapsodizing Thailand's rural life inIsan was created. Another example wasDokdin Kanyamarn's 1971 musical comedy,Ai Tui (Mr. Tui), which starredSombat Metanee and Petchara.
In 2001 there were two movies that celebrated luk thung, the singing-contest comedyMonpleng Luk Thung FM (Hoedown Showdown) andPen-Ek Ratanaruang's,Monrak Transistor, which paid tribute to the music ofSuraphol Sombatcharoen. And in 2005, comedian-actor-directorPetchtai Wongkamlao wrote, directed and starred inYam Yasothon, a colourful homage to the 1970s musicals. It was one of top films at the Thai box office.
Weepy, sentimental romance stories are audience favorites. Historically,Cherd Songsri's 1970s filmPlae Chow (The Old Scar) is a classic tale of star-crossed lovers, and was one of the first Thai films to be a success internationally.
During the 1980s,Baan Sai Thong based on the novelKor Surangkanang was a popular hit.[43] More recent examples includeThe Letter, in which tissues were actually handed out at the cinemas.
Childhood romance was a hit with 2003'sFan Chan, which was made by six directors. One of the six,Komgrit Treewimol, went on to make the college-age romance,Dear Dakanda, a hit in 2005, but took three years to completely write, cast, film, and tweak.
Today, the romcom genre dominates the Thai cinema industry with the majority of the films are produced and distributed byGMM Grammy'sGTH andGDH 559 with films likeHormones,Hello Stranger,I Fine..Thank You..Love You,Heart Attack and under GDHOne Day byBanjong Pisanthanakun.
As a genre, teen films arose in the 1970s, with directorPiak Poster'sWai Ounlawon, about a young man whose courtship of a teenage girl puts him at odds with the girl's irascible father. That young couple, portrayed by the original actors, were revisited 30 years later as embattled parents in the 2005 sequel,Wai Ounlawon 4 (Oops ... There's Dad).
Music was an important component of the teen films, with a musical interlude featured prominently in the film and a soundtrack album that would be a popular hit. This was the case with bothWai Ounlawon and its recent sequel.
Another noteworthy film of this genre isFake, which was the debut film byThanakorn Pongsuwan. The film's modern, visual style offers a sharp-focus snapshot of the city of Bangkok and a plausible account of the mating game in its current forms.
In the burgeoning independent film movement, manyshort films are being produced and featured in festivals.Graceland, a film byAnocha Suwichakornpong, about anElvis impersonator, was featured in theCinéfondation competition at the2006 Cannes Film Festival. It was the first Thai short film selected at Cannes. Short-film festivals in Thailand include theThai Short Film and Video Festival by the Thai Film Foundation and theFat Film Festival by Fat Radio. Thai short-film programs are also put together for theBangkok International Film Festival and theWorld Film Festival of Bangkok. for the past two years CNXWOOD Studios has co-sponsor a Film Festival, in the northern city of Chiang Mai in conjunction with Creative Kingdom Animation Studios Film.
Pen-ek Ratanaruang'sTwelve Twenty (30 min) was made as part of theDigital Short Films by Three Filmmakers project for the 2006Jeonju International Film Festival. The film starsAnanda Everingham, has an appearance by American bilingual actor Erich Fleshman, and was shot byChristopher Doyle. The short film is shot in a minimalist style and slowly moves along the encounters of a man and a woman on a long-haul flight, where they spend the next 12 hours and 20 minutes reading, drinking, eating and watching movies and sleeping by each other's side without talking.
In 2007,Digital Forum by Thai Film Foundation, Festival for a digital long-film
While Thailand has a relatively vibrant filmmaking scene, Thai production companies rarely does co-productions in the country though there has been an increase in the number of Thai-foreign co-productions since the 21st century. Notable films include the Hong Kong-co productionThe Pang Brothers'Bangkok Dangerous,Suddenly It's Magic, although aFilipino production, had starred popular Thai actorsMario Maurer andPimchanok Luevisadpaibul, the internationally co-produced film byApichatpong Weerasethakul,Memoria, andBanjong Pisanthanakun'sThe Medium, co-produced bySouth Korea'sNa Hong-jin.
TheThai Short Film and Video Festival was first held in 1997. TheBangkok Film Festival was started in 1998, and was eventually supplanted by theBangkok International Film Festival, which started in 2002 and is organized by theTourism Authority of Thailand. TheWorld Film Festival of Bangkok, sponsored by theNation Multimedia Group, began in 2003, and it is held annually in October.
In 2007,Digital Forum was begun in Bangkok as an outgrowth of the Thai Short Film and Video Festival, to showcase feature-length independent digital-video productions. Also in 2007, the inauguralPhuket Film Festival was held. In 2008, the annualPhangan Film Festival (PFF) was established onKoh Phangan, with a focus on spiritual and environmental indie films from around the world. In 2009, PFF's sister event, the annualSamui Film Festival (SFF) took place for the first time onKoh Samui.
The first film awards in Thailand were the "Golden Doll" awards given byTukata Tong magazine. The awards were first given in 1957. The statuette at first was aThai classical dancer and later it was modelled afterPhra Suratsawadi, the Thai-Hindu god of art. KingBhumibol Adulyadej handed out the awards in 1965 and '66. TheTukata Tong awards were discontinued after eight years due to organizational problems, but were revived in 1974 by the Association of Entertainment News Journalists of Thailand.
TheThailand National Film Association Awards are organised by theNational Federation of Motion Pictures and Contents Associations. The name of the award is the Subhanahongsa Award.
There is also theBangkok Critics Assembly, which gives awards chosen by a panel of around 20 members, theStarpics Awards, given byStarpics magazine and the Kom Chad Luek Awards, given byKom Chad Luek newspaper.
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