In chatting with Wisit last night at the Ratana Pestonji 100 Years celebration at the National Film Archive, the first thing I had to bug him about, was, of course, Red Eagle.
He says he is still working on the script, and that it likely won't come out until next year. I didn't want to bug him any more than that, so that's really all there is to it for now.
When the project was announced in December, it was hoped he would start filming in March for a release in August. I was skeptical about that but kept concerns to myself. Wisit's films have usually been very involved processes. Take his amazing short film, Norasinghavatar, for example. It ended up costing more than six times the budget he was given. He had a vision, and stuck to that vision, whatever the cost, which in this case was 3 million baht (about US$94,000) -- he was initially given 400,000 baht. Tears of the Black Tiger and Citizen Dog were also uncompromising. The lone exception has been The Unseeable, which Wisit agreed from the start would be made quickly and inexpensively, as a favor to his producers at Five Star.
Red Eagle, a project he's been wanting to do for awhile, is going to take some more time. At one point, Wisit envisioned doing a two-parter, but Five Star wasn't sure about restarting the franchise -- they want to make one movie, see if it's a hit and then make a sequel.
Meanwhile, Insee Daeng designate Ananda Everingham is doing his bit to fan the red-hot flames of Red Eagle, posing for photos in Crush magazine. Lyn's Lakorn Blog has scans of the magazine spread.
I was a little nervous about Ananda being Red Eagle. And, when I talked to him about it back in December, Ananda was a little nervous about being Red Eagle. But seeing the photos eases my apprehension. I think he might be able to pull it off.
Ananda, by the way, is just about everywhere in Bangkok. He has three movies coming out back to back. He's starring in the slick psychological thriller Memory right now (it was the No. 2 movie in Thailand last week), his Singaporean romance The Leap Years opens in Thailand cinemas next Thursday, and his Laotian-Thai road-trip romance Sabaidee Luang Prabang (Good Morning Luang Prabang) premiered last night in Vientiane and opens in Thailand on June 5.
Then there's Queen of Langkasuka, The Coffin and Happy Birthday yet to come.
And Red Eagle, hopefully.
See also:
Friday, May 23, 2008
Ananda dons the mask, but Red Eagle is delayed
Photo essay: Ratana Pestonji - 100 Years
On May 22, 2008, to celebrate the 100th birthday anniversary of pioneering Thai filmmaker Ratana Pestonji (May 22, 1908-August 17, 1970), a special event was held at the National Film Archive in Salaya, Nakhon Pathom.
Ratana Pestonji's grandsons check out the wax figure of their grandfather. Their likeness to him is uncanny. Their mother is Ratana's daughter, Ratanavadi Ratanabhand.
Actors Suthep Wongkamheng and Chalee Intharawijit also check out the museum exhibit, which includes the Country Hotel set. Suthep played the lead role in Dark Heaven (Sawan Mued, 1958), and Chalee co-starred.
Actor Tom Wisawachart and Ratanavadi Ratanabhand (Ratana's daughter). They starred in Phrae Dum (Black Silk) in 1961.
The effervescent director and comic actor Dokdin Kanyamarn with Edel Pestonji.
Colorful actress Orissa na Ayutthaya was a child in Dear Dolly (Tukkata Jaa, 1951). Many children were auditioned for the role, but they started crying in the presence of the lights and camera. Orissa didn't, though. She's a natural.
The National Film Archive is seeking to put handprints, footprints and autographs of Thai filmmakers and actors in the concrete outside its small cinema, similar to Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. Actor Prompong Nopparit, a spokesman for the Ministry of Culture, was the first to make his impressions in this new initiative.
Action star Sombat Metanee showed up late, making an "entrance" during a talk by Ratana's family, friends and colleagues. After the talk, it started to rain, and under cover of umbrellas, Sombat planted his hands and feet in concrete outside the theatre, and then posed for a photo with Dome Sukwong, the director of the National Film Archive.
The marquee was lit up for the premiere of the documentary film, Signature: The Life and Work of RD Pestonji. The film was hastily put together, actually completed and subtitled at the last minute. Rough in spots, I would think not much more work would be needed to fine tune it and bring it up to the level of something that could be included on a special-edition DVD or featured in a festival screening.
It has clips from all his films, including extremely degraded footage from the tragically lost Santi Veena, and a surviving still from his first film, Tang, from 1937, which won a prize at film festival in Scotland. Ratana was handed a trophy cup for the film by director Alfred Hitchcock.
Among the most eye-popping footage is from Sugar Is Not Sweet, an extremely colorful romantic comedy that Ratana made with the intention of it being his most overtly commercial film.
There's also footage from Dear Dolly, which has no sound, and another film I'd never heard of, Diamond Finger, which features a stunning performance of khon dancing. Essentially, it brings khon to the level of filmed spectacle of a Busby Berkeley musical. It's amazing.
Most of the people who showed up for the celebration -- Ratana's two sons, Santa and Edel, and his daughter, Ratanavadi -- are interviewed, as are actor Suthep Wongkamheng, Orissa na Ayutthaya, Dark Heaven actress Seubneung Kanpai and many others. New Wave directors Wisit Sasanatieng and a very animated Pen-ek Ratanaruang are also interviewed about the influence of Ratana's films had on them.
Seeing the footage from Country Hotel, Dark Heaven, Black Silk and Sugar Is Not Sweet on the big screen, while sitting in the audience with people who were appearing on the screen was a magical, emotional experience that I will not forget.
Snapped the photo just a hair too late. Wisit Sasanatieng, right, poses for pictures in the museum with Santa Pestonji, second from left, and Ratanavadi Ratanabhand. Santa later added his hand and footprints and signature to the pavement outside.
The Adventure of Sudsakorn animator Payut Ngaokrachang has a late dinner and talks with a fan. He has an incredibly detailed illustrated book of his work.
Payut worked with Ratana after Ratana had stopped making films in the mid-1960s and was making commercials for a living. They collaborated on a hilarious animated commercial for a brand of patent medicine or whisky (not sure which) that was racy and politically incorrect by today's standards. Ratana actually made Payut a camera to use for the animation.
Eventually, Payut, 79, made his hand and feet impressions in the concrete outside the cinema.
Not many people posed with the standee of an iconic scene from the off-the-rails Country Hotel. But while waiting for Payut to make his way outside, Dome and another archive official good naturedly took their place behind the photo.
The Thailand Post set up a special table where they offered postcards with a special commemorative stamp for the Ratana Pestonji 100 Years celebration.
See also:
- Review: Forever Yours
- Pestonji centennial: A visit to the National Film Archive
- Ratana Pestonji: The father of contemporary Thai cinema
- Review: Country Hotel
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Short films for HM the King going to Toronto
The nine films from the Short Films Project in Commemoration of the Celebration on the Auspicious Occasion of His Majesty the King's 80th Birthday Anniversary are going to Toronto next month for the Worldwide Short Film Festival, which runs June 10 to 15.
Co-programmed by Todd Brown of Twitch, the Toronto screenings will be the first time the package of all nine shorts has been exhibited outside Thailand.
The project gathered together several of Thailand's great filmmakers, including Bhandit Rittakol, Pen-ek Ratanaruang, Wisit Sasanatieng and Apichatpong Weerasethakul.
Created last year in celebration of His Majesty King Bhumibol's 80th birthday, the shorts are widely varied in subject matter and style -- fantasy, rural reverie, drama, a puppet play and documentary. Not all have anything specifically to do with HM the King.
Pen-ek's Luminous Sound, for example, is an interview with a blind pianist. Pen-ek said he was aiming to make a movie he thought the King might enjoy watching. Of course, the pianist plays some of the musically gifted Monarch's compositions.
Wisit's piece is Norasinghavatar, an eye-popping martial-arts fantasy based on myths surrounding one of the ten reincarnations of Lord Visanhu. They look like CGI animation but they are not. They are live action, heavily processed in Wisit's colorful style in post-production.
Apichatpong's Meteorites is another stand-out, just because it is so different -- "an at times unsettling, often hypnotic, and intimately honest look at daily life."
The other works are My First Report by Bhandit Rittakol, about a young female reporter stuck on an assignment in a rural, drought-stricken village; The Tale by Pornsak Sukongkarattanakul about a mule that the King rode; Silencio by Sivaroj Kongsakul, about a sound man vainly trying to record silence; The Most Beautiful Man in the World by Phuttipong Aroonpheng about a boy and his father, working to stake off some land to make way for a Royal Project irrigation dam; 9th Gift by Araya Booncherd, a hilarious hand-puppet play in which a young man and his dog vanquish an evil two-headed dragon; The Sanctuary of Sea by Pramtanee Wongprommed and Supharut Boonmayam, about a deaf high school student struggling with her studies.
I had hoped the package might be distributed on DVD, but it hasn't yet, though Thai PBS (the former iTV) periodically shows the films, with subtitles, though the picture is mostly obscured by market tickers and logos. And excerpts from the films are sometimes included in Thai film industry show reels. But Toronto will be the first chance for folks outside the Kingdom to see all the films together.
See also:
- Worldwide Short Film Festival -- Thai Spotlight
- Review: Short Films for the King's 80th Birthday
- Five stills from Wisit Sasanatieng's Norasingavatar (Twitch)
(Via Twitch; photo from Wisit Sasanatieng's Norasinghavatar via Twitch)
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Cannes Film Festival: Mike B.'s Sanctuary in pre-sales deals
Stuntman Mike B., recently seen in Brave, received a boost at the Cannes Film Market, where his next project, The Sanctuary, racked up a number a pre-sales deals.
The Sanctuary will be an English-language martial-arts actioner, written and directed by Brave helmer Thanapon Maliwan. It's to start filming in July. The sales agent is Action Slate Films, which has sold The Sanctuary to Luc Besson's EuropaCorp in France, Selectavision in Spain and Medya Vision for Turkey.
Here is the synopsis for The Sanctuary, from the American Film Market catalog (via Twitch):
A young Muay Thai warrior is accused of stealing a holy emerald that his master appointed him to protect. Now on the run from the police, he must retrieve the emerald from the mafia in order to prove his innocence and return the emerald to its holy place.
I watched Brave on DVD not too long ago. It's a decent DVD release and the movie has quite a few fun action sequences and jaw-dropping stunts, though also has some problems with shaky camera work and editing. Still, Mike B., a stuntman in Ong-Bak, is quite capable as a leading man, so it'll be interesting to see The Sanctuary.
See also:
- Cannes Film Festival: Duck Fight, Nonzee, Aditya make Thai Pitch
- Cannes Film Festival roundup: Som Tum, 4bia
- Cannes Film Festival: Pan-Asian roundup - The Philippines
- Cannes Film Festival: Burmese cyclone and politics
- Cannes Film Festival: Soi Cowboy roundup
- Cannes Film Festival: Where the Miracle Happens premieres
- Cannes Film Festival roundup: Jury meets, Soi Cowboy, Ong-Bak 2
- Queen of Langkasuka, Som Tum to premiere at Cannes Film Market
(Via Hollywood Reporter)
Tartan USA closes
Tartan Video USA, one of the prime distributors for English-subtitled Thai films on DVD in the U.S., has closed, according to a report by Variety.
Known for its Asia Extreme lineup of horror titles, Tartan USA's DVD releases include the original Shutter, as well as Dorm, Ghost of Mae Nak and the Pang Bros.' Ab-Normal Beauty and One Take Only. One of their recent releases was The Victim.
In all, Tartan USA's catalog numbers 101 titles, according to Variety.
A foreclosure sale was ordered to dispose of the film library and office furniture.
Wonder if anyone bought the rights to their catalog, and if so, who?
See also:
(Via Bloody Disgusting, Kaiju Shakedown)
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Cannes Film Festival: Duck Fight, Nonzee, Aditya make Thai Pitch
Last I heard about Pornchai Hongrattanaporn, a.k.a. Mr. Pink, was a couple of years ago when he was trying to get funding for an animated feature called Duck Fight.
Just the poster alone should attract investors, I would think. But maybe the folks who actually have money for this sort of thing are still thinking about the disaster cult film that was Howard the Duck.
The Bangkok Loco director is still trying to get funding for Duck Fight. He pitched it last year at the Tokyo Project Gathering.
This year he's joining three other Thai directors in Thai Pitch 2008, held on the sidelines of the Cannes Film Market.
Likely chief among them is Nonzee Nimibutr, who won US$15,000 in funds from the Hong Kong Asian Film Financing Forum (HAF) for his next project, Secret of the Butterfly, a psychological thriller written by Kongdej Jaturanrasamee about a woman who carries a virus that can destroy all the men in the world. The HAF prize goes towards post-production work at Technicolor Thailand. Nonzee's team hopes to start filming in Ocotber.
Also vying for funds is Aditya Assarat, trying again with his High Society, which he also pitched earlier this year at HAF.
Lastly, there's Nithiwat Tharatorn, one of the "Fan Chan Six" who's looking to make the followup to his solo feature debut Seasons Change. His project is a teen drama called Dear Galileo.
Thai Pitch 2008 is an initiative of producer Pantham Thongsang, with support from the Ministry of Culture's Office of Contemporary Art and Culture. It is similar to HAF and the Pusaan Promotion Plan, giving hopeful filmmakers a forum to pitch their ideas to interested investors. It took place yesterday in Cannes. Here's hope for some positive results.
See also:
- Cannes Film Festival roundup: Som Tum, 4bia
- Cannes Film Festival: Pan-Asian roundup - The Philippines
- Cannes Film Festival: Burmese cyclone and politics
- Cannes Film Festival: Soi Cowboy roundup
- Cannes Film Festival: Where the Miracle Happens premieres
- Cannes Film Festival roundup: Jury meets, Soi Cowboy, Ong-Bak 2
- Queen of Langkasuka, Som Tum to premiere at Cannes Film Market
(Via ThaiCinema.org)
Review: Forever Yours
[Note: This is another in a series about Ratana Pestonji, in commemoration of the centennial of the pioneering Thai filmmaker's birth.]
- Directed by Tawee na Bangchang (a.k.a. Khru Marut)
- Screenplay Tawee na Bangchang and Vichit Kounavudhi
- Produced by and cinematography by Ratana Pestonji
- Starring Ngamta Suphaphong, Chana Sri-Ubon, Hem Sukasem, Prajuab Reuk-yamdee
- 1955; available on DVD from the Thai Film Foundation
- Rating: 5/5
One of Thailand's most iconic films, for its image of lovers handcuffed together, Forever Yours (Chuafah Dinsalai), is a totally captivating experience. Though it is actually a small, simple story, it feels like an epic, as it starts out as a mirthful, music-filled romantic comedy and ends as a Shakespearian tragedy.Set in a remote logging camp, the male protagonist is Sangmong (played by Pestonji's go-to leading man Chana Sri-Ubon), the young, educated nephew of the company's owner. Uncle Papo is a stumpy old man with a white, walrusy moustache. Later in the film, when things really get going, the uncle strokes that lip ferret, smoothing the bristles out and twirling them, like the best of the old-time movie villains. Even so, he remains a sympathetic, sad character.
A long-time widower, Papo has finally remarried, to a much younger woman, Yupadee (Ngamta Suphaphong), a cheeky, smiling bundle of personality with a kind and playful heart. The logging camp turns out with a brass band to greet Papo and his new bride at the river dock as they step off the boat, and as soon as Sangmong's eyes fall on Yupadee, he wishes he'd never seen her. She can't take her eyes off him either.
It's not a matter of if these two will get together but when.
Papo even encourages his nephew and his "aunt-in-law" to spend time together, hanging out in the uncle's house, tinkering away at the piano and singing. It's when they are out riding horses that the mischievous Yupadee fakes falling off so Sangmong can "rescue" her, which he does by clumsily trying to pick up her up. She screeches in pain and he nearly drops her back down again. It's this absurd scene that turns up on TV in Pen-ek Ratanaruang's Last Life in the Universe -- Yupadee wearing a bright red blouse and white riding breaches, and Sangmong struggling to pick up her up.
The young couple's courtship grows, with Sangmong holding out the longest before giving in to his feelings. Like water spilling over the falls, he can't hold back. Naturally, people around the camp begin to notice. Everyone sees what is going on. And of course, the old man is not blind.
Eventually, the old man catches the couple in the act and out come the handcuffs. At first it's taken for a joke, with Papo's right-hand man Tip going so far as actually laughing. But as the months go by, with days being ticked off on the calendar. Locked together, Sangmong and Yupadee are getting on each other's nerves. The ridiculousness of the situation is compounded by Sangmong's not being able to button up his shirt, because he can't get his handcuffed arm through one sleeve. So his shirt is half draped over him. Yupadee favors a shoulderless or strapless dress, so it's easier for her to manage. But it's not funny. The novelty has worn off. Sympathies start to swing the other way and everyone wonders if the old man has the key.
Not only is Forever Yours a great story, it is filmed beautifully. One dissolve in particular, with a scene fading into the light of an oil lamp, is particularly poetic. The first half of the film is set in the outdoors, with shots of a lumber train pulling a string of gigantic logs, and a waterfall. The second half stays inside the house where Sangmong and Yupadee are confined. They can stay together, living and loving, but must remain in the house, made prisoners of their love.
See also:
