A Tribute to Chatrichalerm Yukol in the Week of Siam

The third monthly Week of Siam film series starts on Thursday at House cinema on Royal City Avenue with "A Tribute to Chatrichalerm Yukol", celebrating the early career and social-realism films of MC Chatrichalerm.

Two will have English subtitles, 1990's Song of Chao Phya (Nong Mia) and 1978's Kama.

Song of Chao Phya is a family drama that examines the obstacles faced by poor folks who want to climb the social strata. Passorn "Honey" Bunyakiat stars as a woman who lives on a sand barge, and she's weary of her family's nomadic existence, always on the move on the Chao Phya River on their sand barge. One day she gets off the boat. She is taken to a beauty salon by a taxi driver who promises she can be a movie star. The woman's husband (Chatchai Plengpanich) searches high and low all over Bangkok. Meanwhile, it's the woman's titular youngster sister (Pattamawan Khaomoolkadee) who's left behind on the barge to take care of the couple's children and the family business. Song of Chao Phya can also be seen on DVD with English subtitles, but surely the film print that House will be showing will be better than the poorly "remastered" discs of Than Mui's films.

I've not seen Kama. The title means sex or lust, and it's about a lonely young woman who develops a friendship with an artist (Manop Assawathep) who everyone thinks is insane. Because the artist's works deal in eroticism, and because the girls mother (Piatip Kumwong) is a porn star, his relationship with the girl is misjudged by society.

Other films will include the gritty action dramas The Colonel (one of my favorites, starring Sompop Benjatikul), Gunman with Sorapong Chatree, in which Than Mui beats Platoon and Oliver Stone to the punch in left-behind-by-the-helicopter war drama, and the Stirling Silliphant-scripted Salween, the Burmese border-war story that Sylvester Stallone essentially remade as Rambo 4.

There's romance in the original 1975 version of Last Love (not the 2003 remake), the controversial tale of civil-service corruption and indifference in 1973's Kao Cheu Karn as well as Than Mui's first feature, the crazy sci-fi Out of the Darkness.

Here is the schedule:

Thursday, May 28

• 13.00 – The Colonel (Pom Mai Yak Pen Pan To, ผม ไม่ อยาก เป็น พันโท), 1974 (film)
• 16.00 – Dr. Karn (Khao Chue Karn, เขา ชื่อ กานต์), 1973 (film)
• 19.00 – The Yellowing of the Sky (Ooga fa leuang, อุกาฟ้าเหลือง), 1980 (film)

Friday, May 29

• 13.00 – Gunman (Meu Peun, มือปืน), 1983 (film)
• 16.00 – Salween (สาละ วิน, also Gunman 2), 1993 (film)
• 19.00 – Song of Chao Phya (Nong Mia, น้องเมีย), 1990 (film, with English subtitles)

Saturday, May 30

• 13.00 – Dr. Karn (Kao Cheu Karn, เขา ชื่อ กานต์), 1973 (film)
• 16.00 – The Yellowing of the Sky (Ooga fa leuang, อุกาฟ้าเหลือง), 1980 (film)
• 19.00 – The Colonel (Pom Mai Yak Pen Pan To, ผม ไม่ อยาก เป็น พันโท), 1974 (film)

Sunday, May 31

• 13.00 – Kama (กาม), 1989 (with English subtitles)
• 16.00 – Out of the Darkness (Mun Ma Kub Kwam Muedman, มัน มา กับ ความมืด), 1971 (film)
• 19.00 – Last Love (Kwam Rak Krang Suthai, ความรัก ครั้งสุดท้าย), 1975

Monday, May 1

• 13.00 – Salween (สาละ วิน, also Gunman 2), 1993 (film)
• 16.00 – Song of Chao Phya (Nong Mia, น้องเมีย), 1990 (film, with English subtitles)
• 19.00 – Gunman (Meu Peun, มือปืน), 1983 (film)

Tuesday, May 2

• 13.00 – The Colonel (Pom Mai Yak Pen Pan To, ผม ไม่ อยาก เป็น พันโท), 1974 (film)
• 16.00 – Kama (กาม), 1989 (with English subtitles)
• 19.00 – Out of the Darkness (Mun Ma Kub Kwam Muedman, มัน มา กับ ความมืด), 1971 (film)

Wednesday, May 3

• 13.00 – Song of Chao Phya (Nong Mia, น้องเมีย), 1990 (film, with English subtitles)
• 16.00 – Dr. Karn (Khao Chue Karn, เขา ชื่อ กานต์), 1973 (film)
• 19.00 – The Yellowing of the Sky (Ooga fa leuang, อุกาฟ้าเหลือง), 1980 (film)

As I've mentioned before, many of Than Mui's older films are available on rather poorly "remastered" DVDs with English subtitles. These include The Colonel, Gunman, Salween, Dr. Karn, Out of the Darkness and Song of Chao Phya. Other Chatrichalerm works on DVD include The Elephant Keeper (Khon Liang Chang) , Citizen 2, Hotel Angel (Thep Thida Rong Raem), Khru Somsri, Daughter (Sia Dai), Daughter 2 and Powder Road. The titles are out of print, but can still be found in some Mangpong outlets.

For the House screenings, the films will be shown as noted, and so are probably worth a look just for the kinetic experience that isn't possible with a DVD home viewing.

Admission is 120 baht (100 baht for members) for films and 80 baht (50 baht for members) for digital media.

Proceeds benefit the National Film Archive. The Week of Siam series continues through August.

Call (02) 641 5177-8 or visit www.HouseRama.com.