Asian Cinema Weekly has been designed to introduce East Asian films such as Korean, Japanese and Chinese cinema. Some months ago, I had a chance to watch a couple of fashinating Thai films, Nang Nak and Bangkok Dangerous. They were very well-made and entertaining, giving me cinematic pleasure. There are tons of movies produced in Asia, uncountable Indian, innumerable Philippine, unknown Indonesian and Thai movies. They are getting to be exposed to the West, but not many movies yet screened. I got a somewhat introductory article about the contemporary Thai cinema from the staff of the Pusan International Film Festival. I hope this article would give you a general picture of one of undiscovered Asian cinemas.
The article comes from Bangkok Express: Close Encounter with New Thai Films published by the 2001 Pusan International Film Festival.

Thai Films Today: What is Happening to the Thai Cinema?

In 1997, three movie directors made their debut simultaneously. At that time, Thailand was suffering a financial crisis. The situation was by no means better in the movie industry. Before the 1990s, Thailand produced about one hundred movies a year, but since then it had decreased to less than twenty. In the face of stark reality, people worried about the future. But the movies that those three new directors made were very different from conventional Thai films. Looking back from 2001, we can safely say that they heralded the resurrection of the Thai cinema.

The three movies were Nonzee Nimibutr's Dang Bireley's and Young Gangsters, Oxide Pang's Who is Running? and Pen-Ek Ratanaruang's Fun Bar Karaoke. All of them played at the Pusan International Film Festival. Even though they inspired controversy, Dang Birely's and Young Gangsters proved its commercial potential by breaking the box office record for Thai movies. That potential is now being realized further.

in 1999, Nimbutr's Nang Nak defeated Titanic in Thailand, while in 2000, Yongyooth Thongkonthun's The Iron Ladies was the most popular movie of the year in Thailand. The trend is continuing this year. The two most popular movies during the first half of this year were Thai films: Thanit Jitnakul's Bang Rajan and Yoothlert Sippapak's Killer Tattoo. They were released at the end of last year, and both have earned more than 100 million baht (approximately three billion Korean won). If you consider that no Hollywood movie released this year has yet made fifty million baht, it is evident how popular and powerful Thai movies are in the domestic market. Another statistic states that the market share held by Thai movies had dropped to 12 percent by 1997, but that it is expected to reach 20 percent this year. There is even evidence that the average release for Hollywood movies in Thiland has decreased from six to four weeks.

This success of Thai films is not confined to their home market. The company Film Bangkok earned US $2 million last year with only two movies: Wisit Sasanatieng's Tears of the Black Tiger and Oxide/Danny Pang's Bangkok Dangerous.Nang Nak, The Iron Ladies, and Bang Rajan are reaping great profits in foreign markets. Companies exporting Thai movies such as Fortissimo Film Sales and Golden Ways are not only selling films but building and maintaining cooperative relationships with film production companies in Thailand.

Is the Thai Film Industry Changing?

About ten years ago, the average budget for a Thai film was five million baht. Last year, however, it was fifteen million baht, an increase of 300 percent over a decade. This trend is expected to continue. The budget for Nang Nak, the most popular Thai movie in 1999, was thirty million baht, while Bang Rajan, which opened at the end of last year, cost eighty million baht, more than double the cost of Nang Nak. This figure, however, is dwarfed by the budget of Suriyothai, a historical film that started production last August and cost a whopping 500 million baht. By way of comparison, Korea's most expensive movies, The Warrior and Resurrection of the Little Match Seller, cost only six to seven billion won each. It is true tht Suriyothai is special because it was fully supported by the Royal Thai government. But the surge in Thai budgets is truly breathtaking.

All this is happening because of the confidence of investors. But it is also because the structure of the Thai film industry makes it possible for people to invest. In the Thai film industry today, about five major companies virtually monopolize the production and distribution of film. Tai enertainment not only produces movies but also co-owns EGV, a chain of theaters, together with Village Roadshow. Other companies such as Five Star, which has the longest history, and UMG also own theater chains. Sahamongkol Film, which produced Suriyothai is a subsidiary of UMG. The BEC-Tero Group, a multimedia company that owns a broadcasting station, also has a film production company, Film Bangkok, as its subsidiary. Likewise, RS Promotion owns two film production companies, Red Rocket and Avant. Most of these companies are multimedia companies that deal with all kinds of entertainment, including broadcasting, music and movies. They were capital-rich from the beginning, and they are changing their strategies to reverse the scaling down of film production in the wake of the financial crisis. Now, for recognized directors, money is not an issue anymore.

Another factor behind increasing Thai film production is the surge in the numebr of theaters. Currently, there are about 200 screens in the country, which is too few for a population of sixty million. Recently, a multiplex chain called Cineplex has increased the number of theaters, stimulating other theater construction. The expectation of higher profits in the changed theatrical situation has been attracting investment into the production fo the Thai films.

New Trends of the Thai Films

Until the mid-1990s, Thai films were dominated by youth movies and crime movies. Although they were commercial, crime movies demonstrated that Thai films are competitive in the Asian market at least. Since 1997, Thai moveis have undergone many changes. Youth moveis have almost disappeared completely, while crime movies are still going strong. Comedy and historical movies are the new genres in the limelight. Behind such changes is the emergence of young directors and producers, all of whom used to make television commercials and music videos. Thai television commercials are highly regraded in Asia. The movie produced by these young directors and producers demonstrate great talent and are fresh, exciting the enthusiasm of young audiences. For instance, producers could have easily overlooked the story of Nang Nak, because it is well known to the Thai people and has been the subject of over twenty movies and various television serials. Nevertheless, Nimibutr successfully made the most popular movie out of a legend everybody already knows. He interpreted the story in a very different way from the other directors and modernized it. In the past, the story of Nang Nak on television or in the movies focused on the revenge of the dead Nang Nak against her husband and his new wife. Nimibutr, however, emphasizes Nang Nak's everlasting love and her husband's pure love for his dead wife. This was a totally new interpretation, which drew the audience powerfully, especially women.

Pen-ek Ratanaruang, Oxide Pang and Yongyooth Tongkonthun are also showing they know how to tell stories and attract young audiences. Most of all, their film are universal: they make sense to people around the world. Pen-ek Ratanaruang's film remind us of Tarantino, while the atmosphere of Oxide Pang's films is similar to that of Hong Kong movies. Thongkonthun's The Iron Ladies, a comedy about gays and transvestites, was one of the most popular moveis at international film festivals last year.

It is true that mostly young and new directors have led such new trends in the Thai cinema since 1997. After the success of Tai Entertainment with a new director, other major production companies were impressed and invest more in Thai moveis, but it is existing directors that have benefited most from this. Even though the major companies have increased investment, there is a limited number of young directors able to meet their expectations, causing the companies to turn to existing directors. Bhandit Rittakol of Satang and Thandit Jitnakol of Bang Rajan have succeeded in attracting audiences and consolidated the status of these directors. Even so, it cannot be denied their success owes a lot to the new production policies of young producers and the production companies. As a result, Thai films are not overturning tradition but accommodating both the new and old generations.

Independent Films are alive

Mostof the Thai films that have recently attracted world attention have been produced with an eye to profits. It is premature to talk about the unique aesthetics of the Thai films, and Thailand's non-mainstream films (including short films, documentaries and experimental films) are now well known, nor are the reality of film culture.

In Thailand, as well as the big film festivals such as the Bangkok International Film Festival, small film festivals such as the Bangkok Expermental Film Festival and Thai Short Film and Video Festival (TSFVF) also exist. This year is the 3rd Bangkok Experimental Film Festival, which is biannual and has been the key factor in the growth of expermental film in Thailand. The pioneers of Thai experimental film was Banchong Kosalwat in 1970s. In the 1980s, the courses and workshops at the Goethe Institute contributed to the development of the experimental film. But in 1997, when the 1st Bangkok Experimental Film Festival was held, there were even protests against it, which is indicative of the general public's low level of awareness. But things have changed. Now, Thailand has Kick the Machine, a production company exclusively dedicated to experimental films, and Apichatpong Weerasethakul, a very notable experimental filmmaker.

This year is the 5th year of the TSFVF. And we cannot really talk about TSFVF without mentioning Dom Sukvong. He is like salt in the bland film culture of Thailand. A former film critic, he started a campaign by himself to establish a film archive, which was successful in 1984. There were many twists and turns for him on the road to the establishment of the archive. He decided to persuade the Royal families to support his plan, and to win this support he campaigned to retrieve films from Europe containing images of the Thai Royal Kings when they visited Europe at the beginning of the 20th century. With the help of Prince Anusorn Mongkolkam, he was eventually able to set up the film archive. But his challenge did not end there. To make more diverse moveis avaiable, he thought of setting up a new organization, which later became the Thai Film Foundation in 1994. TSFVF is one of the major projects of the Thai Film Foundation. However, the current situation of the Thai Film Foundation is not very favorable. While the Thai Film Archive is run by the government, the Thai Film Foundation is a purely private organization. For their office, they rent a small space in the Thai Film Archive. They have only one paid emplyee and the rest of the personnel are volunteers. All of them have been impressed by the passion of Sukvong, who has dedicated his whole life to the archiving of Thai films and the dissemination of film culture.

Like the Thai Experimental Film Festival, TSFVF has made a great contribution to the dissemination of Thai alternative and non-mainstream films. Currently in Thailand, most short films come from the film departments of five universities, including the prestigious Thammasat and Chularongkorn universities. Independent film production companies such as Kick the Machine also hold workshops for the general public, out of which a number of short films have been made. Young directors including Pen-ek Ratanaruang and Oxide Peng are willing to teach at the workshops and contribute to exchages between mainstream and non- mainstream films.

The current situation of the Thai cinema is very similar to that of the Korean cinema in many aspects. Young and talented directors are emerging, the movies have attracted the world's attention, and new investors have been discovered. However, such positive featurs do not guarantee the future of the Thai cinema. The most important obstacle is Thai cinema's failure to develop unique aesthetic characteristics so far. In addition, the production system has not been modernized: even the roles of directors and producers are not clearly distinguished. Another barrier is the government's strict policies, including censorship. That is why it is too early to say whether Thailand will become another Korea. Even if it does not, the emergence of Nonzee Nimibutr, Pen-ek Ratanaruang, Wisit Sasanatieng, Oxide Pang and Apichatpong Weerasethakul will leave an indelible mark not only in the Asian market but also in the international film world.

Written by Ji-seok Kim (Pusan International Film Festival Programmer)