Film Naresuan's new approach to Thai history
See "Siamese Saga" (realtime, front page)By Jon Fernquest
[Introduction|Article|Reading Questions]
[Vocabulary|Answers]
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Few countries have put as much effort and care into preserving their heritage as Thailand has.
Murals in wats are painted with extreme attention to detail. The Thai style in decorative arts and architecture is well-known the world over.
With the film Suriyothai (2001), an epic recreation of Thai-Burmese history in film, Thai visual aesthetics enters the realm of cinematic art.
Suriyothai's creator MC Chatrichalerm Yukol has been working on another cinematic interpretation of history: The Legend of King Naresuan.
After the devastating defeat of Ayutthaya to King Bayinnaung, King Naresuan rebuilt Ayutthaya, and led an invasion into the heart of Burma. He had just passed through Chiang Mai on his way to a second invasion via the Shan States of Burma when he succumbed to a sudden sickness and died at Muang Hang in 1604.
There will certainly be a large foreign audience interested in this film. The director's philosophy of downplaying nationalism will help its popularity with foreign audiences also. MC Chatrichalerm reflects on the historical thinking that has gone into the film:
"We can't approach the story of King Naresuan with a sense of Thai nationalism, because there was no concept of a unified country in those days. Various cities made up the region in the 16th century, and King Burengnong [Burmese: Bayinnaung] of Burma conquered all these city-states under his wing. Films like Ghost Game or Mak Te might have provoked some reaction because they portrayed neighbouring countries as inferior to us. But in Naresuan, I portray Burma as a superior place to Ayutthaya. I didn't set out to make them our ultimate enemy."
Sounds like quite an enlightened and advanced view of Southeast Asian hsitory. We'll have to wait patiently in anticipation of its December release date.
Article
Siamese saga
KONG RITHDEE
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The prince says he has a heart condition. He says it twice during the interview. "But the film will be finished by the end of the year," he assures us as he cuts short our chat. "Don't worry, it will be."
Hospitalised shortly after participating in the week-long celebrations of the 60th anniversary of His Majesty's accession to the throne last month, MC Chatrichalerm Yukol has regained his steady gait that belies any decline in his physical health. His heart may suffer a complication, but at least it remains fixed in the right place as the filmmaker continues to roll up his sleeves and suns himself into a respectable tan on the Kanchanaburi set of his new movie, The Legend of King Naresuan. Determined to wrap things up and keep to the film's December 5 release date, Prince Chatri, better known as Than Mui, is engineering a historical pomp that's likely to surpass the grandeur of the 2001 phenomenon known as Suriyothai.
"Don't ask me how long Naresuan has been in production. I don't care to remember such trivial information," he says. Nobody seems to remember the exact moment when Than Mui, 63, started rolling the cameras either - it was 20 months ago at least. And indeed, time seems a trivial matter considering that the director spent four legendary years perfecting the lush gargantuanism of Suriyothai and that he had announced his plan to make Naresuan early in 2004.
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All this promo blitz has been designed to sustain the momentum while shooting continues like a very long engagement. But there will be no better guarantee that enthusiasm will grip the air than a fixed release date for the film, budgeted at over 500 million baht, that will take its place as the most expensive ever made in Thailand.
"If you think Suriyothai was big, this one will blow you away," says Kittikorn Leosirikul, a director who assists Than Mui on the set of The Legend of King Naresuan. "Everything is on a bigger scale this time - more soldiers, more elephants, more sets. It is a difficult shoot, but I think it will come out very good."
It's possible to consider Naresuan a sequel to Suriyothai - they're two continuous chapters of Siamese history - though MC Chatrichalerm has a definite vision of how he won't recycle his sets and make the same movie twice. "Suriyothai concerns palace intrigue. Above all it's a drama," he explains. "But Naresuan is more of a war film. It's about the fight for independence. The tones of the two movies will be totally different."
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When King Burengnong dies, the vassal cities that have fallen under his rule start a campaign of resistance. Prince Naresuan is ordered by the new Burmese king to command an army to quell the insurgencies. But the prince takes this opportunity to declare the independence of his homeland by performing the historic gesture of pouring water on the ground and announcing that Ayutthaya is free.
Than Mui's movie will feature key historical moments that all Thai students have read in their textbooks - from the cockfighting match between Naresuan and a Burmese prince, which upon his victory Naresuan says metaphorically to his Burmese captors "we can bet for a country if you want"; to the phra sang daab kaab kai episode, when King Naresuan climbs the Burmese city wall clutching a sword in his mouth; and to the battle with Phraya Kriang and Phraya Kang near the Satong river as King Naresuan prepares to declare independence.
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The difficulty lies not only in the actual production. Making a historical movie invariably prompts questions of accuracy, and making a historical movie that concerns the rivalry and antagonism against neighbouring countries risks provoking sensitive points. The Burmese, obviously, have long been treated as the default enemy in Thai cinema; our history and collective perception mean they can be easily cast as the ready-made villains - Thai audiences have been programmed to mentally accept that as a fact.
The issue is more pointed considering the recent follies of Thai films such as Ghost Game, which insensitively exploited the Khmer Rouge genocide as a pretext of its plot, and Mak Te, a football comedy that drew such heavy criticism from the Laotian ambassador that its release has been postponed indefinitely.
"When we're making a film based on history, we have to ask ourselves 'whose history?'," says Than Mui. "In researching for Naresuan, I rely mainly on the account of Crown Prince Utumporn, who went to live in Burma 150 years after the time of King Naresuan. He interviewed a lot of people and wrote a historical chapter in Burmese. I had a Burmese professor translate it for me, and we cross-checked it with other versions of history.
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The director admits, however, that there's a potentially controversial detail that may hurl the film right into the political heat: King Naresuan, trying to round up his troops, seeks the help of the Mon people and asks them to help him fight against the Burmese.
Given the ongoing tensions among the ethnic minorities in Burma, this could be interpreted as an act of incitement. "We wouldn't be happy if the Burmese made a film about Pattani," Than Mui says - and it's his darkest joke of the day. He elaborates that in the 16th century, loyalty shifted all the time, and most armies relied on mercenaries who were ready to fight for anyone who paid them. King Naresuan thus had to do everything in his power to get as many soldiers to fight for him, "but we must be careful and try to find the best way to say this," the director says.
And we'll see, hopefully, in five months' time if Naresuan will overcome the rain delay and months-long construction of the exquisite sets, as well as its director's heart condition, to grace the screen in its fullest glory and on schedule. Than Mui says he calls his film The Legend of King Naresuan because, despite the extensive research, there are still many legends surrounding the life story of this ancient king. We only hope that the production of the film itself won't go down as another long, endless legend.
Reading Questions
Here are some questions to guide your reading (See answers at end):
1. Where were the outdoor battle scenes filmed?
2. How old is the film's director? Has he had health problems recently?
3. What marketing events have been staged to create buzz for the film?
4. What is the budget for the film? How does this compare to other films?
5. Are Suriyothai and Naresuan different kinds of films? Explain.
6. How are the Burmese traditionally depicted in Thai cinema?
7. What problem is there with this traditional depiction? (Note: Requires some independent thought.)
8. What recent films have caused problems in Thai foreign relations? Why?
9. What controversial episode may provoke protests from Burmese?
Vocabulary (in article)
[Check back shortly for vocabulary]
Answer Key:
1. Where were the outdoor battle scenes filmed?
Kanchanaburi.
2. How old is the film's director? Has he had health problems recently?
The film's director is 60 years old. He has suffered from heart disease recently and needed to be hospitalised.
3. What marketing events have been staged to create buzz for the film?
During the Bangkok International Film Festival this year "a fortress was erected and actors dressed in 16th-century armour patrolled the 6th floor of Siam Paragon."
At the Cannes Film Festival in France "Naresuan occupied a beachfront pavilion that attracted a number of foreign visitors."
4. What is the budget for the film? How does this compare to other films?
The budget is over 500 million baht. This makes the film the most expensive Thai film in history.
5. Are Suriyothai and Naresuan different kinds of films? Explain.
Yes, Suriyothai is about court intrigue and Naresuan is a war film. They are both historical dramas though.
6. How are the Burmese traditionally depicted in Thai cinema?
The Burmese are always depicted as the enemy and villains. Thai audiences "have been programmed to accept this as fact."
7. What problem is there with this traditional depiction? (Note: Requires some independent thought.)
Answer will vary here, but here is one possibility. Burma invaded Thailand hundreds of years ago. Burma is not a threat now. Why depict a country as an enemy when there is no reason to do so?
Thailand also committed military aggressions hundreds of years go against countries like Laos and Cambodia. It may be a sad truth that making war is what countries did out of habit hundreds of years ago.
8. What recent films have caused problems in Thai foreign relations? Why?
The recent Thai film The Ghost Game "insensitively exploited the Khmer Rouge genocide as a pretext for its plot."
The release of the football comedy Mak Te was postponed indefinitely due to criticism from the Lao ambassador.
As MC Chatrichalerm points out, these films have provoked a reaction "because they portrayed neighboring countries as inferio to us."
9. What controversial episode may provoke protests from Burmese?
Naresuan recruits solidiers from the Mon ethnic group to fight with him against the Burmese. As the author of the review observes: "given the ongoing tensions among the ethnic minorities in Burma, this could be interpreted as an act of incitement."
MC Chatrichalerm points out, "We wouldn't be happy if the Burmese made a film about Pattani." If the depiction is historically truthful, how could the Burmese object? During this historical period soldiers were recruited, usually forcefully, from all conquered places. Naresuan invaded Lower Burma, the Mon homeland. Burmese or Malays never invaded Pattani, at least during the period when it was part of Siam or Thailand.
[Check back shortly for answers]
