A cultural event

Lesson by Kaj Jordison

See “Lido lights” Real.Time, front page

Today I’m going to try to talk about two articles in one, both of them about the Thai movie industry and an up-coming film festival. On the front page of the Real.Time section today the feature article is about the filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul and his new film, Syndromes and a Century. This movie is going to participate in the world’s oldest film festival, namely the Venice International Film Festival.

However, I will not focus on this fairly long article, but instead on the shorter one, also on the front page, about the festival itself. This festival, even though it’s the oldest one, comes second to the festival in Cannes in terms of contemporary significance. This meaning that in the eyes of the majority of people, the festival in Cannes, with all the blockbusters and movie stars, is more important than this smaller and more cultural event.

As you can see from the former winners of the Golden Lion (the prize handed out to the winners of the different movie categories), the movies at the festival in Venice are geared more towards aestheticism and profoundness than anything else. Action, big movie stars, special effects and other Hollywood products just aren’t that important. The Venice International Film Festival definitely focuses more on real quality than entertainment, which might give the underdog film by Apichatpong a fighting chance.

Vocabulary from the introduction

contemporary significance – something that is considered important in our time
blockbusters – something such as a book, play, or film that is either very large or achieves enormous commercial success
geared – focused on something particular
aestheticism – the belief that the principles of beauty are of the highest importance in arts
profoundness – something that makes people put serious thought into something
underdog – someone or something that is expected to lose a fight or competiton
fighting chance – able to win even though it might not be likely

Vocabulary from the article (see below)

vaporetta – a motorboat for transporting passengers along the canals in Venice, Italy
lagoon – a partly-enclosed area of seawater
slotted – an assigned place and time in a schedule
thronged – crowded
industry insiders – members of the film industry with a lot of knowledge about what’s going on
star-gazers – people interested in seeing or talking to celebrities such as movie stars
horde – a large crowd; many people
amid – while something is happening; things surrounding an event
frenzy – out-of-control behaviour
coveted – to want to have something very much
global sensation – something that has interested people all around the world
multiplex regulars – the normal, everyday people who go to movie theaters
pampered – gave someone a lot of attention and special treatment
warmed – tried to make someone feel appreciative and cheerful towards something (here the movie of Apichatpong)
unadorned – something with few decorations, or other things that creates a “false” artificial beauty
barren aesthetics – a beauty of its own; a beauty without lavish attributes or grand features
benefit – advantage
invariably – always or almost always
photogenic – tending to look good in photographs
screenings – showings in a cinema
second-tier category – the second most important level
top-tier – the most important level
formidable - impressive; strong
contented – peacefully happy and satisfied with the way things are or with what has been done
swell time – to have a good time
steaming – very hot

Lido lights

KONG RITHDEE

The vaporetta No.1 takes you across the lagoon from San Marco to Lido, the little island that is the home of the "Mostra" - the Venice International Film Festival. At 63 years of age, this is the world's oldest movie festival, four years senior to Cannes, though in terms of contemporary significance, this Italian event slotted in August comes second to the French cinema showpiece in May.

This year the Mostra runs from August 30 to September 9, and the beachfront Palazzo del Cinema will be thronged by a few thousand industry insiders, critics and star-gazers (plus a regular horde of dramatically tanned sunbathers in shorts and bikinis).

Amid this usual frenzy and serving of bad pizzas, Apichatpong Weerasethakul's Syndromes and a Century will represent Thailand in the race for the coveted Golden Lion, whose past winners have included such grandmasters of cinema art as Akira Kurosawa (Rashomon, 1951), Alain Renais (Last Year at Marienbad, 1961), Jean-Luc Godard (Prenom Carmen, 1983), Robert Altman (Short Cuts, 1993) and Zhang Yimou (The Story of Qiu Ju, 1992, Not One Less, 1999). Last year, the Lion went to Ang Lee's Brokeback Mountain, which went on to become a global sensation — an "arthouse" film that is also loved by multiplex regulars.

French actress Catherine Deneuve has been named the president of the jury for this year. And since Deneuve was invited to our Bangkok International Film Festival this past February, where she was pampered like royalty by the Tourism Authority of Thailand, perhaps she'll be warmed towards the unadorned, barren aesthetics of Apichatpong's new film (I'm sure our tourism board didn't please Deneuve for the benefit of any Thai filmmakers though, especially Apichatpong — how could they, when the TAT didn't even show his Cannes-winning film at the Bangkok cinefest last year?)

The red carpet in Venice is shorter than the one in Cannes, and thus the arrival of stars and directors feels a bit less like a circus parade. Unlike the image of Venice in tourism postcards, which invariably depict photogenic brick-paved alleys and the gondolas, the island of Lido has roads and cars. Usually, when stars arrive at the Venice airport they'll be transported by water taxis to the Lido pier. For their gala screenings, stars will ride in chauffeured limos to the Palazzo — so no, nobody rows them to the theatre in gondolas.

In 2003, a film by Thai director Pen-ek Ratanaruang, Last Life in the Universe, was screened in the second-tier category, and its Japanese star, Asano Tadanobu, was named best actor.

Apichatpong's movie, picked for the top-tier competition, will be up against more formidable entries this year. A small film from Thailand is naturally rated as an underdog. But since this is Venice, Apichatpong can feel contented that even if the Golden Lion (or Madame Deneuve) doesn't come his way, he can still have a swell time hopping on the vaporetta to go walk around San Marco, or to shop for Murano glasses, or to pay a visit to Igor Stravinski's grave. Or if he runs out of ideas, he can always join those merry sunbathers on the Lido beach as the steaming Venetian sun shines. To have a movie there is honour enough for our filmmaker, and definitely for us too.

Reading activity

After you’ve finished reading the article, go through it again and answer the following question – the first reading should be geared towards a general understanding and feel of the text, and the second reading should focus more on details and specifics, like the questions below.

1. When is the film festival going to be on?
2. Why might the president of this year’s jury be warmed towards Apichatpong’s movie?
3. What does the writer mean when he says that “the read carpet is shorter than the one in Cannes”?
4. What other Thai movie has had success over the years at the festival?

Extra activity

Everyone knows about the festival in Cannes, but today quite a few people probably heard about the festival in Venice for a first time. Now, if you could go to just one of these festivals, which one would you go to? Explain your choice and tell the class about what you would like to see and experience and the festival of your choice. If time allows, you could write a short imaginary festival schedule for yourself – things to do, people to meet, food to eat, etc.

Posted by Terry Fredrickson at 11:09 AM