"Pee Mak" leaps language barriers around the world
Ghosts aren't usually big talkers, so movies about ghosts like - say, just as an example, Mae Nak Phra Khanong - don't face huge language barriers to do well overseas
And “Pee Mak Phra Khanong” is doing very well indeed in the 10 other Asian countries where it’s been released, as well as in Australia and Europe.
The movie that shattered a Thai box-office record, soaking up more than Bt1 billion, has thus far earned another Bt450 million from foreigners.
Thai movies have travelled before, but “Pee Mak” is the first one to be officially released in every Southeast Asian country, and that includes Cambodia, Brunei and even Myanmar.
Director Banjong Pisuthanakun invariably accompanies the movie on tour, not just to revel in the laughter and applause but to guide it through a string of film festivals too. He’s often invited to give lectures and participate in seminars.
The reception both Banjong and his movie got at the East Wind Film Festival in Coventry, England – the first European screening – was excellent, he says. “I was really nervous – they don’t know the Mae Nak story. Would they understand it? But as it turned out they laughed at all the same scenes as Thais do. More than 300 people were in the audience, laughing out loud, crying and sometimes saying, ‘Oh, my God!’
“And, surprisingly, no one left the cinema when the movie ended. Everyone stayed for the Q&A session. I was thrilled!”
It might have helped that the English subtitles swap Thai references that won’t be widely understood abroad, such as when one of the characters alludes to “Bang Rajan”, the Thai film about Siamese warriors bravely facing their massacre. In the subtitles it’s “300”, the Hollywood movie about ancient Greek warriors in the same predicament.
“My priority was to make the film for Thais,” Banjong says. “Of course the Mae Nak story and the unique Thai comedy style aren’t easily understood by foreigners, but since this film sticks mostly to the universal language of comedy, I found that more than 80 per cent of the gags get everyone laughing, no matter where they live.
“We never planned to ‘go inter’, but this movie’s pace and timing help it communicate with an international audience.”
Next stop: Kyoto, Japan, early next month.
---------------------------------------------------
Christmas spoiled
To no one’s surprise, the release of the final chapter in the epic movie “The Legend of King Naresuan” has been postponed. Part 5 was to have premiered on December 5 for the King’s birthday. Now His Majesty and the rest of us will have to wait some more. No new release date has been offered.
Major Wanchana Sawasdee, who plays Naresuan in the franchise, has told 9Entertainment that a lot of the footage and other crucial components were lost in a studio fire last year. Wanchana is deputy spokesperson for the Royal Thai Army and, over the many, long years of this project, has become unofficial spokesperson for the film as well.
He says another reason for the delay is that perfectionist director MC Chatrichalerm Yukol isn’t happy with the effects used in the elephant battle scenes, so he needs to scrape up more cash to hire foreign experts.
Uh-oh – he’s run out of money? This could be a long wait.
