Showing 1 - 10 of 16
Pandemonium
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 30/09/2022
» The first shot of Athena will be discussed in every writing about the film. A bravura choreography of movement that begins with an intimate close-up of a face and ends, after 10 blood-rushing minutes, with an explosion of revolutionary rage -- a la Les Miserables and Do You Hear The People Sing? transported to a predominantly-Muslim Paris suburb -- that opening shot is so hypnotising and immersive in its non-stop kineticism that we're led to forgive that it's also an earnest show-off, a proud enshrinement of style and attitude over everything else. Romain Gavras, a filmmaker known for making music videos for Jay Z and M.I.A, will cement that approach with many similar shots throughout the film -- long, seemingly uninterrupted shots with parkour camerawork full of angry bodies -- more than enough for aspiring filmmakers of the world to slobber over.
Time for Asean films to shine
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 08/12/2021
» The pandemic notwithstanding, it has been a stimulating year for Southeast Asian cinema. Reflective, heartfelt and oddball new titles from Indonesia, Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand have won major prizes or become critical favourites at international film festivals throughout 2021. Now, many of these films are coming to the big screen in Thailand as the Bangkok Asean Film Festival 2021 (BAFF) is set to open tonight.
Reviving an old tradition
Life, Suwitcha Chaiyong, Published on 29/09/2021
» Many fishermen have died in storms and become ghosts haunting the sea. At first, the ghosts wanted to return to shore, but after they found surfboards floating nearby, they no longer wanted to return.
Oscar nominees emerge as awards row rages over female snubs
AFP, Published on 13/01/2020
» LOS ANGELES: The Oscar nominations will Monday reveal which stars and movies have a shot at Hollywood's ultimate prize, as the industry nervously awaits the number of women and minorities selected.
When women make movies
Life, Tatat Bunnag, Published on 05/03/2019
» To help mark International Women's Day on Friday, "Wonder Women: When Women Make Movies" is a month-long programme of female-directed movie screenings, showing 13 Thai films from the 1960s to the present, plus a free screening of Patty Jenkins' Wonder Woman (2017) at Sri Salaya Theatre, Thai Film Archive, Buddha Monthon Sai 5 Road.
Teens, queens and political machines
Life, Melalin Mahavongtrakul, Published on 25/02/2019
» More LGBTI personalities in politics and the mainstream media, plus the return of a transgender beauty pageant in our monthly round-up of rainbow news.
Our best films of the year
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 22/12/2016
» As usual we have two lists, for titles released in local cinemas and the wider universe of world films shown elsewhere (and hopefully coming to our screens soon).
Ground reality
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 15/09/2016
» In The Road To Mandalay, young Myanmar migrants hide in the cargo of a truck trundling past the borders into Thailand. In Bangkok, they look for jobs with the dream that every Myanmar worker dreams: to save money and return home, or better, to go somewhere else where life is kinder. They both find work in a textile factory in the outskirts, the female weaving yarns and the male lifting machines. To them, Thailand is a land of hope, though they'll soon find out, like many Myanmar workers do, that it's also a limbo, a perpetual transit, a non-place where hope can be dashed in seconds and desire can turn into tragedy.
No man's land
Life, Melalin Mahavongtrakul, Published on 30/05/2016
» Online clips released in Thailand this month are clear examples of how people with gender diversity can still be misinterpreted
An enigmatic, carnal pilgrimage
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 08/04/2016
» Terrence Malick's Knight Of Cups opens with a solemn passage from the 17th century text The Pilgrim's Progress, and right from the start this enigmatic film lays its cards on the table and yet withholds what they really mean. The pilgrim's progress was "delivered under the similitude of a dream". He set out on "a dangerous journey" before "a safe arrival at a desired country".