Showing 1 - 10 of 17
Revisiting Wong's dance of desire
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 30/10/2020
» Drenched with desire, Wong Kar-wai's In The Mood For Love feels like a plush, vivid dream lodged in the deepest recess of a lover's heart. Now, the heart is beating again and the dream is being projected on the big screen some 20 years after the film first stunned audiences at Cannes and launched a wave of copycats around Asia.
Cinema Politico
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 14/12/2018
» The premiere of the social-commentary film Ten Years Thailand on Tuesday night saw a number of political celebrities in the vaulted foyer of the Scala, brushing elbows with journalists, film professionals and gawking onlookers. Sulak Sivaraksa was there, as well as historian Charnvit Kasetsiri, Thongthong Chandrangsu and several political-science scholars. Big names from political parties showed up: Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit from Future Forward, Parit Ratanakulserirengrit from the Democrats, Chatchat Sitthiphun and Wattana Muangsuk from Pheu Thai, Sombat Boon-ngamanong from Krian Party. Invitations had been sent out to all parties, according to the film producers, but no one from Palang Pracharat and Bhumjaithai attended the screening.
Rhapsody in black and white
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 13/12/2018
» This is plain simple: Roma must be seen on the big screen.
The many interpretations of bliss
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 08/10/2018
» With the monsoon comes the art. With the wind and bluster come the artists. Here it is, finally, after a year of fanfare and preparation. The first Bangkok Art Biennale 2018 (BAB 2018) will open on Oct 18 and run until next February in a city-wide surfeit of artistic affairs, from exhibitions to talks, workshops to pool parties (which is, of course, art!). The programme will keep Bangkokians and visitors busy for months starting from next week.
Lao cinema hits the jackpot
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 19/05/2017
» In this Lao film, a nearly-blind woman is visited by ghosts that come to tell her winning lottery numbers. Her young caretaker, a girl from the countryside, takes advantage of her mistress' impairment and cashes in on the phantoms' fortunetelling, scoring win after win. On paper, it all sounds preposterous. Ghosts that give out lotto jackpots? How superstitious! How Southeast Asia! But don't be mistaken: you should go and watch Nong Hak (Dearest Sister), a well-made Lao production that spins the supernatural premise into class critique and psychological horror, ripe with atmospheric suspense. In fact, this is simply a better film in terms of script and technical standards than many Thai flicks released each year.
Untangling our twisted tales of rights
News, Kong Rithdee, Published on 18/03/2017
» It's always a tale of two human rights.
Giving women a voice
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 03/03/2017
» A robust line-up of films is coming to us in HeForShe Arts Week Bangkok Film Festival. Organised by UN Women, next week's festival has selected films with messages on gender equality -- or inequality -- and unfair treatment of women in different cultures (not just in the "Third World" countries, to be sure). It sounds heavy, but the good thing is that the titles picked for the event this year are entertaining and heartfelt on top of being socially relevant.
We can't give up hope on bail for 'Pai'
News, Kong Rithdee, Published on 04/02/2017
» Let us keep writing about Pai Dao Din until he gets bail. Let us be patient but also passionate. Let us be cool-headed but also resolute. Let us be respectful of the court but also firm in our questioning. Let us be law-abiding citizens but also simple humans with beating hearts. Let us write even though only five people might read it.
Popping the question of hero or killer
News, Kong Rithdee, Published on 12/03/2016
» A hero to some is a murderer to others — how I wish the world were less tortuous.
Snowden under siege
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 27/03/2015
» The Oscar-winning Citizenfour has opened in Bangkok. An opportune cinema experience here in our land of 99.9% democracy where the contentious Cyber Security Bills are being revised, the so-called Edward Snowden documentary seethes with unsettling power. Its civic outrage is strong, but the cool-headed storytelling gives it gravity. The immediacy of the issue at its heart is also the debate of the early 21st century. And if the film lets us know from the start that it's taking the side of the whistle-blower, all the better.