Showing 21 - 30 of 78
A fitting aperitif
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 19/05/2017
» At 70 years of age, the Cannes Film Festival opened on Wednesday with a touch of its glorious past and a heavy dose of present uncertainty. Inside the Palais des Festivals, the bustling headquarters, a decoration motif lays out the key moments of the festival's history, and special events marking the occasion are planned for the days to come. Meanwhile, for the first time, metal detectors have been installed at the entrance of the Palais and some of the cinemas, stacking up long queues. Flowers pots have reportedly been deployed as part of the strategy to prevent any unexpected intrusions.
A new vision on Siam's enduring symbol
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 26/04/2017
» The elephant and the man, walking down the road to redemption and encountering the wounded and the marginalised, the madmen and the prostitutes. In the film Pop Aye, which will kick off Bangkok Asean Film Festival 2017 this evening (see sidebar), the fine-tusked beast accompanies the lost soul as the duo find their way home from Bangkok to the Northeast.
Once lost, now found
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 01/02/2017
» The 69th Cannes Film Festival begins today in southern France with its usual fanfare. Regarded as the world's most prestigious event of cinema professionals, the festival celebrates film as art, commerce, glitz and as cultural treasure. Fittingly, this year Cannes has invited only one Thai film to screen in the Cannes Classics programme -- the recently discovered 1954 Santi-Vina, which was once thought to be lost and has now been restored to its celluloid glory.
Colourful journey into Thailand's soul
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 20/01/2017
» The train clangs ahead, moving people and dreams, as it has done since 1893. In Railway Sleepers, a minutely observed film shot entirely on-board a Thai train, we see kids on school trips, young men travelling north and south, hawkers selling food and horoscope books, families and lovers, vacationers who turn the sleeping car into a party venue. They're passengers, and they're also humans. They are, as director Sompot Chidgasornpongse says, a collection of faces that make up a portrait of Thailand.
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).
Two epic showings
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 02/12/2016
» Stanley Kubrick and David Lean will illuminate the big screen of Scala this long weekend, a fitting culmination to the programme of classics screened in celebration of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej. Since July, the Thai Film Archive has been showing vintage films that His Majesty watched in cinemas when they first opened in Bangkok half-a-century ago, and this week the project concludes with two majestic titles, Kubrick's Spartacus (screening Sunday at noon) and Lean's Lawrence Of Arabia (Monday at noon).
Memories of my mother
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 07/10/2016
» Alfred Hitchcock's thriller Psycho, a subject of cinephilic and scholastic scrutiny for 40 years, is showing this Sunday at Scala. When the film was first released in the US, Hitchcock strictly instructed that latecomers would not be admitted into the screening, because it is "required that you see Psycho from the very beginning!". The Bangkok showing will follow that rule (strictly or not we can't be certain), and it's always nice and wise to be on time.
Alternative screenings this weekend
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 02/09/2016
» As the multiplexes are dominated by the big Thai film Fanday, two screenings this weekend should provide alternatives for Bangkok moviegoers. First, David Lean's Doctor Zhivago will play at the Scala on Sunday at noon, then a set of nine short films addressing the issue of legal reform will be screened at the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre at 3pm.
Chuga-Chug! Here come the zombies!
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 05/08/2016
» Zombies overrunning a high-speed train, what more could you ask for.
Female Lawrence deserves more
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 24/06/2016
» Gertrude Bell was an adventurer, desert explorer, cartographer, polyglot, writer, kingmaker, and an overshadowed figure during World War I. She spoke Arabic, German, French and several other languages; T.E. Lawrence sought her advice; the Arabs respected her; the British Empire wanted her to spy for them; she helped Sheikh Faisal, who fought with Lawrence against the Ottomans, become the king of Iraq. In short, a great woman who lived a full life. And now in the motion picture Queen Of The Desert, Bell is played by Nicole Kidman in her wind-kissed scarf, lovelorn smile and in a story fraught with Oriental romanticism. The great adventurer doesn't receive a great cinematic treatment after all.