Showing 1 - 10 of 16
A note on Thailand Biennale
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 02/01/2019
» One recent morning at Nopphrat Thara beach, the high tide flooded the lower part of a strange, interwoven structure. Rising from the blue water of the bay, it looked like an island, a new, unmapped island of Krabi visible from this popular spot where tourists visit and board tour boats to outlying islands.
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.
Edgy art in the Northeast
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 17/10/2018
» It began on Oct 6, but it's not too late to check out the edgy art festival Khonkaen Manifesto, taking place at various sites around the northeastern province until Oct 26.
A not-so-mundane history
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 27/06/2018
» A lampshade, elegant and shiny, bears a distinct image of the Siamese constitution over the map of Thailand. A nielloware cigarette box, in solemn brass and black, also features an engraving of the constitution -- the emblematic figure of a folded scripture on a tray. Next to it are matchbox labels, pins, a glass bottle, a bowl, a water jar, an ashtray, a vinyl record. All of them carry the symbolism of the seismic transformation that took place 86 years ago.
For the days that remain
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 17/11/2017
» Challenging taboos, one of Thailand's most popular directors returns with a film that looks death in the eye
Where to pay final respects to King Bhumibol
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 26/10/2017
» The royal cremation day has arrived. Hundreds of thousands are expected to turn up at the ceremonial grounds to witness the historic event. Millions more are going to watch the proceedings on television. Those who would like to pay their last respect to King Bhumibol also have the choice of placing the sandalwood flowers at the 85 replicas of the royal crematorium around the country. There is one in each province and nine in Bangkok.
A trip to the other world
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 18/11/2016
» A quick lowdown on Thai love motels: trashy lighting, soap-smelling beds, bad pillows, cheap porn on the TV and a trove of hush-hush secrets guarded by naked walls. Outside, the thick tarp curtains separate the public from the personal, the exposed from the invisible, the respectable from the randy. Inside, it is another world, a fantasy world, an alien world.
Scala doc to open film festival
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 25/03/2016
» Our cinematic monument of majesty, the last palatial cinema house in town, the Scala on Siam Square stands alone in defiance and melancholy as a remnant of a different era. As its fate -- the spectre of eventual demolition -- keeps popping up in the news every few years, the movie house is now the subject of a documentary film. The Scala, directed by Aditya Assarat, is part of a pan-Asia ensemble called The Power Of Asian Cinema that will screen as the opener of the 6th Salaya International tomorrow.
Stolen moments
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 01/01/2016
» In Kongdej Jaturanrasmee's new film Snap, a wedding photographer returns to his hometown in Chantaburi with a group of high school friends. In that picturesque small town, Boy (Tony Rakkaen) takes happy prenuptial pictures of his old flame Phueng (Waruntorn Paonil), who's marrying a high-ranking soldier. That word, "soldier", carries a weight so leaden here: Snap is a soulful romance about a man searching for lost time, but the film is contextualised as a personal aftermath of the larger social tremors, namely the military coups d'etat of 2006 and 2014.
The (sur)real world
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 11/03/2015
» Chulayarnnon Siriphol can't keep his jokes to himself. He has the boyish — some might say nerdy — looks of a milk-fed goody two-shoes mama's boy, but in his films, the 29-year-old often thrives on pranks, satire, mischief and a brand of droll, childlike humour that cuts through the slough of hypocrisy.