Celluloid history
In an era of digital movie trickery and bloated budgets, we're accustomed to watching big- screen historical epics with an infinite number of characters. But, in the case of Thailand's latest movie extravaganza, what you see is pretty much what you get: thousands of 16th-century warriors battling on an outdoor movie set in the lush jungle of Kanchanaburi, west of Bangkok. Why fake it when you can hire all the extras you need?
The movie is The Legend of King Naresuan, and its theatre release is scheduled for December 5 - the birthday of Thailand's current monarch. The story is instantly familiar to a Thai audience, as every schoolchild in the country imbibes the story of the real king Naresuan's heroic stand against the invading Burmese army over 400 years ago. With a budget of around 500 million baht ($102 million) - the biggest in Thai history - the movie is already setting tongues wagging among Bangkok cinephiles. We can expect duelling elephants and rousing nationalist rhetoric.
As befitting such a royal yarn, the director is Prince Chatrichalerm Yukol, a distinguished veteran of the Thai movie industry. His previous film was also a historical epic, entitled Suriyothai, which took four years to complete. In 2004, it became the biggest box-office draw that Thailand had ever seen, and set the bar for the upcoming saga. While the latest Hollywood import can fill Thai theatres, the pulling power of a locally produced blockbuster is far greater - especially when it's a story that everybody knows, and the credentials of the director are so well established.
However, Prince Chatrichalerm appears to be feeling the pressure. He suffered a minor heart complaint last month amid reports of delays to the production schedule. He has since made a full recovery, and recently assured the Bangkok Post that Naresuan would be ready on schedule. He brushed aside questions about the length of the shoot. 'Don't ask me how long Naresuan has been in production. I don't care to remember such trivial information,' he said.
Aside from the task of making the historical scenes believable, the filmmakers must also balance the competing versions of what really happened when Naresuan took up arms against Thailand's foes. The standard Thai version of events is probably a long way from what Myanmese schoolchildren have been told about how the war was waged and who was the real hero.
Of course, the victors usually write the history books, and that goes for celluloid, too. However, Prince Chatrichalerm said his scriptwriters dug into historical accounts and tried to bring some accuracy to bear on the story. At the same time, the title does say 'the legend of', so Thai moviegoers can expect to see a familiar story when December 5 rolls around.