Lose yourself in a little museum dedicated to Thailand’s cinematic history.

Like Thai cinema history itself, the museum dedicated to chronicling it is unfinished. But there are still a lot of amazing things to see. At the National Film Archive and Museum in Nakhon Pathom, Thailand’s cinematic history unspools just inside.

In all its nooks and crannies, this labyrinthine little museum is packed with props that bring forgotten films to life. There’s a steel bar that was wielded in 1963’s Singh vs Singh, the only time the era’s two top action heroes Mitr Chaibancha and Sombat Metanee met on screen. A wax figure of Mitr as masked crime fighter Insee Daeng (Red Eagle) hangs from a ladder—a reference to the star’s death in 1970 when he was doing a helicopter stunt for his last film, Insee Thong.

Actor Mitr appeared in 266 movies, mostly dramas and action, from 1958-1970. In the 100 or so films released each year, he was the star of 30 of them.

There’s a house from the set of Nonzee Nimibutr’s Nang Nak, as well as the bone from the movie ghost’s forehead—not real bone from a ‘real’ ghost. Still, it’s kind of spooky. Volunteer guide Chalida Uabumrungjit says the museum hopes someday to have a wax figure of Mae Nak’s ghost, stretching her arms from the house down to the ground.

The museum’s centrepiece is a recreation of the set from Country Hotel, a 1957 musical comedy directed by Ratana Pestonji, the Bangkok-born son of a family of Parsi-Indian merchants. He pushed for many innovations in Thai cinema during his filmmaking career from the 1950s to his death in 1970. The 100th birth anniversary of this pioneering godfather of Thai contemporary cinema falls this year, with a celebration on his May 22 birthday hosted by the archive.

Alongside a wax figure of Ratana and his prized Mitchell camera there is a bottle-bedecked bar, poised to host arm-wrestling contests like in the movie. Visitors are asked to sign the detailed guest register. “You can make things up,” Chalida says—though perhaps stating you are an opium trader like in the movie isn’t advisable.

Indie filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul, considered one of the leading directors of Thailand’s new wave of cinema, has his own display.
“Apichatpong is one of the few directors who pays attention to his history,” says Chalida. In a glass case is the well-travelled 16mm camera he used to make his debut feature, Mysterious Object at Noon, as well as ephemera from his other films such as Tropical Malady and Blissfully Yours.

The censored version of Apichatpong’s latest film, Syndromes and a Century, is in the building next door, but it isn’t in the archive’s cold storage—the vault is full and another is needed to house the next chapter in the history of Thai cinema.

Golden age

In 1897, the Thais discovered cinema but the first Thai films appeared in 1930s.

The early ‘70s was the golden age of Thai cinema, with around 200 movies being made annually. But most of them were shot without synchronised sound on 16mm colour reversal stock. There was never an original negative to hold on to, let alone an archive.
Since the 1997 Asian financial crisis, the Thai movie production has strongly increased.

Since 1999, some Thai movies such as Nang Nak, Iron Ladies, Bang Rajan, Jan Dara and Ong Bak have been released outside Thailand. Some Thai films have also been commissioned for Hollywood remakes.

Thai Takes

In 2004, Thai film Sud Pralad was invited into competition at the Cannes Film Festival and won a Jury prize.

This year, Thai director Apichatpong Weerasethakul served as a member of the jury for the Palm d’Or at the Cannes, which concluded on May 25. His first film Blissfully Yours was shown in the Cannes in 2002 and in 2004, he won the grand jury prize for Tropical Malady, an experimental film about the tortured love between a soldier and his lover.

The film Nueng Jai Deaw Kan (Where The Miracle Happens), produced by Thai Princess Ubolrat Ratchakanya also premiered in Cannes on May 16. The drama is adapted from a story in the Princess’ book, Rueng San Tee Chan Kit (Short Stories from My Thoughts). The Princess also starred as a successful businesswoman, Pimdao, who values material things until she loses her only daughter in a car accident.

See Prang (4bia or Phobia), a four-part horror anthology directed by Youngyooth Thongkonthun, Banjong Pisanthanakun, Parkpoom Wongpoom and Paween Purikitpanya, also made its international premiere in the Cannes Film Market. (By WISE KWAI In Bangkok/ Daily Express/ AsiaNews)