Gunman

Reviewed by Simon Booth

Director: Prince Chatree Chalerm Yukol
Year: 1983
Starring:  Sorapong, Ron, Chalita
Time: 141 minutes

Gunman is a story of an assassin with a wooden leg and a heart of gold. It is the story of a police inspector with a fierce reputation and a secret to hide. It is the story of a little boy who knows his father is a hero whatever the other kids say. It's the story of a young cop who takes his job seriously. It's the story of a drunken hairdresser and his shrewish wife, and of a police snitch. IMDB mistakenly lists the movie under the name The Sister-In-Law (a different movie from the same director).  To a small degree it is the story of somebody's sister-in-law too though. I find it difficult to summarise the movie beyond that, because despite the presence of some huuuge genre cliches, the movie really never feels cliched... or like a genre movie. The reason for this is the complex script and rich characterizations. The basic story is quite simple, but it's really just a back-story on which a picture of life is woven.

If I were king of the world, I would use my wealth and power to make really cool movies. Prince Chatrichalerm Yukoi is evidently a man after my own heart. He's not king of the world either, but being a member of the Thai royal family can't hurt when you want to finance a movie... and you can bet you're not going to get studio execs scribbling over your script and cutting out your best scenes either when you're a prince. Prince
Chatri definitely has an advantage over me when it comes to making movies - no, not the fact that he's a prince, just that he's clearly more talented than me.
Gunman is not a flashy movie, not a 'cool' movie, just a really well told story. It's a movie that isn't in a hurry to get to its conclusion (it's 141 minutes long), because it wants to make sure that when it gets you there you really care about it. The characters are developed so richly you'll think they're members of your own family, and if you don't care for every one of them by the end then you're just mean.
I do quite firmly recommend Gunman to curious viewers, but with the reservation that the Thai DVD is... dismal. It looks like it's been taken from a print that has been in constant projection since 1983, and telecined in a bright room by a blind man. Maybe a blind man on drugs. And this is apparently the remastered version too! I was glad to have my Malata because I had to pan it, stretch it, zoom it and drop the gamma and brightness
several notches before it became... well, not good but better. On the bright side, the subtitles are at least well translated.
Still, you can bet there isn't going to be a pristine anamorphic transfer supervised by Sony's top technicians any time soon, and if it's a choice between good movie+bad DVD or the converse... picture ain't so big a deal, right?
Nong Mia / The Sister In Law / Song Of Chaophaya / etc etc :))

Reviewed by Simon Booth

Director: Prince Chatree Chalerm Yukol
Year: 1991
Starring: Chatchai Plengpanich, 'Honey' Pussorn and Yui Patthamawun.
Time: 107 minutes

Living on a boat can be fun... for a week or two. I used to regularly take boating holidays with my family as a child, and it was nice to just boat around different places and be gently rocked to sleep by the water. After a week or two I was happy to head back home though. For many people, a boat is home not just for a few weeks but also for a lifetime. For some, this may be perfect, but others undoubtedly wish they could see more of the world and/or have a more permanent place to call home.

PRANG is one such person, depressed and dissatisfied with a life on a barge, barely making ends meet transporting sand along the river. When she is "spotted" and told she could become a star, she sees the world open up before her and gladly decides to leave her husband, sister and baby behind in the pursuit of a more glamorous life. SANG is the husband left behind, much to his distress. He resolves to search all of Bangkok if necessary to find his wife and bring her back. Off he goes, leaving his sister-in-law TUBTIM behind to look after the baby.
The best thing about the films of Tan Mui (Prince Chatreechalerm Yukol) is that this viewer at least can always relate to the characters. It seems funny that many filmmakers make movies about kings, princes, superheroes and other lifestyles with which they have no direct experience... then when a bona fide prince makes movies, he specializes in stories about ordinary people (Suriyothai being the exception that proves the rule). He does a very good job of it though, so perhaps the life of a prince isn't that far removed from that of the common folk as one might imagine.

The first Tan Mui film I saw was mU pUn, aka "Gunman". Thanks to the misinformation on IMDB I thought I'd just seen the film "The Sister-In-Law". This misconception was encouraged by the fact that a sister-in-law plays a minor but pivotal role in the story. The real "The Sister-In-Law" doesn't feature any gunmen, but the role of the sister-in-law is again relatively minor - less pivotal even, so it's not clear why she gets to name the movie.

Tan Mui seems to specialize in stories of the common folk, the members of society that are often forgotten - his works are very socially relevant-to-critical. NORNG MIA seems less so than other films, and could perhaps be accused of promoting the idea that "common folk should know their place and not try to rise above it". I don't think that was really his intention though, and the viewer is certainly meant to sympathize with characters rather than condemn them. It's hard to ignore the fact they're very naive though, which makes it a little difficult to be sympathetic.
2001's MONRAK TRANSISTOR can in some ways be seen as a role-reversed retelling of a similar story to NORNG MIA, though seen through fresh,  creative and stylish spectacles (and with musical numbers).

NORNG MIA is a fairly solid drama, with well-defined characters and competent direction. It's less ambitious than a GUNMAN, SIA DAI or ELEPHANT KEEPER though, and the story doesn't carry as much impact as those films. It's a fairly well made film (the technical difficulties of filming so many scenes on water being one notable accomplishment, I guess), but not one that's likely to stay with me in the same way some of Tan Mui's other films have done.

Film Rating:  7/10

Kru Somsri (Teacher Somsri)

Reviewed by Simon Booth

Director: Prince Chatree Chalerm Yukol
Stars: Ron Ritthichai, Chalita Puttamapun, Settha Sirachaya
Time: 117 minutes
Year: 1987-ish

Somsri is a teacher in one of Bangkok's slums, teaching the slum kids as best she can in a beat up old building with no budget for equipment or books etc.  At the time the film was made (or is set), 1/5th of Bangkok's population was apparently living in slums. I have no idea if the situation has improved since. Somsri is also the leader of a slum committee, organized primarily to fight the property development company that is trying to evict the people from their homes. Somsri is idealistic, proud and strong-headed and determined to organize the residents and fight the company every step of the way. Unfortunately, many or most of the residents are reluctant to fight, accepting the idea that as slum people they have no rights and can't possibly win against a big corporation. The fight is a difficult one as the company is not afraid to use nasty tactics against the people that stand in the way of their profits.

Once again, Prince Chatree Chalerm Yukol chooses to tell a story of Thailand's poor and dispossessed, in a piece of social criticism that is pretty harsh about the Thai government (I guess the royal family and the government don't get along well).  The poor folk in the film are certainly not idealized, though the value of keeping one's dignity is, and the greedy capitalists are definitely demonized.

The film is played very straight, and is perhaps over-serious at times in its pursuit of depicting hardship it feels slightly manipulative. Although an attempt is made to personalize the story by focusing on Somsri, none of the characters feel rounded or fully developed except perhaps the old drunken teacher that runs the school.  Characters seem to exist basically to serve the purpose of making the social statements the Prince wants to make.

Despite the lack of depth in the characters, the cast gives good performances.  Somsri's fierce and bull-headed persona is well realized by the actress that plays her, and it's largely this that makes the film enjoyable. The direction is solid, as usual. The soundtrack is very good, and adds a lot to the film.
Perhaps it's just that I'm fatigued from too much suffering in his films, but it does seem to me that I'm not enjoying the more recent releases from the Prince as much as the earliest ones that I saw such as Gunman and Elephant Keeper or perhaps it's just that I saw the best of his work first. Whilst Kru Somsri is a pretty good film, it's definitely not a must-see unless social drama is your particular thing.
The recently released Thai DVD is similar to the other releases of Tan Mui films, a fairly faded and worn print that probably went through a VHS phase at some point. It's watchable but not one to show off your home theatre with. The subtitles are rather disappointing, in that they're clearly a minimalist translation of what's being said (quite a few things get no translation at all, others a few words to cover a few sentences).  There are also several places where they're badly synchronized with the dialog, making it difficult to follow who is saying what.  They're sufficient to follow what is going on though.

Overall score:  7/10