Exciting news for true movie lovers: Netflix has teamed up with the Thai Film Archive to bring old and renowned classic Thai films to its platform. We chat to the Thai Film Archive’s Kong Rithdee for his top picks to stream this Songkran and beyond.
A stray away from the otherwise pretty goofy Thai films that sit in the Netflix repertoire, it is refreshing to see a real selection dedicated to Thai cinema now added to its library. But where to begin? We decided to seek advice from one of the most respected Thai film authorities in the country.
Kong Rithdee is the former Bangkok Post Life editor and a well-known movie critic. A regular at the Cannes Film Festival, he is also a subtitle translator for the works of acclaimed Thai directors such as Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Pen-ek Ratanaruang, and Wisit Sasanatieng, to name a few. A regular film writer for Sight and Sound, he is also a recipient of France’s prized Chevalier dans L’ordre des Arts et Lettres award. Thereby, for those who are just beginning to dabble in to their Thai film journey, we couldn’t think of a better guide.
Here, Kong Rithdee presents us with his five top picks from the exciting new additions to Netflix. With a little bit of history, context, and vital scenes to look out for, read on and get ready to bookmark for your next big binge-watch this summer. You can find all these films and more under the Acclaimed Thai Films section on Netflix.
The Thai films you should watch this Songkran, according to Kong Rithdee
Monrak Transistor
Pen-ek Ratanaruang’s adaptation of Wat Walayangkul’s novel is a modern classic in the canon of Thai cinema, a near-perfect marriage between contemporary filmmaking sensibilities and the familiar social-realist trope in which brutal Bangkok crushes the dream and innocence of a rural boy. The country songs in the soundtrack are top, too.
Watch Monrak Transistor on Netflix.
Butterfly and Flowers
Euthana Mukdasani’s film contains one of the most memorable scenes in the history of Thai cinema: the border-crossing rice smugglers on the roof of a moving train as it trundles into sunset. The film is a coming-of-age drama about a Muslim boy in Songkhla and his wide-eyed struggle to find his place in the world. They don’t make a Thai film like this anymore.
Watch Butterfly and Flowers on Netflix.
Tears of the Black Tiger
Wisit Sasanatieng’s bold, wacky pastiche of old Siamese films is a one-of-a-kind wonder: a mashup, an homage, an expensive experiment, and a wild celebration of beautiful clichés and tragicomic predictability that once made Thai films so irresistible. The Black Tiger of the title is a heartbroken cowboy/bandit in love with a beautiful heiress engaged to marry a police captain who’s tasked with capturing Black Tiger. Talk about fate, talk about coincidences!
Watch Tears of the Black Tiger on Netflix.
The Siam Renaissance
Surapong Pinijka’s adaptation of Tommayanti’s popular time-travel novel becomes an eccentric, courageous, almost radical specimen of mid-2000s Thai cinema. A magical mirror whizzes a modern-day female diplomat back to King Rama IV’s reign, where Western powers are eyeing Siam with colonial lust. At one point, warped timeline lands the Eiffel Tower on the bank of the Chao Phraya. Crazy, beautiful.
Watch The Siam Renaissance on Netflix.
Black Silk
R.D. Pestonji’s crime caper from 1961 is said to be the first Thai film noir – with a strong Buddhist twist. A black-clad widow falls in love with a nightclub henchman and is sucked into a web of murder and identity theft. The film was the first Thai selection to Berlin International Film Festival, and the restored version (on Netflix) was also picked for Cannes Classics, making it a rare title to be featured in both major film festivals 60 years apart.
Watch Black Silk on Netflix.
The post The Thai Film Archive’s Kong Rithdee on the 5 Thai films you should watch this Songkran appeared first on Lifestyle Asia Bangkok.
