To discover, share, or give your opinion on Thai films and films shot in Thailand.
Uncle Boonmee, a film about reincarnation
Uncle Boonmee is a Thai film that tells the story of a man who finds himself, through visions, confronted with his past, even in his previous lives. The story of a man forced to take stock of his lives before dying.
Description
The magical apparitions of his deceased wife and his son who disappeared years ago confirm to Uncle Boonmee that his end is near. In his beekeeping domain, surrounded by his loved ones, he remembers his past lives. Accompanied by his family, he journeys through the jungle to a cave at the top of a hill, the birthplace of his first life. Of this first life, Uncle Boonmee remembers nothing, whether he was animal or plant, man or woman; but he now knows that he is ready to face death with serenity.
Trailer for Uncle Boonmee
Directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul With Thanapat Saisaymar, Jenjira Pongpas, Sakda Kaewbuadee... Original title: Lung Boonmee Raluek Chat French, British, Spanish, Thai, German feature film. Genre: Drama Duration: 01h53min Year of production: 2009 Distributor: Pyramide Distribution Golden Palm: Cannes International Film Festival 2010
Ong Bak, a Thai film in praise of Muay Thai
Ong Bak is a Thai film that tells the adventures of a young villager, Ting, a somewhat naive countryman who knows Thai boxing well and who must confront the city, its bandits and its traps.
This film, which was a huge worldwide success, made Tony Jaa a bit like the Bruce Lee of Muay Thai.
Summary
Description of Ong Bak
Ong Bak trailer
Film details
The genesis of the Ong Bak project
An exhausting preparation for Ong Bak
Tony Jaa speaks
Maximum risk during the filming of Ong Bak
Box-office record in Thailand for Ong Bak
Photos from the film Ong Bak
Summary of Ong Bak
Nong Pradu, a peaceful village nestled in a wooded valley in Thailand, is in mourning after the theft of its sacred Buddha : Ong-Bak. Ting, secretly trained in Muay Thai, an ancient art of Thai boxing, volunteers to retrieve it from the chaos of Bangkok. But the young villager is betrayed by his naivety from his first steps in the city. He meets George, a small-time crook who robs him of his money. Fortunately, Ting quickly finds him again and makes him his friend. It's George who convinces Ting to participate in violent clandestine fights...
Ong Bak Trailer
Film Details
Release Date: April 7, 2004 Duration: 1h 45min Directed by: Prachya Pinkaew With: Tony Jaa, Petchtai Wongkamlao, Pumwaree Yodkamol... Genre: Martial Arts, Action Nationality: Thai
The genesis of the Ong Bak project
Ong Bak was born out of the meeting between Panna Rithikrai, star of Thai action films, and Tony Jaa, a rising star of martial arts. The first quickly becomes the mentor and teacher of the second. An intense collaboration that soon bears fruit: together, they manage to create a new form of action cinema based on the sports discipline of Muay Thai. When in 1999, the two men met the director Prachya Pinkaew, they decided to start working on Ong-Bak, with the stated objective of giving birth to a film in honor of Thai martial arts.
An exhausting preparation for Ong Bak
Actor Tony Jaa prepared for four years for the needs of Ong-Bak. Four years during which the young man mainly focused on the practice of Muay Thai Boran, an ancient and much more violent form than modern Muay Thai. So violent that he almost gave up several times. But he persevered, with eight hours of training per day!
Tony Jaa's testimony
"Learning Muay Thai is very demanding. You have to know how to fall, get back up, use your knees, crawl, slide, roll, know how to chain all these movements by heart and be able to apply them afterwards. (...) The main objective was that the star of the film remains Muay Thai. We wanted a strong show, which pushes the limits of what has already been presented. That's why we all worked so hard."
Maximum risk during the filming of Ong Bak
All the stunts in Ong Bak were performed without special effects or protection, giving the film a rare authenticity. Everything visible on screen is real. Actor Tony Jaa, a perfectionist at heart and determined not to cheat with the martial art he defends and values, insisted on performing his stunts without any wire protection. Result: he almost drowned in a river, suffered a serious ankle sprain, and burned his eyebrows, eyelashes, and nose during a sequence at a service station. This did not prevent him, in the latter case, from filming two additional scenes to complete the scene!
Box-office record in Thailand for Ong Bak
Ong Bak, released in January 2003 in Thailand, is the biggest hit in Thai cinema. Proof of this enormous success, it has notably accumulated more than two million euros in the city of Bangkok alone in just two weeks of operation.
Photos of the film Ong Bak
Source: allocine; Film's Facebook Page
The Honor of the Dragon (Tom-Yum-Goong) with Tony Jaa
Dragon's Honor (or Tom-Yum-Goong) is a film with Tony Jaa that tells the story of Kham, a young Thai specialist in Muay Thai who finds himself in Australia in search of his stolen elephants.
Dragon's Honor: The Story
When he was young, Kham had only his father and his elephants as family.
As the Songkran Water Festival approaches, Kham's father is convinced that his beloved elephant is princely enough to stroll through the royal gardens.
He visits the village chief who persuades him to have his elephant carefully examined to check if it meets all the criteria.
It is actually a trick to steal the elephant... A fight breaks out during which Kham learns that his beloved elephants are destined to be sent to... Australia.
Traveling outside his country for the first time in his life, Kham goes to Sydney in search of the elephants, now in the hands of Madame Rose, a ruthless gang leader particularly fond of endangered creatures...
Trailer
Film Details
Release date February 8, 2006 Duration: 1h 34min By Prachya Pinkaew With Tony Jaa, Petthai Wongkhamlao, Bongkoj Khongmalai Genres Martial Arts, Action Nationality Thai
The return of Tony Jaa!
After the great success of Ong-Bak, Tony Jaa confirms his talents. Like his first film, he is also the choreographer of the combat scenes, with Panna Rittikrai, the director of Born to fight.
The Dragon's Honor or Tom-yum-goong?
The Western name is The Dragon's Honor but for the Thai version the title is Tom-Yum-Goong (or Tom yam koung), it's the name of a delicious shrimp and lemongrass soup considered a classic of Thai cuisine. In the film, Tom-Yum-Goong refers to the restaurant run by Madame Rose (Jing Xing) in Sydney.
Tribute to Jackie Chan
A Jackie Chan lookalike appears in the film, the Chinese martial arts star is thus paid a beautiful tribute by the star of Muay Thai, Tony Jaa.
Appearance of singer Sek Loso
The famous Thai rock star, Sek Loso appears twice in the film, once drinking M150, an energy drink that he advertises and the second time ????
Photos of the film
Source : Allocine
Tears of the Black Tiger
"Tears of the Black Tiger" tells the love story between a shy villager who becomes a great bandit and a girl from a good family.
Description
Since their childhood, Rumpoey, a girl from a good family, and Dum, a shy country boy, have aspired to live a beautiful love story, but fate has other plans.
Years later, many things have changed. Dum has become the feared Black Tiger, a bandit in the pay of the terrible Fai, and Rumpoey must, against her heart, become engaged to the seductive Captain Kumjorn.
Yet, their love is not dead. Rumpoey has remained faithful, and Dum has never betrayed his honor. During an attack on Fai's headquarters, Captain Kumjorn is taken prisoner.
Out of respect for Rumpoey, Dum spares his life.
The young man is unaware that his gesture will trigger an infernal gearing...
Tears of the Black Tiger: trailer
Release Date: December 25, 2002 Duration: 1h 50min Directed by: Wisit Sasanatieng With: Chartchai Ngamsan, Stella Malucchi, Supakorn Kitsuwon... Genre: Drama Nationality: Thai
Tears of the Black Tiger: Sala Raw Nang
The sala is a typical Thai shelter. The one in the film is called Sala Raw Nang and means "waiting for the virgin".
This name refers to a legend telling the story of a rich young girl who fell in love with a poor woodcutter.
When they had arranged to meet at the very place of their meeting, the young woman's father prevented her from leaving, leading to her suicide.
The young man, unaware of this, waited for her forever, continually embellishing the sala he had built for her.
An original advertising campaign
Wisit Sasanatieng used a promotional technique in line with the resolutely retro style of his film.
During post-production, the director's wife published the adaptation of the script in a popular magazine in serial form, before compiling the episodes into a novel.
The serial was also accompanied by photos of the actors, which were edited into postcards.
When the film was already released, the director also made a radio serial out of it, which was a huge success.
Tears of the Black Tiger: a film under influence
A mix of Asian film, western, tragedy, comic strip and photo novel, Tears of the Black Tiger is both a parody and a tribute to post-war Thai films.
The most notable feature being a saturated film, with bright and faded colors. Wisit Sasanatieng was notably influenced by Likay (a genre of Thai popular theater), the burlesque films of actor Mitr Chaibancha, but above all by the pioneering works of an independent filmmaker from the 50s-60s: Rattana Pestonji.
Last Life in the Universe, a Thai comedic thriller
Last Life in the Universe is a Thai film that follows the meeting of a Japanese librarian and a Thai woman who share a common point of having committed murder.
Description
Kenji is a Japanese librarian, neurasthenic and mysterious living in Bangkok.
After killing a yakuza, Kenji meets a young Thai woman who has also just committed a murder.
For three days, the two of them will hide together and get to know each other.
Kenji and his companion in misfortune are very different, she smokes like a chimney, dresses badly and is completely disorganized: in short, she is everything he is not. But she will reveal some dark areas about his past.
Trailer for the film Last Life in the Universe
Release Date: March 17, 2004 Duration: 1h 52min Directed by: Pen-ek Ratanaruang With: Tadanobu Asano, Sinijtra Boonyasak, Yutaka Matsushige... Genre: Thriller, Comedy
Last Life in the Universe: a tribute to traditional Thai films
Certain dream scenes from Last life in the universe are directly inspired by traditional Thai cinema films.
We can also see, on a television screen, excerpts from Chua Fa Din Lai by Rattana Pestonji.
Baptism by fire
Last life in the universe is the very first film from the production company, Bohemian Film Company.
In the end, several countries such as Singapore, Japan, France and the Netherlands participated in the production of Pen-ek Ratanaruang's fourth film.
The production company created by Fran Rubel Kuzui, Kaz Kuzui, Wouter Barendrecht and Michael J. Werner in May 2002 specializes in "multi-cultural" works, mainly Asian.
The next projects on which this new company will work should be the remake of Pen-ek Ratanaruang's second film and a thriller with Oxide and Danny Pang. 
Citizen dog, Mah nakorn: a zany comedy
Citizen dog, Mah nakorn is a Thai comedy that follows the adventures of Pott, a young Thai who left his native countryside to try his luck in Bangkok.
Description
Pott is hired in a sardine packaging factory. One day, the pace accelerates and he accidentally cuts his index finger.
This incident will trigger a number of meetings: first that of Yhott who works at the factory and becomes his best friend.
Both resign and Pott is hired as a security guard in a company where he meets Jinn, a young cleaning lady who constantly reads a book she doesn't understand.
He falls in love with her, but winning her over will prove difficult.
Citizen dog, Mah nakorn: an unreal world
In this adventure, motorcycle helmets rain down, characters from a photo novel take shape before his eyes, he meets a descendant of the Ming, a little girl who is a video game champion, a zombie motorcyclist (who never wears a helmet), a teddy bear who is a heavy smoker, in short, a strange atmosphere is guaranteed!
Trailer for Citizen dog, Mah nakorn
Release date: August 23, 2006 Duration: 1h 30min Directed by: Wisit Sasanatieng With: Mahasamut Bunyaraksh, Sanftong Ket-U-Tong, Sawatwong Palakawong Na Autthaya... Genre: Dramatic Comedy Nationality: Thai
Photos of Citizen dog, Mah nakorn
Syndromes and a Century, a film about memory
Syndromes and a Century explores how we remember; how our sensitive chord can be touched by insignificant things.
Description
It's a film in two parts that sometimes echo each other.
The two main characters are inspired by the director's parents, in the years preceding their romantic relationship.
The first part focuses on a female doctor, and is set in an environment reminiscent of the one in which the filmmaker was born and grew up.
The second part focuses on a man, also a doctor, and takes place in a more contemporary environment close to the world we live in.
Trailer for the film Syndromes and a Century
Release Date: June 13, 2007 Duration: 1h 45min Directed by: Apichatpong Weerasethakul With: Arkanae Cherkam, Nantarat Sawaddikul, Jaruchai Iamaram... Genre: Drama Nationality: French, Austrian, Thai
Photos from the film Syndromes and a Century
Blissfully yours
Blissfully Yours is a Thai film that tells a complicated love story between a Thai woman and a Burmese man.
Description
Rong, a young Thai woman, has fallen in love with Min, a Burmese illegal immigrant.
She pays Orn, an old woman, to take care of Min while she looks for a place where they can live happily.
One afternoon, Min takes Roong on a picnic in the jungle, where they feel free to express their love.
Orn, on her part, also went into the jungle with Tommy, the man who works with her husband.
Could an overdose of happiness have side effects?
Trailer for Blissfully Yours
Release date: October 9, 2002 Duration: 2h 5min Directed by: Apichatpong Weerasethakul With: Kanokporn Tongaram, Min Oo, Jenjira Jansuda... Genre: Dramatic Comedy Nationality: Thai
Photos of the film Blissfully yours
Chocolate, an autistic martial arts adept
Chocolate is a Thai action and martial arts film that tells the story of a young autistic girl gifted in martial arts.
Description
Jen is an autistic child, addicted to her chocolate biscuits, who lives with her mother Zin near a Muay Thai school.
She divides her time between watching boxers and television, which allows her to develop her skills and natural aptitude for martial arts.
She helps her mother, who is suffering from cancer, to recover the money owed to her with the help of a notebook containing the names of the debtors...
Problem: they all belong to an organization called "number 8" and are not willing to cooperate.
Movie trailer
Directed by: Prachya Pinkaew With: Hiroshi Abe, Pongpat Wachirabunjong, Jeeja Yanin... Genre: Action, nationality: Thai
Photos of the film
Very Bad Trip 2, the sequel in Thailand
In this second installment, the heroes of Very Bad Trip take a trip to Thailand to celebrate Stu's wedding. But obviously and for our greatest pleasure, nothing is going to go as planned....
Description
Phil, Stu, Alan and Doug take an exotic trip to Thailand for Stu's wedding.
Après l’inoubliable soirée d’enterrement de sa vie de garçon à Las Vegas, Stu ne veut rien laisser au hasard et opte pour un brunch léger, sans risque, avant la cérémonie.
But things don't always go as planned.
What happened in Las Vegas is imaginable in Las Vegas, but what happens in Bangkok is beyond imagination...
Trailer for Very Bad Trip 2
Directed by Todd Phillips With Bradley Cooper, Zach Galifianakis, Ed Helms.... Original title: The Hangover Part II American feature film. Genre: Comedy Duration: 01h42min Year of production: 2011 Distributor: Warner Bros. France
The awaited sequel
Very Bad Trip grossed $467,483,912 at the worldwide box office, a record for a comedy prohibited to those under 17 in the United States. A sequel was therefore highly anticipated.
The filming
Very Bad Trip 2 was filmed during the autumn of 2010. The Thai filming took place in two cities, Bangkok and Krabi.
Photos of Very Bad Trip 2
The Impossible, a film about the 2004 tsunami
The Impossible tells the story of a family caught in one of the most terrible natural disasters in recent times, the tsunami of December 26, 2004.
Separated during the disaster, finding themselves in the midst of hundreds of thousands of other people, they will try to survive and find each other.
Trailers of The Impossible
Release Date: November 21, 2012 (1h 47min) Directed by: Juan Antonio Bayona With: Naomi Watts, Ewan McGregor, Tom Holland... Genre: Drama Nationality: American, Spanish
The Impossible, a true story
The Impossible is based on the story of María Belón, the Spanish woman who inspired the character played by Naomi Watts.
She and her family found themselves, among tens of thousands of people, in the chaos of a gigantic natural disaster: the 2004 December 26 tsunami in Thailand.
The Impossible, a film about the human condition
"We're not just dealing with a survival film," says Spanish director Juan Antonio Bayona, continuing:
"[the film] also raises the question of who we want to survive for and in what way."
There's something really powerful here that goes beyond tragedy and has to do with the human condition, something that touches people intimately when they hear about this story.
A long preparation
The preparation of the film took place over nearly two years, between Spain and Thailand, in more than 60 different locations, many of which were the actual sites of the disaster.
It was an atypical shoot because we regularly interrupted ourselves to prepare for the next takes.
The necessary infrastructure was so massive that we wouldn't have been able to film everything at once, explains director Juan Antonio Bayona.
One year for 10 minutes
"Digital water wasn't considered for very long, because it's not realistic enough", said Félix Bergés, the film's special effects specialist.
To recreate the gigantic tsunami as faithfully as possible, the production team worked with six companies specializing in special effects.
And overall, it took a year to create the impressive 10-minute sequence during which the first tidal wave submerged the coast.
The Impossible: between safety and realism
Félix Bergés' team initially wanted to create a 60-meter channel to develop the most realistic and violent deluge in cinema.
However, he quickly realized that the actors were at risk of drowning... "We saw that it was only possible to create a channel of 10 to 15 meters," deplores Bergés, continuing:
"But this allowed us to guide them without any problem when we were going to use elements like trees, debris or other things."
130,000 liters of water per day
Large resources were implemented to recreate the effect of the giant wave.
The film team had to move more than 130,000 liters of water every day.
The tsunami survivor present on the set
The film is inspired by the true story of the Spanish woman María Belón, who was present on the set.
She became very close to actress Naomi Watts, who plays her character.
The Impossible: critics under its spell
The first reviews of the film were very positive, with many praises for the performances of Naomi Watts, Ewan McGregor, and young Tom Holland.
The film review and information website, "Rotten Tomatoes", reports that 89% of users gave the film a positive rating, with an average score of 7.3/10. "Metacritic", another review site, reveals a true "universal acclaim" for The Impossible.
A historic Hispanic box office opening
As a Spanish production, the film was first released in Spain, where it achieved the best opening in Spanish box office history.
With more than $13 million in cumulative revenue, The Impossible shattered the previous record held by Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.
The Impossible: Oscar in sight?
Even before the film's release in the United States, there was already talk of an Oscar nomination for lead actress Naomi Watts.
The film would also be in contention for a nomination for the statuettes, the distributor having carefully chosen to release it in the United States for the month of December, the release period for Oscar favorites...
The Impossible Billy Elliot
Tom Holland won a Hollywood Spotlight Award for his performance in The Impossible.
The young actor, dancer and singer was noticed thanks to his performance in a London musical comedy based on the film Billy Elliot.
Guest star of the film The Impossible
During the film, a renowned guest star makes an appearance: the eldest daughter of Charles Chaplin, actress Geraldine Chaplin.
Photos of the film The Impossible
See also:
Documentary about the 2004 Tsunami
Carabao : Tsunami, a song in tribute to the victims
Hello.
I really appreciate Thai culture. In the list of films, there are several that I have watched. It is very rare not to like a film that talks about a culture in general, especially if you like to discover new things. Through all these feature films, we discover the beautiful landscapes that Thailand has to offer.
Hi Jean,
Yes, it's true that it's also a way to discover the country and its culture.
If you want, you can comment under the films you've seen by clicking on "Add a comment" rather than at the bottom of the page.