Arts & Architecture - Thailand - page 1504

Mary is Happy, Mary is Happy (Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit; 2013) is a film festival hit
that adapted the Twitter feed of a Thai teen into a movie.
Film fest fare has been bolstered by independent film clubs and self-promotion through
social media. This is how low-budget filmmakers bypass the big studios, the cinema cen-
sors (who are ever vigilant) and the skittish, controversy-averse movie theatres. In 2007
the film board introduced a rating system (five levels indicated by appropriate age of
viewer) to provide more predictability. Being censored often equals immediate indie suc-
cess. Two political documentaries of 2013 challenged the board's sensitivities. Pen-ek's
historical Paradoxocracy had to mute objectionable dialogue while Nontawat Numben-
chapol's Boundary was initially banned, though that was lifted after an appeal.
The big studios like ghost stories, horror flicks, historic epics, sappy love stories and
camp comedies. Elaborate historical movies serve a dual purpose: making money and pro-
moting national identity. Criticised as a propaganda tool, the Legend of King Naresuan
epic, which comprises five instalments, focuses on the Ayuthaya-era king who repelled an
attempted Burmese invasion. Each chapter (four have been released so far) has been a
box-office winner.
Literature
The written word has a long history in Thailand, dating back to the 11th or 12th century
when the first Thai script was fashioned from an older Mon alphabet. The 30,000-line
Phra Aphaimani, composed by poet Sunthorn Phu in the late 18th century, is Thailand's
most famous classical literary work. Like many of its epic predecessors around the world,
it tells the story of an exiled prince who must complete an odyssey of love and war before
returning to his kingdom in victory.
Of all classical Thai literature, however, Ramakian is the most pervasive and influential
in Thai culture. The Indian source, Ramayana, came to Thailand with the Khmers 900
years ago, first appearing as stone reliefs on Prasat Hin Phimai and other Angkor temples
in the northeast. Eventually the Thais developed their own version of the epic, which was
first written down during the reign of Rama I (r 1782-1809). This version contained
60,000 stanzas and was a quarter longer than the Sanskrit original.
Although the main themes remained the same, the Thais embroidered the Ramayana
with more biographical detail on arch-villain Ravana (called Thotsakan, or '10-necked' in
the Ramakian ) and his wife Montho. Hanuman, the monkey god, differs substantially in
the Thai version in his flirtatious nature (in the Hindu version he follows a strict vow of