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Tuesday, 22 April 2003
The Legend of Suryothai ::
I saw The Legend of Suryothai (part of the San Francisco International Film Festival) last night. It chronicles 16th century Queen Suriyothai’s sacrifice to defend Ayothaya from the Burmese. The film’s writer/director, Thailand’s Prince Chatrichalerm Yukoi, spoke very briefly before the showing and answered questions afterwards. Lavish costumes, epic battle scenes (with elephants!), some rather graphic violence. Many times the camera would pan over an outdoor scene, with beautiful buildings in the background, and I’d wish it would stop so I could see them more closely. I suppose I’ll have to go back to Ayuthaya, where it was largely filmed.
With the prince’s introduction, being told that the film was sponsored by the Thai royal family, and seeing scene after scene depicting the elaborate etiquette surrounding royalty, I found myself reflecting on an early chapter of my father’s book Siam in Mind, chronicling the “formalities which made a king into a devaraja... [which] exaggerated the concept of monarchy.” But in the context of small rival kingdoms and shifting alliances, we see the need for a strong government, to defend against external threats. The problems that seem to repeat throughout history are as much a danger in a democracy as in a monarchy, the struggle between those who would abuse power vs. those whose primary concern is the well-being of the society.
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