The new Francis Ford Coppola version of the Thai blockbuster Legend of Suriyothai has opened in Thailand, and tonight Piyawat and I went to see it. In short, I liked the movie. I'm very interested to see how it will play for American audiences, though. There is definitely enough violence and gore involved but the plot is tough to follow for viewers who have no idea who the characters are and the pace is therefore quite slow at times. And to top it all off, there are those pesky subtitles.
As soon as I got home I picked up the book I am reading (David Wyatt's Thailand: A Short History) and looked up Queen Suriyothai in the index. Sure enough, on pages 91 and 92 the plot of the movie is basically outlined. Very cool!
So for those of you in America, go check out Legend of Suriyothai if you get the chance. The beautiful cinematography and care for detail in showing traditional Thai architecture and customs are alone worth the price of admission. Just be prepared for a lot of reading and a lot of blood!
