this content taken from RealTime section in Bangkok Post- Friday, April 4, 2008
www.bangkokpost.com/Realtime/04Apr2008_real001.php
KONG RITHDEE
Local audiences will finally get a chance to see one of the most controversial Thai movies of recent times - albeit a censored version
After a year-long row that began as a censorship controversy but developed into a heated debate of vast social, intellectual, moral and political dimensions, filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul will finally release his movie Saeng Satawat (Syndromes and a Century) here in Thailand on April 10.
It won't be the full, original version, however. Instead, audiences will be able to see an "exclusive Thailand edition," meaning the film will be censored, with contentious images blacked out. These black holes, which suck in consciousness and discharge subversive symbolism, will mask the six scenes that fell foul of the censors, appearing as scratched or black frames with no sound.
The film will be shown twice a day at Paragon Cineplex for two weeks, starting next Thursday. With every ticket purchased, the audience will receive a limited edition set of postcards bearing still photos of the censored scenes.
Along with the surprise release of this highly-praised Thai movie, which is as fascinating for its odd style as the ruckus that has built up around it, the Thai Film Foundation will organise an exhibition entitled "History of Thai Censorhip" in the theatre hall. Partly a chronicle of Saeng Satawat's turbulent journey from its world premiere in Venice in September 2006 to the release of the cut version in its homeland 19 months later (see box), the exhibit will also trace the history of movie censorship in Thailand and its connection to the country's politics since the time of King Rama VII.
"I would like the public to become aware of the problem of censorship and to stimulate a discussion in society," says Apichatpong. "Even though the Film Act of 1930 has been replaced by a new one, passed last December, the new law, which introduced a rating system, still permits censorship and the provision to ban a movie. That is not an improvement to people's freedom of expression."
Apichatpong submitted Saeng Satawat to the censorship committee last April and was ordered to remove four scenes. When he refused and cancelled plans to release the film, hoping that the matter would end at that, the censors, chaired by the police, detained the 35mm print of the film on the grounds that the director might secretly show it. (He could do that with other prints anyway, or on DVD. And the problematic scenes were quickly available on YouTube.) After months of campaigning against censorship, which drew wide, at times passionate support from other directors, artists, viewers and media activists, Apichatpong decided to appeal to the board this March, and was ordered to cut two more scenes in addition.
Instead of taking out the six shots, as most movies do when ordered to cut, the filmmaker will attempt to turn this "decree of amputation," as he calls it, into a form of dissident art. At the points where the six "inappropriate images" are supposed to be, Apichatpong will either leave black or scratched frames for the entire length of each shot. The shortest one lasts a few seconds and longest seven minutes.
"I'd like the audience to feel that they're forced to be in the dark, while the scratches signify an agent of destruction," he says. "If censorship is still with us, then maybe this is how we should watch the movies."
The censors' reasoning is that the film shows inappropriate pictures that might harm the integrity of Thai monks and the medical profession, especially during a scene in which doctors are shown drinking whisky.
Chalida Uabumrungjit of Thai Film Foundation, organiser of the screening and exhibition, says she's aware of the tricky process of promoting the release of this much-awaited film and at the same time informing the public that it's a censored edition.
"To show this movie in a big downtown theatre is a statement,"she says. "And I believe that to choose to watch it is also a form of statement from the viewers."In the exhibit, visitors can revisit the first incident of film censorship in pre-constitution Siam, when Amnad Mued (Dark Power) was originally banned for featuring scenes of a criminal den, but was later allowed to screen by King Rama VII.
The polarised attitudes for and against censorship, Chalida says, have been a constant since the time of the original Film Act in 1930. Back then, there was even a poster campaign condemning cinema as a "lesson on how to become a crook", with reference to crime movies of the day. But there was also the argument, as posited in a letter to a journal, that "cinema is also a lesson for policemen - on how to catch a crook."
"It's not so much different from today's situation," says Chalida. "I think the practice of censorship can be tied to the political temperature at any given period. During the Cold War, we refused to screen films from China, and a Thai political film like Tong Pan was banned following the 1976 uprising.
"Also interesting is the inconsistency of the 'judgements': for example, films boldly advertised as soft-core pornography were not banned in the late 1970s, though we can be certain that such films would never pass the censors today."
As the pro-censorship camp plays the perpetual save-our-children card, the no-cut-no-ban side maintains the constitutional right of freedom of expression. "The problem is that some people still believe that they actually have better judgement than the rest of the nation, that they are upholding ultimate righteousness," says Chalida. "Democracy is not only about the majority, but also about accommodating the minority. We're not asking for anything more than a little space for non-mainstream culture to exist. What we do is not a crime."
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Cut and thrust
September 2006: Saeng Satawat premieres at the Venice International Film Festival.
December 2006: The film is voted the top film of 2006 by Film Comment, a prestigious New York film journal.
April 2007: The film is submitted to the Thai censorship board - made up of representatives from the police, the Medical Council, a Buddhist organisation and the Culture Ministry - and they demand four scenes be removed (a monk playing a guitar; two monks playing with a radio-controlled toy; a group of doctors drinking whisky; and a doctor kissing his girlfriend and a shot of the groin area of his trousers.)
Apichatpong Weerasethakul refuses to make the cuts and agrees not to show the film in Thailand, but the police refused to return the film print. The incident is widely reported in Thailand as well as mainstream international media.
April 2007: The Free Thai Cinema Movement is jointly formed by Apichatpong, the Thai Film Foundation, Bioscope magazine and a number of artists and media activists. They gather over 5,000 signatures in an online petition to end the practice of censorship and to implement a ratings system.
June-December 2007: The Culture Ministry, led by its surveillance unit, tries to push a new Film Act through the National Legislative Assembly (NLA). The new bill contains a ratings system, but retains the right of the state to cut or ban films. The Free Thai Cinema Movement campaigns against the cut-and-ban provisions.
October 2007: A senior officer of the Culture Ministry gives an interview to Time magazine and is quoted as saying: "Nobody goes to see films by Apichatpong. Thai people want to see comedy. We like a laugh".
October 2007: The op-ed page of the Bangkok Post publishes an essay by Apichatpong titled "The folly and future of Thai cinema under military dictatorship", in which he calls for an end to censorship and respect for freedom of artistic expression.
November 2007: The Alliance Francaise in Bangkok hosts three screenings of Saeng Satawat (on DVD), free of charge. The three screenings are fully packed.
November 2007: A group of internationally renowned Thai filmmakers submit a petition to a member of the NLA at Parliament House to revise the content of the Culture Ministry-approved Film Act.
December 2007: Saeng Satawat is picked as one of the best films of 2007 by a number of Thai and foreign film publications.
December 2007: The new Film Act is passed by the NLA. It introduces the ratings system but maintains the right to cut and ban films.
March 2008: Apichatpong decides to appeal to the censorship board, which is still withholding the film print. They order two more scenes to be cut: the scenes show statues of the Princess Mother and Prince Mahidol Na Songkhla. Apichatpong lets the policemen cut the film (literally) on the spot with scissors, and reclaims the print.
April 10, 2008: The censored version of Saeng Satawat is due for release at Paragon Cineplex.
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