646f9e108c During the 16th century,Thailand contends with both a civil war and Burmese invasion, a beautiful princess rises up to help protect the glory of the Kingdom of Ayothaya. Based on the life of Queen Suriyothai. The film describes historical events in the life of the heroine, Suriyothai, the queen of King Mahachakrapat. from the age of 15, ranging from love and attachment, royal wedding, resettlement in the capital, court life, intrigues, and sustenance of royal dignity. If you&#39;re feeling bored by the #1 or the #21 film on the weekly boxoffice reports, this flick will be something out of the ordinary. There&#39;s a great deal about Thailand and its history that is unfamiliar to me, and many of you. The look, the culture, the sounds are all a bit new. Unexpected things keep turning up on the screen. Some of them like the acting and editing take a little time to get use to, but eventually things start to look and sound familiar, especially if you know your Shakespeare and European history. This is a story of warring kingdoms, of nobles and ladies scheming and killing for power, of lovers true and false, of honor and betrayal, and a little bit of humor tossed in to lighten things up. There&#39;s plenty of dead people, but one of the most moving scenes, the execution of a young king is at first a little strange and incongrously funny. In the space of a few minutes it turns cold and terrifying without ever showing a drop of blood.<br/><br/>Now I wonder if some Western director is going to steal the whole plot for a story that will be more familiar to Americans, something historical or maybe a science fiction trilogy. This review is based on the American cut of Suriyothai, apparently supervised by Frank Ford Coppola. Without benefit of a viewing of the original version, it&#39;s hard to pass judgement, but in my opinion, Coppola has done the film no favours. Additionally, the pan and scan print currently airing on cable looks seriously compromised. Western audiences will be lost by the array of characters and the film&#39;s episodic nature makes it very hard to appreciate or understand their motivations. Suriyothai also suffers from overactive cinematography, with endless tracking shots, annoying use of slow-mo, and an over reliance on slow zooms. Richard Harvey&#39;s soundtrack is paint by numbers stuff, though the contemporary pop song over the end credits is rather nice. All in all, I can&#39;t recommend this film, though the original version is undoubtedly superior. Fun, fun, fun. [July/Aug 2003, p.26]
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