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geoffputerbaugh
Reviews
Rak haeng Siam (2007)
The best
I will simply pass on the comments of my Thai friend, who called this movie "The Best Thai Movie Ever Made," and "The Best Gay Film Ever Made." I agree with him on both counts, though I might split the second award with "Maurice." :-)
The acting, direction, and photography are all world-class. In fact, I am trying right now to figure out the personal/business relationships which produced these three superb Thai movies:
(1) Fan Chan, a movie about childhood which upset the entire Thai movie world with its superb quality.
(2) This movie, Rak Haeng Siam, which also contains a long, long prolong seen from the view of kids.
(3) A new movie, which does not yet have an English title (apparently) -- in Thai, "Akha Phuu Naa Rak." One translation might be "The Cute Akha Kid."
All of these movies are magical, excellent productions from Thailand. They have as yet attracted little or no attention from abroad, but they are SUPERB motion pictures. They are all brilliantly photographed, and written with an uncanny insight into the world of kids.
I would also note that, as yet, so far as I know, NONE of these films has been officially released in any language but Thai. (Of course, the Akha film is partially filmed in Akha, with Thai subtitles, but that won't help viewers who cannot speak Thai.)
If you do understand Thai, you now have my Three Great Films List. They are all available on DVD (in Thailand).
Dosti (1964)
One of the best movies ever made
I stumbled across this great movie in a somewhat unusual way. I was an American student in Cairo, on a fellowship to study Arabic, way back in 1971. I'm not sure exactly why I bought a ticket and went to see this movie, but I came out feeling as though everything in my life had changed, a little bit anyway.
I went back to America and then the search began. I found an old recording of the soundtrack -- made in Dum Dum, India as I recall. The songs were one of the best parts of the movie, and so in this way I came to know the soaring voice of M. Rafi, a man with a voice to rival Luciano.
But I could never find a videotape, or a DVD, or anything, until FINALLY this week I was able to order a DVD from Music House in the UK. I have my fingers crossed! :-) This review is mostly to let others know that there is a DVD out there.