‘Sad Beauty’ takes a happy turn

[webfact]

‘Sad Beauty’ takes a happy turn

By Donsaron Kovitvanitcha 
Special to The Nation 

 

Director Bongkod Bencharongkul answers audience questions after the screening of “Sad Beauty”.

 

Former actress-turned-director Bongkod Bencharongkul scores a hit in Udine with her first solo outing as a filmmaker.
 

Established in 1999 as the biggest showcase of Asian cinema in Europe, the Udine Far East Film Festival has long drawn industry people and film fans to this smallish city in Italy’s Northeast.

 

Now celebrating its 20th anniversary, this year’s event closed last Sunday with the screening of a restored version of Johnny To’s 2004 movie “Throw Down”, with the director himself turning out for the closing ceremony before the announcement of the films that had won prizes. The Golden Mulberry audience award and the Black Mulberry Critic’s Choice award went to South Korean director Jang Joonhwan’s political drama, “1987: When The Day Comes”, while the White Mulberry award, which recognises first or second-time director, went to “Last Child” by filmmaker Shin Dong-Seok. 

 

 

Three Thai films were screened at the festival, namely Sophon Sakdapisit’s horror “The Promise”, Nattawut Poonpiriya’s hit “Bad Genius” and “Sad Beauty”, the first feature film as solo director of Bongkod Bencharongkul. The well-known actress came with her husband, tycoon Boonchai, to present the film, which had its theatrical release in Thailand last February. 

 

As an actress, Bongkod has starred in many successful films like “Bang Rajan” (2001), “Kunpan: Legend of the Warlord” (2002), “The Judgement” (2004), “Tom Yum Goong” (2005) and “Jan Dara: The Beginning” (2012), but her path as director has not been quite so rosy. 

 

“It started when my mother asked me what I would do if my career as a film actress was over. She knew I didn’t want to sign a contract with a television channel to star in soaps, so I told her that I wanted to be a film director. I love writing stories, and I tried to direct short films with the help of Phi Pued (Tanit Jitnukul, director of “Bang Rajan”). And I fell in love with filmmaking,” Bongkod tells XP.

 

 

Those shorts included an episode for “Pai in Love” (2009) and “Plian” (Change), one of the 12 short films made for the Office of the Prime Minister to promote the so-called “Twelve Values”. 

 

“I started to practise screenwriting by learning from the screenplays of the films I acted in,” she says.

 

Bongkod took her first steps into full-length features in 2013, co-directing “Angels” with Viroj Srisitsereeamorn.

 

“The idea for the film was kindled when a friend asked me to lend her money for an abortion. That led to my thinking about women and babies – that there must be some women who want to have a baby, but can’t, and what if a baby were raised by a transgender? I wanted to direct the film on my own, but the studio insisted I work with another director. It was a good decision to make this film as I learned a lot during the production and that was great experience for me.”

 

 

Like most other countries, Thailand has only a few female filmmakers and those it has such as Anocha Suwichakornpong, Pimpaka Towira and Ing K have to make their films independently, while on the mainstream side, there are no female filmmakers at all. 

 

“I told the owner of a major film production company that I wanted to direct, but he told me I can’t be a director,” Bongkod says. “He said it would be too tiring, and it’s better for me just to be an actress. It was much the same reaction I’d experienced a long time ago when I said wanted to be a star and a neighbour said it was impossible. ”

 

“Sad Beauty” had been in the making for six years but didn’t come to fruition until last year as an independent film. 

 

“At first my husband Boonchai didn’t want me to make it, but I felt that a film about women should be directed by a woman. I told him that if it wasn’t successful, I would make it my last film as director. I sent Boonchai, as the executive producer, the script but he wasn’t happy with it until I included the thriller part,” she explains. 

 

 

“The filming didn’t go smoothly either. I had to change the production team three times. After the problems with the first and second teams, I called Phi Khome [Kongkiat Khomesiri], who I’d known since ‘Bang Rajan’. He told me once that investors tend to be stingy and he had to write a script that would save them money! At first he told me this film was not his style.”

 

“Sad Beauty” is a road movie about two friends, Yo (Florence Faivre) a famous actress and fashion model who always has problems with the media, and Pim (Pakkawadee “Am” Pengsuwan) an ordinary woman who is dying of cancer. At some point, they commit a serious crime together and are forced to make a journey to solve the problem, which becomes the turning point in their friendship.

 

“I met Am when I went to the shrine of Mae Nak. For Florence, I thought of her when I was writing the screenplay. She has an aura and I knew that would help the film. She also understands this kind of role with love scenes and drugs.

 

While the film didn’t do particularly well at the Thai box office, its selection for the Udine Far East Festival raised Bongkod’s spirits.

 

“At first I thought it was over, then I received the good news from Udine,” she says. “I felt that we were not totally hopeless. There are still people who want to watch Thai films. If we make it through, eventually we’ll be happy.”

 

And make it through they did, with “Sad Beauty”, which screened on April 28, playing to a packed house and the appreciative audience applauding the director when the end credits rolled. 

 

“I was so excited that I almost couldn’t speak”, says Bongkod of her first experience at a film festival as a director. 

 

“The audience here are real film lovers, and Sabrina [Baracetti, the festival director] is a very nice person.”

 

“Sad Beauty” is now continuing its journey on the festival circuit, with a tentative screening scheduled for June. 

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/movie/30344499

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-05-04