Zero Degreesof Separation

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Zero degreesof separation

By Phatarawadee Phataranawik

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Armed and footloose in Bangkok, Kevin Bacon checks out the red protest while shooting 'Elephant White'

People have fun measuring their "degrees of separation" from Kevin Bacon, but there he was, right there, running around Bangkok's Chinatown with a gun in his hand.

Not even the massive red-shirt protest a few kilometres away could match the excitement of seeing the Hollywood star in action alongside Oscar nominee Djimon Hounsou.

They were here shooting "Elephant White", which stars Hounsou and is directed by Thailand's own action hero, Prachya Pinkaew, for Millennium Films.

Some 20 locations around Bangkok are involved. One of them, Soi Cowboy, would have been pretty routine, but they've had no problems anywhere in spite of the political turbulence.

"There was only one day when we couldn't get to the set on time because we had to wait for the protesters to march past," producer Frank DeMartini told The Nation between takes in Minburi.

"We have political issues in America, too. People protest, people get mad, people get angry - it's part of life. People have the right to protest, as long as they don't want to hurt anybody."

This is DeMartini's second movie here after last year's "The Princess and Me: Elephant Adventure", but it's the first time he's worked with Prachya, who he calls "the Steven Spielberg of Thailand".

He gave him the chance to direct an English-language movie after seeing "Ong Bak" and "Tom Yum Goong".

"Prachya is the biggest Asian action director right now. John Woo is an international name by now, but Prachya is probably the only one at that level who hasn't done an American film yet."

For his part, teamed with big foreign stars, Prachya feels like the rookie on the set - but a lucky one.

Bacon plays "Jimmy the Brit", an old aquaintance of the main character, Hounsou's Curtie Church, a mercenary engaged to Mae, a young Thai woman who's given his life new meaning. She's played by Jirantanin pitakporntrakul, making her film debut.

In supporting roles are Weeraprawat Wongpuapan, Sahajak Boonthanakit, Abhijati "Muek" Jasakul and Suteerush Channukool. Some 200 Thais dominate the crew.

"The movie," DeMartini explains, "is about a mercenary who's assigned to wipe out a gang, but he meets a 14-year-old girl who gets him wondering about right and wrong. By the end he's transformed.

"We're not supposed to say 14," he suddenly remembers with a laugh.

"Djimon wanted me to read the script and said, 'You'll enjoy this part!'" Bacon told The Nation as he wrapped up his last scene in Bangkok last Saturday.

"Then, simultaneously, someone sent me 'Ong Bak', so I watched that to get a sense of Prachya's work, and since then I've watched 'Tom Yum Goong' and 'Chocolate'.

"I like the part, the script and Djimon, and I like Prachya's movies and Thailand!"

Bacon said he plays "an old friend of Djimon's character - they were both working for government agencies, doing undercover work.

But I've since left the agency and came to Thailand and I own a bar and have some other shady business dealings, and Djimon comes to me for guns.

"That's what starts the actions," he grins.

Prachya doled out directions in Thai through a translator, and Bacon said there were no communication glitches.

"I think he understands English better than he speaks it. A lot of the time he gets the idea of what I'm saying before it's translated.

"But, yeah, it can be difficult. I think the main thing is that there are subtleties in the performances, between Djimon and myself that he may not quite see.

So it's sort of up to us to say, 'I don't think that was good enough - let's do another one', and we can make it better.

"He's very open. He likes to have input from both Djimon and myself. Prachya's a very calm man, not a yeller. He's contemplative - he thinks about whether he likes it or not. He doesn't bounce off the walls like some directors."

Bacon was asked about the red shirts.

"I think it's been fascinating to be here during this time. It's interesting for me because I like politics, but I can't say that I completely understand it. I'm mostly reading your newspaper, and I've been fascinated to see the coverage.

"I've been to the rally, walking around, seeing the energy of the people. It's a complicated issue, obviously, but I think it's unfortunate when you see it has a super-negative effect on tourism.

"I mean, the idea that this would be a dangerous place to come right now seems silly.

I hope I'm right, but when they first started protesting there was a lot of build-up to it - everybody was sort of getting nervous - but now it just kind of seems like a way of life."

The 47-day location work for "Elephant White" has another full month to go. Prachya will then edit the footage here before heading to the US for more post-production.

"It will be finished around the middle of December, so expect the release next year," DeMartini said, "probably next summer."

Bacon critiques Prachya

"My favourite is 'Ong Bak' - it has the strongest story - but there are some moments in 'Tom Yum Goong', like a single shot I've never seen before which was incredible, a single steady-cam shot up the stairs.

"I think the interesting things about those films is that, while he knows how to shoot all the fights and the chases and the guns and make it exciting, they also tend to have some kind of a spiritual peace, which is something you don't see much in American action movies.

"Once in a while there's some element of God, you know, but not things like ghosts and spirits. Tradition is a big part of them. That's what makes them Asian, I think.

"I hope that Prachya and the Thai movie community will be discovered through this film and that Prachya can go on to do more American films as well as Thai films."

-- The Nation 2010-04-01

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