Search - The Legend of Suriyothai on DVD

Wow, need I say more?

Ping Lim | Christchurch | 11/13/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This movie justifies to the world that Asian countries can make movies as good as or even better than Hollywood. It's quite a rarity to have a movie made by a Prince, financed or endorsed by a Queen and the main character is acted by a royalty! You would get to see all of that in the behind the scene segment that comes as extras in the DVD package. Just like any other countries that were growing up, there were wild ambitions by various factions to reign the kingdom at any cost; the betrayal, the scheming, the plotting to hedge the bet or to better the chance; and to counter that, there were showing of honour, loyalty, bravery in times of need to do what the country is expected of you. Suriyothai, in this instance, is portrayed as such. She forsaked her true love for her distant cousin to marry a Prince just to keep the fragile peace among warring factions (which were related as well too). With the death of the King, Suriyothai's brother-in-law decided to reign the nation even though he swore upon his father's death bed that he would support his nephew (who was only a mere toddler). To do so, that involved a lot of killing naturally. Suriyothai explained to her disgruntled husband that at times, the coup was necessary for the betterment of a nation (wise instead of conniving like Lady Macbeth). As karma would have it, the brother-in-law would suffer a painful death as his own wife had an hidden agenda (to have her lover be coronated as a King & to have her long forgotten U Thong Dynasty be glorious once more). Suriyothai's husband was projected as a peaceful ruler. Rather than getting involved with all the bickering that was happening, he retreated to the temple instead (to his detriment as he would later found out as the Queen spread the rumour that Suriyothai's husband plotted for his own brother's downfall so he could be King himself). Naturally, Suriyothai would summon for his distant cousin that she was in love with years ago to come to the rescue (Lord Piren). Once all the introduction was gotten over and done with, the movie went up a notch to undo the plotters. The Director explained that originally, CGI was meant to be done by the Industrial Light Magic but he found out that it was cheaper to be done in real time. Thus, a fortunate accident that the fighting scenes were akin to Cecil de Mille's grand epic fighting. Just to complicate the matter, Burma decided to get itself tangled in the civil war. Here, we gotten to see the Spanish and the Portuguese that introduced modern weaponary and mercenaries to the warring factions and did I mention chicken pox as well? To cut the story short, Suriyothai's death in the battlefield vented the anger of their fellow countrymen and women who would continue her fight for the freedom of her nation. A very touching and well-deserving finale. I haven't seen the extended version before but suffice to say that Francis Ford Coppola would have edited the unneeded scenes or as the Director said himself, Director indulging scenes to make the movie flows more smoothly or more rhythmically. The deleted scenes were shown but not explained. It's quite wonderful to note that the person who played Suriyothai's nemesis was akin to Madonna (pop singer) in Thailand, or shall I say, a sex symbol there. In other words, she's perfectly casted as the conniving Queen who would use her sexuality to get her ways. Suriyothai was mentioned quite a bit in the beginning and again in the end, but towards the middle, the movie focused more about the turbulent time that Thailand immersed itself in. A sumptuous set, royal protocol which was followed quite strictly & possibly accurately as it's done by a Prince Director, fighting scenes with elephants which were never going to be outdone by, political backstabbing and intrigue that could match Elizabeth, a bit of love interest, this movie has got it all. Overall, a very commendable effort especially when you think that this is an Asian but not Hollywood movie. Highly recommended."