LEKHA SHANKAR

The New ‘Prince’ of Thai Cinema

‘THE COP ’- A Rivetting Thriller

It's time to welcome the new 'Prince' in Thai Cinema - Adam Yukol, the son of  the legendary Prince Chatrichalerm Yukol, the blue-blooded  maker of numerous Thai  films, including 'Suryothai' ( which was edited by Coppola,and released in the West),and the epic 'Naresuan' movies.

Adam's debut film 'The Cop’ ( ‘Sarawat Mah Baa’) will be released in Thailand,tomorrow.

After attending the press-screening  at the Siam Paragon,  all one can say is that he is a 'sun' (son) in his own right, now-!

It's  an ordinary  cops-and-killers tale, and  for his first film, it's  sensible that the youngster did not aspire for social themes or historical dramas, like his famous father. What he did, instead, was research hard on his subject, in this case the multi-varied aspects of the Thai cop, who has been much written about/commented on/villified /voted against, in the media..

The result is a diverse and amazing array of cops, each one a full-blooded character in his own right, with  individual whims and warts of their own. Not in a long time have we seen a Thai film with such a character-driven script! At the end of it, the confused plot and convoluted happenings don't matter much, because it’s the characters who totally hold you in their sway.

At the centre of the storm, is actor  Somchai ‘Tao’ Kemglad , who after acting as the baddie in many films over two decades, plays the quick-tempered, trigger-happy  lead-cop in this film, . The actor confessed wryly that it was his years of experience as a badster that helped him assay this role as a mobster-policeman. However, the strength of  his role lies in his fine nuancing as a loving husband ,father,friend.

The same with the other characters, in particular Inspector Nalin ,who's a mixture of innocence and ruthlessness, played by Thai-Brit actress Krystal Vee. She hasn't been seen on the Thai screen before, though she's done a spate of foreign films shot in Thailand, including 'Scorpion King 3', Streetfighter-' etc. This is a challenging role, assayed well and astutely directed by the young director. 

Adam is a whiz-kid with  on-line technology and his cheekily-named ‘fukduk’ company has been involved in numerous online TV-shows, games etc. As a result he has a snazzy cinematic style of his own, as the beginning and end of the film will testify.

The 27-year-old  says he’s a follower Hollywood masters, but I personally see  the influence of Bollywood, in his use of the ‘ revenge’ theme vis a vie the family, which was so popular in the 80’s.  Well, his mother is Indian, his DOP  Chaitanya is Indian, so, it has to rub off somewhere.

Anyway, it’s good to welcome yet another talented young film-maker in Thai cinema, and judging by the way  he was mobbed by the youngsters after his screening, it looks like this ‘Adam’ is going to be a trend-setter  in Thai cinema.

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