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When His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej celebrated his royal wedding with Her Majesty Queen Sirikit on April 28, 1950 at Sra Pathum Palace, the small crew from His Majestys personal Film Production Department recorded the proceedings on 16mm colour film. A week later, on May 5, 1950, the monarchs Royal Coronation Ceremony took place with exquisite pomp in the Grand Palace. Again, His Majestys film personnel captured the luminous details of this once-in-a-lifetime event on rolls of Kodak film.
On May 17 of that year, two weeks after the Royal Coronation, Bangkok spectators flocked to Sala Chalermkrung Theatre to watch the film of these two royal ceremonies on the big screen, edited and narrated by the palace film department. In those days televisions had yet to become essential household furniture, and that screening 56 years ago marked the first time Thai audiences ever laid eyes on HM the Kings "personal films".
At least 16 more royal films hit Thai theatres between 1950 and 1967, according to a study on the Preservation of His Majestys Private Film Collection by the Thai National Film Archive. There were film clips shot by His Majesty himself when he was studying in Switzerland; the announcement of the birth of HRH Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn; the daily lives in the palace showing the young Princess Ubolratana and HRH the Crown Prince as they were reading and drawing, as well as the activities of other members of the Royal Family. Besides these "home movies", there were official films, shot by the crew, on His Majestys visits to various parts of Thailand, as well as his overseas trips to Indonesia, Vietnam, Burma, England, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, China, the US, and many more.
Many of these royal movies, says film scholar Dome Sukwong, were box-office hits at Bangkok cinema houses as they sold more tickets than Hollywood and Thai films that shared the programme. Each new release of a royal film was an event much-expected by the audience; despite impressive earnings, the King would donate the proceeds from the screenings to various charity organisations.
"And after leaving Bangkok cinemas, the films went on tour to different provinces," says Dome. "I remember that when I was a student in Narathiwat, the school would take us out to the cinema one afternoon to see the Kings film."
Screenings in remote areas, mostly on outdoor screens, were free of charge and always attracted huge crowds. Royal Household secretary-general Kaewkwan Watcharoethai, who shot a number of the royal films in the 1950s and 60s, said in an interview with the researchers from the Fine Arts Department: "Four or five of us would travel in a van, modified to house a film projector in the middle. We would carry microphones, amplifiers and other equipment. I would sit in front, the narrator would sit behind me.... Each trip took us a month away from Bangkok, and we went everywhere - the North, the Northeast, the South - the same as those travelling movie carnivals."
Kaewkwan adds: "His Majesty would watch each new film before we released it in the theatres. In Bangkok, we asked the drive-by announcers, who drove their pick-up trucks around the city and advertised new releases through their loudspeakers, to spread the word to the people, just like other regular movies.... In the provinces we often screened the movies in schools or hospitals."
In the late-60s, when more and more homes had television sets, His Majestys Film Production Department took to supplying the footage of royal news to television stations (there were only two at that time), and the last royal movie to open in the cinema was in 1967 - it included scenes from the end-of-term party at Chitralada School where HRH the Crown Prince, HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, and Princess Ubolratana were studying, as well as His Majestys visits to Iran, England, the US and Canada. In the 1970s, each television station was allowed to send their own film crew to record royal ceremonies, but His Majestys Film Production Department, based in Chitralada Palace, remains active to this day. And they still shoot everything on film, despite the popularity of video.
Over the past 56 years, His Majestys Film Production Department has not only recorded the activities performed by the diligent monarch, but also sketched portraits of the country from a unique point of view - that of the revered King. The pictures showing distant villages where His Majesty visited, either shot by his crew or by the King himself, have served to document the geographical and spiritual landscapes of Thailand throughout His Majestys 60-year reign.
But in 2002, the Royal Household raised concern over the condition of His Majestys film collection. Like all old films whose chemical composition deteriorates from heat, humidity and the ravages of time, some of these 16mm films require preservation and restoration. Efforts had been made when the country prepared for the 60th anniversary of His Majestys assession to the throne this year, and the talk of nursing these films back to their perfect health has resurfaced as Thailand prepares to celebrate the Kings 80th birthday next year. |
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