Lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender-related films of Thailand

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Transsexuals, transvestites and gays in Thai films are often portrayed as comic relief or villains. The characterisations are the usual gay stereotype of effeminate cross-dressing or transgender male.

In Thai language transvestites and transgenders are known as kathoey, commonly portrayed in the Thai media as "loud-mouthed, vulgar and emotionally unstable".[1] Another term is "tdoot" (ตุ๊ด), from the first syllable of the title of the 1982 American film Tootsie, and used in the title of at least two films, Saving Private Tootsie (2002) and Kung Fu Tootsie (2007).

Contents

[edit] LGBT films and the Thai New Wave

Since the New Wave of Thai cinema in the late 1990s, several films have emerged that feature LGBT characters in leading roles.

One of the first was Youngyooth Thongkonthun's The Iron Ladies, or Satree lek, based on a true story about a transsexual/transvestite gay men's volleyball team that won a national championship in 1996. It was a huge hit on the international festival circuit. The 2000 comedy spawned a sequel in 2003, The Iron Ladies 2 (Satree lek 2).

More loosely based on a true incident was the 2002 film Saving Private Tootsie, which tells the story of a group of gay and kathoey entertainers who are lost in rebel-held jungle territory after their plane crashes . A squad from the Thai army, led by a gruff, homophobic sergeant played by veteran actor Sorapong Chatree, goes to the rescue.

And the life of transgendered Muay Thai champion Parinya Kiatbusaba (or Nong Tum) is related in 2003's Beautiful Boxer, directed by Ekachai Uekorngtham. Unlike The Iron Ladies, Beautiful Boxer was less comedic in tone.

The 2003 film Tropical Malady, directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul, depicts a romance between a Thai army soldier and a local small-town boy. The narrative of the film then abruptly shifts in the middle to relate a folk tale about a tiger shaman, with the soldier alone in the jungle, haunted by the tiger-shaman's spirit. The film won a jury prize at the Cannes Film Festival.

Apichatpong also co-directed the low-budget digital movie, The Adventure of Iron Pussy, with artist Michael Shaowanasai, who portrays a transvestite secret agent. A musical, the movie also was an homage and a parody of the Thai films of the 1960s and '70s, with Shaowansai basing his character on the actress Petchara Chaowarat.

In 2005, Thai film Rainbow Boys, depicting a contemporary gay relationship, produced by Vitaya Saeng-aroon, saw a limited-release screening. Vitaya also produced the comedy-drama Club M2, set in a gay sauna.[2] And in 2006 there was The Last Song, a remake of a 1985 Thai film about a transsexual cabaret dancer and her struggle to find acceptance and true love.

Me ... Myself (Thai: ขอให้รักจงเจริญ or Kaw hai rak jong jaroen) is a 2007 Thai romantic drama film written and directed by actor-singer Pongpat Wachirabunjong. In the film, Ananda Everingham stars as a male dancer in a transvestite cabaret who must must re-find himself after being struck by a car and suffering from amnesia.

Another 2007 film, Bangkok Love Story, directed by Poj Arnon, was critically hailed as a departure from the stereotyped view of homosexuals as transvestites and transsexuals. Gay Thai independent film producer Vitaya Saeng-aroon praised the film, saying director Poj Arnon was "brave enough to shake society up".[2]

Yet another film in 2007, The Love of Siam, featured a gay love story between two teenage boys as part of a multi-layered drama about one of the boy's family struggling to cope with tragedy and stay together.

[edit] List of LGBT-related Thai films

This is a list of Thai lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender-related films.

Year Title Director Actors Genre Notes
1970 Insee Thong (Golden Eagle) Mitr Chaibancha, Petchara Chaowarat Action Sub-plot features a gang of kathoey as criminals, with a cross-dressing police detective trying to infiltrate them.
2000 The Iron Ladies (Satree lek) Youngyooth Thongkonthun Jesdaporn Pholdee Comedy Hit film, based on a true story of a gay/transgender volleyball team.[3]
2001 Jan Dara Nonzee Nimibutr Christy Chung, Patharawarin Timkul Erotic drama A lesbian relationship is featured as a subplot.
2002 Saving Private Tootsie (Prom Chompoo) Kittikorn Liasirikun Sorapong Chatree Comedy drama Fictionalised account of a plane carrying Thai gay-transgender entertainers crashing in the Burmese jungle and being rescued by Thai Special Forces.[4]
2003 The Adventure of Iron Pussy Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Michael Shaowanasai Michael Shaowanasai Musical comedy drama A gay male 7-Eleven clerk has an alter-ego as a transvestite secret agent.
2003 Beautiful Boxer Ekachai Uekrongtham Asanee Suwan Drama Biography of transsexual boxer Nong Thoom.
2003 The Iron Ladies 2 (Satree lek 2) Youngyooth Thongkonthun Comedy Sequel to The Iron Ladies.
2003 Sayew Pimpaporn Leenutapong Comedy drama Tomboyish protagonist fantasizes about a lesbian love affair.
2004 Tropical Malady (Sud Pralad) Apichatpong Weerasethakul Sakda Kaewbuadee, Banlop Lomnoi Romance drama Won a Jury Prize at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival, The first Thai film to be in the main competition at Cannes.
2005 Chai Lai (Dangerous Flowers) Poj Arnon Bongkoj Khongmalai Action comedy Features a transgender villain portrayed by performance artist Wannasak "Kuck" Sirilar.
2006 Metrosexual (Gang chanee gap ee-aep) Romantic comedy drama The friends of a woman about to be married secretly spy on her husband to be, suspecting that he is gay.
2006 Nam prig lhong rua (Navy Boys) Comedy Climaxes with the entire cast as transvestites.
2007 Bangkok Love Story Poj Arnon Drama A male police witness falls in love with the hitman who attempted to murder him.
2007 Ghost Station Yuthlert Sippapak Comedy horror A pair of gay cowboys make their home in an isolated, abandoned, haunted filling station.[5]
2007 Haunting Me (Hor Taew Tak) Poj Arnon Comedy horror Transvestite comedy.
2007 Kung Fu Tootsie Jaturong Mokjok Sittichai Pabchompoo, Pokchut Tiumchai Comedy Leadership of a crime gang falls to the chieftan's long-lost son, who was raised as a child by a transvestite cabaret troupe.
2007 The Love of Siam Chukiat Sakveerakul Drama A romance between two teenage boys is just part of this multi-layered drama.
2007 Me ... Myself Pongpat Wachirabunjong Ananda Everingham Romantic drama A transvestite cabaret dancer has amnesia.
2007 The Odd Couple Petchtai Wongkamlao Comedy A straight Japanese detective comes to Bangkok to catch a serial killer who preys on transvestites, and he teams up with a member of a transvestite cabaret troupe.
2007 Pleasure Factory Ekachai Uekrongtham Yang Kuei-mei, Ananda Everingham Drama Ensemble docu-drama of Singapore's Geylang red-light district contains a homosexual subplot.
2007 Sick Nurses Horror comedy Contains lesbianism, as well as a homosexual subplot.[6]
2007 Syndromes and a Century Apichatpong Weerasethakul Nantarat Sawaddikul, Jaruchai Iamaram, Sophon Pukanok, Jenjira Pongpas Romantic drama Contains homoerotic overtures by a male dentist treating a Buddhist monk. Withdrawn from 2007 release in Thailand by director, who objected to cuts requested by Board of Censors.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Fighting for fairness, Bangkok Post; retrieved 2007-12-08
  2. ^ a b The real pride in being gay, The Nation (Thailand); retrieved 2007-11-17
  3. ^ Gearing, Julian. Sleeper hit with a heart, AsiaWeek; retrieved 2007-12-08
  4. ^ Booth, Simon. Saving Private Tootsie (review), brns.com; retrieved 2007-12-08
  5. ^ Rithdee, Kong. Canned laughter, Bangkok Post; retrieved 2007-12-08
  6. ^ Rithdee, Kong. Just plain queasy, Bangkok Post; retrieved 2007-12-08

[edit] External links

  • CineQueer, GLAAD's guide to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender images in film
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