Self-study and classroom lessons based on newspaper feature stories

This column is for self-study or classroom use and gives guided help with reading the wide variety of writing styles and topics that appear as feature articles in the Bangkok Post. The lessons include background information, skill-building practice and vocabulary explanations.

February 17, 2004

Changing direction

INTRODUCTION

Sometimes things don’t work out just as planned. A new opportunity is offered, one idea is scrapped when a better one comes along – those are the kind of unplanned events that sometimes shape people’s careers.

That is the case with the artists, Anuchid Sapanphong and Itthisoontorn Vichailak, for you to read about in the two excerpts here. They both changed directions and ended up on the same project – the making of the new Thai movie, Hom Rong (The Overture).
What kind of people?

You’ll learn about those career and project changes as you read. You’ll also learn about the director and the actor as people and about another artist who inspired them both, the Thai classical musician, Luang Praditphairoh.

Here are some adjectives and phrases often used to describe successful people:
enthusiastic
clever
flexible
willing to work hard
optimistic
intellectually curious
dedicated
able to learn quickly

As you read the stories, think about what these three artists are like and write the initials (AS, IV and LP) beside the characteristic you think each one has. Some characteristics will apply to more than one person and each will certainly have more than one quality.

Then, choose the one characteristic you think is most important for each. Write a brief explanation, in your own words, of something you learned about him in the story that demonstrates that quality.

What is the quality of a good teacher that Anuchid mentions about Acharn Thaworn Sriphong?
Overcoming obstacles

In an introduction not included here, the writer said this:

Director Itthisoontorn Vichailak and the star of his latest movie, Anuchid Sapanphong, have both been part of films that won critical acclaim but fell short of box office expectations. Will they break the curse with their new movie Hom Rong (The Overture)?

Critical acclaim means that reviewers and critics, people who know a lot about movies, thought the movie was good – an artistic success. However, the box office – the money the film makes through ticket sales — was not good.

There are two really strong obstacles that this movie faces. The first is the reputation of the director – he has not had a success since the comedy TV series 20 year ago. What is the other obstacle? Do you think these two obstacles will cause the movie to be a financial failure?

The movie has already opened and according to one early reviewer, it is an artistic success. You can see it and judge for yourself. You’ll be able to decide if the strengths of the three people you’ve learned about here are enough to make the film a success.

OUR STORIES FROM THE BANGKOK POST

Making it

Actor Anuchid Sapanphong (left) and director Itthisoontorn Vichailak

Story by NILUBOL PORNPITAGPAN
Picture by YINGYONG UN-ANONGRAK

Know these words and phrases

court
(v) to try to get

land
(v) to succeed in getting a something, especially that a lot of other people want

debut
the first public appearance of a performer

premiere
(v) to be shown for the first time

stir
to cause strong feelings

chorus
the sound of a lot of people expressing approval or disapproval at the same time

choreographer
one who designs steps and movements for dancers

comply
to obey; to do as you are asked

credible
able to be believed

intensely
very strongly and deeply

impressive
making you feel admiration, because of being very good

compel
to make something absolutely necessary

insight
deep understand about people or situations

profile
a story or movie that gives a description of someone

substantial
large in amount or value; important

suppression
actions that prevent something from growing, developing or continuing

Acting was not something Anuchid "O'' Sapanphong courted. But the student-turned-dancer who had no acting experience except for dance scenes in music videos was sought by two movie directors when they spotted him on a soft drink commercial two years ago. His good Thai looks and enthusiasm landed him two films within a week.

Jira Malikul cast him in his debut film 15 Kum Duen 11 (Mekong Full Moon Party) and Itthisoontorn Vichailak put him in Hom Rong (The Overture). The former story about the naga fireball over the Mekong River on the full moon of the 11th lunar month in Nong Khai won high acclaim and a handful of awards when it premiered two years ago. The young actor was praised for his performance and his Isan dialect accent.

His latest project, Hom Rong (The Overture), was released last Friday after two years of production. Anuchid portrays a Thai classical musician. The movie stirred a chorus of praise in the Bangkok Film Festival.

The 24-year-old Bangkokian actor has learned from his two roles. Anuchid, now a third-year student at the University of Thai Chamber of Commerce, said he was not interested in performing when he was offered the lead in 15 Kum. "I was a dancer at GMM Grammy," he said. "My ultimate goal then was to be a choreographer. But I changed my mind when I read the script of 15 Kum. It was so touching that I cried at the end of the story. So when the director told me that I had to learn the Isan dialect for my role, I did so wholeheartedly."

But for Hom Rong, director Itthisoontorn wanted more — he wanted Anuchid to master the ranad ek (wooden xylophone) for his movie.

Anuchid had no problem complying. "I like to make my performance credible the way Hollywood stars make us believe in their performances," reasoned the young actor. "Sorn, the character I play, is a great musician. He's cool. I'd hate myself if I couldn't make him look great."

While Itthisoontorn worked on the details of the music to be used in his movie and sharpened his script, he let Anuchid finish the shooting of 15 Kum. He then sent him to learn ranad ek with Acharn Thaworn Sriphong at Chitralada School. Anuchid studied for three months and practised specific tunes for specific scenes intensely when the shooting started last year.

"My learning went well because I had a good teacher. Acharn Thaworn was a true inspiration," said Anuchid. "He had a good way of teaching. I remembered after a few minutes of trying to play the instrument he praised my improvement. He said I could do better than many of his students within a limited time. I was thrilled. His words encouraged me to go on and throw my whole heart into the practise.

Will Hom Rong be a hit?

"I just want the audience to see something good that I’ve done. I’d be very happy if they love what I did," said the young actor.

Bringing music to the big screen

Itthisoontorn Vichailak does not have an impressive record in movie-making. His first and only film, Lukbaa Tiao La Sud, was made ten years ago. Although it won scores of awards and was loved by critics, Lukbaa failed to obtain box office success. So when the director decided to make his comeback this year with a hard-sell project, it was not seen as a wise move.

This second film, Hom Rong (The Overture), about a great master of Thai classical music, comes at a time when Thai classical music has lost its appeal to young people. But the director said the movie's storyline compelled him to make it.

"I dare say this is a good project," said Itthisoontorn, an architecture graduate who shot to fame as a scriptwriter and actor in Phetchakart Kwamkhiat, a hit comedy series two decades ago.

"Hom Rong tells an interesting story and offers something different. No one has made a movie about a ranad ek (wooden xylophone) musician before. I think something different may appeal to audiences."

The director started out making a romantic comedy two years ago in which a minor character was a Thai classical musician. To gain insight into the Thai classical scene and life of a musician, he did some research. One name always popped up — Luang Praditphairoh — whose former name was Sorn Silpabanleng. The more he read, the more he was inspired by his work and life, and the more he thought it would make an interesting movie. He dropped the movie he was working on and started a new project.

"Luang Praditphairoh was a famous court musician and made a great contribution to Thai music. He lived through the reigns of five kings," said the director. "We know about the world's great composers like Mozart, Chopin and Beethoven through Hollywood movies. But we haven't had profiles of our own great musicians. So I thought I could make this story."

He also had a substantial subplot to add more weight to the story: the suppression of Thai classical music during a cultural revolution carried out by Prime Minister Field Marshal Plaek Pibulsongkhram in the 1940s and '50s, who sought the country's Westernisation.

This suppression stopped the growth and development of Thai classical music. Luang Praditphairoh tried to preserve this heritage.

• This lesson was prepared by Maureen Paetkau, a professional teacher of English as a second and foreign language and Assistant Manager and Webmaster for Learning Post at the Bangkok Post.

Read our other feature focus columns here.

Return to our home page.