The feel-good movie studio GTH always seems to generate laughs, even when adapting Thailand's most famous ghost story about a lovelorn female spirit hell-bent on breaking the necks of anyone who gets in her way.
Mario Maurer and Davika Hoorne in Pee Mak Phra Khanong .
The studio known for its ab baew or cutesy attitude will be heading, so to speak, in a bold direction for its latest would-be horror blockbuster. The story of Mae Nak, a dead woman who insists on living (passionately) with her husband, has been brought back to life repeatedly in the past 50 years on film and television (see side story). But the latest version that hits in cinemas tomorrow flips the coin and follows the husband's side of the story, starting when comes home from war to his beloved and, now definitely deceased, wife.
The reincarnation that became Pee Mak Phra Khanong (instead of the time-honoured title Mae Nak Phra Khanong) started out when director Banjong ''Tong'' Pisanthanakun wanted to give a long treatment to his infamous dead-before-they-even-knew-it short film 4Bia (2008), which starred four chums on a spooky rafting trip. Banjong toyed with several set-ups, but it was only when GTH golden boy Chuntawit ''Ter'' Thanasewee suggested the idea of the fearless foursome up against Thai ghosts that a feature-length movie finally shaped up. They were tempted to throw in home-grown demons of every shape and type, from pop (a gut-sucking ghost) to krahang (a male gut-sucking ghost), but the light-bulb moment came when the legend of Mae Nak popped up in discussion. In this updated story, the four guys are nosy neighbours who try to butt into Mak's life: how can the man unknowingly live with a dead wife?
''When we started writing the script, we just wanted an all-laugh comedy, with four friends on a mission to tell their friend Mak that his wife is a ghost,'' says the director famed for the horror film Shutter. ''They are stupid and Mak is also very oblivious, which makes this a really dude-ish movie. I find the name alone funny since all the previous versions have always mentioned 'Nak' but here we are going with 'Mak'.
''We took a year-and-a-half to write the script. After thinking about it, the Mae Nak is a serious legend because it's about two people who really love each other. It's where death isn't even an obstacle _ because she's dead but still comes back to be with her husband. It would be a waste if we were just to make it as a pure comedy.''
To come up with his own version of the tale, Banjong and his team tried not to get hung up about the many film versions of the story _ especially the famous 1999 film Nang Nak directed by Nonzee Nimibutr, which Banjong admires for its classicism.
Director Banjong Pisanthanakun
Instead Banjong's Pee Mak does not strive to be historically accurate; it is deliberately anachronistic, for instance with Mak and Nak canoodling on ferris wheels and carousels at a temple fair.
''Why do their romantic moments have to be limited to shaving his beard and running around in the fields with the buffaloes? We've seen it before and are touched because it was well-made but do we need to do it again? If we stick to the same-old, same-old, it's not really helping in our creative and comedy sense, and it's not like we just stuck an iPhone in their hands. Everything still looks old-fashioned but the small details in there will pique your interest.''
However, the spectre of controversy has probably loomed largest over the casting. There is no no-man's land on this issue: audiences will either love or loathe the semi-Caucasian faces, namely Mario Maurer and Davika Hoorne, who have been picked to play the lead roles usually filled by traditional and darker looking actors. To get around this dubious scenario, the trailer shows Mario crying out how his name is actually ''Mark'', not just ''Mak'', and how his missionary father ditched him. It sounds like a disclaimer, and it could work as an interpretation of a story that, let's face it, is apocryphal anyway.
''Mak is a very difficult character to play because he doesn't just let out gags randomly,'' says Banjong. ''When he's with his friends, he can really fight. But when he's with his wife, he's sweet and lame _ and the first face I thought of when I was casting was Mario. With a farang, we're establishing a new perspective to the old story.''
The stun-gun moments of the movie come when Mak and Nak chit-chat in contemporary lingo, using kao and tua-eng with each other. Although this deliberate misuse of pronouns is considered the norm today, it couldn't have felt more out of place in a movie that is supposed to date back to nearly 200 years ago.
''I think there's a lot of courage in the direction of the movie to begin with and by using this jargon, we are really taking it to another level. It just feels more fitting with this comedic tone and some might be shocked with it at first, but if they watch it for a bit, they'll understand what Mak and Nak are really like in this version.''
Audiences will get a fresh angle, but they can be sure to see signature scenes present in all previous versions, such as Nak's overlong arm. With his adaptation, the director feels no pressure or unsettling tingling that he had tampered with a great folklore tale that has a special place in the consciousness of Thai people. In other words, he has been neither daunted or haunted by what has gone before him.
''I think this version really worships the great love this couple has. Especially with the edge we found and the love the two depict, there's no way the audience will think we are making a farce of this legend.''
CROSSING OVER
OF ALL the actors who've played Mak in the past 50 years, Mario Maurer is probably the first to sport an obvious racial ambivalence. Here we speak to one of Thailand's most sought-after actors who's recently crossed over into regional showbiz market.
Have you seen the previous Mae Nak movies?
Yes, I've seen Nang Nak [the popular 1999 version] but while reading the script, the image of Winai Kraibutr [who plays Mak] didn't come back to me at all because this is a completely different version in a different way. Now that I've acted through the movie, there are some ghosts and romance, but I definitely feel that it's mainly comedy.
Are there any dramatic scenes?
The scene when Nak and I met after I got back from war was touching for me. Even though the dialogue is funny, deep down inside, it's not what he's thinking and he didn't want to be funny. Deep down he just really misses his wife and it shows in the way he begs or talks. The teaser shows it to be funny but it's not that funny in the sense of character. He really misses her.
You've starred in a few period movies lately, including this one. How do you try to relate since the look you have may not be the archetypal one people expect?
When you really believe that you are that character, your environment and surroundings will take you there, whether it's the costume, sets or script. Just walking onto the set you'll already feel that you're from that time, especially with all the costumes. When you look in the mirror, it doesn't even look like yourself any more, but someone else and that helps you to believe more.
How does it feel after being in so many movies?
I feel that I know the value of it more, but for every new role or movie I get, I still feel like I start again every time. That's because it's a completely new character, despite having previous experiences. I feel that it's fun to try new characters out.
You've starred in a Filipino film and a Chinese film, how is it like working abroad?
It's good to see how other teams are like, how people get things done and also to practise language. When I went to China, they didn't say ''action'' but kai-shue and I was quite confused at first because I didn't know we had already started filming! All my lines were also memorised in karaoke style because the language was too hard to study. Also in Indonesia, my round-neck polo was fine, but by the time I got out of the airport, the neckline was pulled [by fans] so much it drooped to the point you could see my nipples.
