Born in Thailand to an Irish father and Thai mother, Tom Waller is an international film-maker and film producer. In Thailand, he’s best known for his second film, Mindfulness and Murder (2010), which was nominated for Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Film at the Subhanahongsa Awards. Tom’s latest feature, The Last Executioner (fb.com/thelastexecutioner), is based on the life of the late Chavoret Jaruboon. Chavoret was Thailand’s last man to use a sub-machine gun on death row inmates at Bang Kwang Central Prison before the capital punishment method was changed to lethal injection. Vithaya Pansringarm of Only God Forgives plays him in the film, which was selected as one of 15 nominations for The Golden Goblet of the Shanghai International Film Festival last week where Vithaya won Best Actor. Tom talks to us about The Last Executioner, which will hit Thai cinemas on Jul 3.
WHEN DID YOU DISCOVER YOUR PASSION FOR FILM-MAKING?
I was eight years old when I saw E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial made by Steven Spielberg and have wanted to make movies ever since. My father had a Super 8 film camera and projector which I used to borrow to make my own little films and show them to friends.
WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO TURN THE LIFE OF CHAVORET JARUBOON INTO A MOVIE?
I read about Chavoret in his obituary in the Bangkok Post in 2012. For a man whose dream was to be a rock ‘n’ roll guitarist, he seemed to become famous for all the wrong reasons. I thought it would be a great story for a film, and since there are so many Thai horror and comedy movies, I wanted to make something completely different that no one had seen before in Thai cinema.
WHAT ARE SOME OF THE CHALLENGES OF MAKING A BIOPIC?
It’s important not to stray too far away from the essence of the real person, although in a movie you have to make your own interpretations of the character to make it more interesting for the audience. Finding actors who could convincingly play Chavoret as a young and older man was tricky, as you have to suspend your disbelief that these two actors are really portraying the same person. Also, despite getting permission to film at Bang Kwang prison, we were prohibited from bringing actors inside for filming.
DID YOU EXPERIENCE ANY STRANGE EPISODES WHILE MAKING THE FILM?
It was eerie walking into the real execution chamber at Bang Kwang to do our research. We then painstakingly recreated the room for filming purposes. Every time the actor Vithaya Pansringarm put on that uniform and stepped onto that set, I believe he really became Chavoret Jaruboon.
HOW HAS THE AUDIENCE FEEDBACK FOR THE FILM BEEN SO FAR?
We had our world premiere in Shanghai last week and it was very well received. I believe the film is very accessible to both Thai and international audiences. I made the film for everyone to see, not just in Thailand [but] I’d like to know what Thai audiences will think of the film.
DO YOU HAVE A MESSAGE FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE INTERESTED IN SEEING THE FILM?
This is a very unique Thai film, possibly like no other. It deals with the inner struggle of an ordinary man who led an extraordinary life, fulfilling his duty to the state in executing death row prisoners, as well as coming to terms with the good and bad karma of his actions. Please go see the film in the cinema to enjoy the big screen experience! G
