The Bangkok Art and Culture Centre has been put under bureaucratic pressure, its budget cut and its relations with Bangkok Metropolitan Authority strained. One way to support this hub of contemporary art in downtown Bangkok is simple: visit the place, admire the art and the events, and show that the city needs a modern, open-minded art and culture venue unshackled by the old guard.
Besides visual art, the BACC has functioned as an alternative screening place for many years. A programme called "Cinema Diverse" has various film professionals pick their favourite films to screen, followed by an in-depth talk afterwards. This Saturday, it will be a Chinese film -- that has never been shown before in Bangkok and that has generated much discussion over the past two years in China and elsewhere -- called Youth. Directed by Feng Xiao-gang, the film was selected by Thai costume designer Sithee Muenwaja, who greatly admires the wardrobe in this period film set during the Cultural Revolution.
"The costume in this film doesn't stand out, but it reinforces the idea that costume is part of the film's overall art direction," said Suthee. "At first, the bright colours of the costume reflects the blooming youth before changing the tone to represent the sombre mood of the film and the characters that have been through difficult experiences."
Youth follows various young men and women from all over China's countryside, who join the Military Cultural Troupe, a dazzling song-and-dance company whose mission is to spread the communist idea through performance art. The cast is made up of beautiful girls and boys, and they go through a rigorous training before travelling around the country to perform. The film follows their ups and downs until the 1990s, when joy and idealism are replaced by harsh reality and transformation.
One of the most beautiful Chinese films in recent memory, Youth bursts with songs, colours and elegant choreography. Reading it as mere propaganda would be to miss an angle of subtle regime criticism that manifests itself primarily in the disillusionment of the troupe members.
Youth is showing this Saturday at BACC at 5pm. Tickets are 60 baht.
