Hom rong

"The Overture" certainly had a number of flaws, not least of which was for the audience to figure what was when. I had very little sense of time and place for any of it, and, at first, the flashbacks and flash-forwards were unanticipated and difficult to differentiate from the previous scene.

Nonetheless, such movies provide a rare insight into foreign cultures, and this one did just fine in that regard. The strongest element of "Overture" was the acting. I thought the cast did a generally wonderful job in bringing substance to the disparate collection of characters who populated this story.

While, to be frank, much of the music of southeast Asia is difficult to listen to for extended periods, this film did manage to demonstrate the subtlety and beauty of some Thai music. And is the competitiveness shown in this film part of the reality of traditional Thai music? If so, it seems the Thais have also made music, at some level, into nearly a blood sport.

By the way, some have written here of this film in relation to "Amadeus". To me, it is more like "Drumline".

I am proud that the new generation has produced a great movie like Hom Rong. Thai people should be glad that there is at least a group of people who celebrate our beautiful culture and our unique way of life that is calm, beautiful, contemplative, and modest. The movie brings out the distinct character of Thai civilization. Hom Rong has romance but is not dirty, Thai history that is both real and engaging, music that is both original and creative, and actors and actress who portray appropriately the unique Thai spirit and temperament that are hard to find in the present.

It is sad that there are still so many Thai people who have never had an opportunity to touch the beauty of the lifestyle of past Thai generations. Many have ignored being Thai and appreciate only Western art without learning both before judging them.

Actually i am not interested in Thai Traditional music.I was born in the north of Thailand and the music similar to my ear is the performance in funeral (through Cassette tape !!).Thai traditional music seemed to me very boring staff , like the new generation who then was crazy in Bon Jovi , Skid Row ,Mettalica and so on.But when i grow up , i come to realize its beauty and profoundness through (sorry not this movie) the classical music.Thai traditional music has its own complexity and the liveliness , similar to classical music.

Could we compare Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart with Luang Pradit ?- Perhaps.Mozart was the child prodigy and could create the music that was too brand new for his generation in Vienna (actually he was not quite successful in his career), while Luang Pradit (in the movie) was groundbreaking , intolerable for the conservative -minded.

Both of two men were similar in characters when they were young ; bold and arrogant ,but when Luang pradit grew old , he was the prudent sage.Some says this is the weakest point of the movie that fails to connect the self of young and old Luang Pradit.

Both of these men were under the threats which were different : Mozart's life collapsed because of his own indiscretion and the overridden debt , eventually leading to the decline of his health and death when he was just 36 years old.Old Luangpradit was threatened by the decree of Nationalism of Field Marshal Phibul ,who wanted to civilize his country during world war 2.

I can not compare this movie to Amadeus.The latter conveys the audience with the historical error and boldly accused Salieri of the guilty that he had never made.But Amadeus was very strong and charming in every aspect of the production.Hom rong tried to be honest to historical fact but weak in the acting and especially the choreography.The director of Hom rong was inspired by many movies.The first scene was of his childhood stumbling upon Ranart just because of innocently chasing the butterfly (which appeared again after his death) , it seemed like he combined the last emperor and Forrest Gumps together.Many people would say that the influence of the legend of 1900 emerged when the duel between Luang pradit and Khun-In.But i think it was nearly the sort of plagiarism.

While Amadeus could meticulously imply the political idea , Homrong fails to do it.Hom rong uses the flat conversation to criticize so-called Nationalism but Amadeus wittingly resorted the political idea to drive the plot(the emperor Joseph 2 was blank-minded and pretended to be musical snob or the conflict between the Archibshop and the emperor).

The tragedy happening to Luang Pradit's follower who was deprived of the right to be professional in Thai music and eventually committed suicide , combining with the death of Luang Pradit himself could not depress the audience as much as when Mozart learnt about the death of his father and put this into (almost) final scene of Don Giovanni (as the commendatore's statue burst the wall in to pieces and dragged Giovanni in to the hell).

After all Hom rong is the groundbreaking movie , thrashing its rival Thawiphob (spending 100 million bath in production)into the crap. It could draw the new generation's interest to their oblivious legacy of the past.However one point i think that exactly similar to Amadues is the one- sided accusation against Luang Phibul of the forever villain like Amadeus cursed Antonio Salieri to hell.

For international interpret ability. I want to know how they think about but not a words such as "why he deserves Mozart?". It's not the point. The main point is to show "How strong of native social is very important, to cope with an alien culture attack". This kind of point do hardly found in Thai movies. It is true that you can not compare a goodness in music of one culture to another. Same to Luang Pradit Phairoh (Sorn Silapabanleng) is not Amadeus. You have to consider how much it serves the target listeners. Thai culture is very different to the West. The movie itself maybe less understandable by the way of culture interpretation, a simple fact. But it's not mean that those movies is not good enough.

[The 'ranad ek' or 'ranad' is the Thai equivalent to a xylophone.]

Homrong ("The Overture") is a story about Sorn (the 'r' is not pronounced), who is a ranad ek musician that gradually grows from being arrogant and rebellious to becoming refined and dignified, discovering a new style of playing an old instrument.

The story takes place during the 80's and a time a bit earlier, when the monarch of Thailand decided to selectively adopt certain Western concepts and lifestyles. It's one of those movies that shows the character old and dying in the beginning, and then flashes back to when he was young and how he got to where he is. During this time, the music of the ranad, among other classical Thai instruments, becomes suppressed and controlled by the government of Thailand and playing in public becomes illegal. One scene shows a piano being brought into the old music teacher's place and there is a divine duet between the ranad and the piano (this serves as a subtle hint of the incorporation of Western standards and also shows the potential harmony of the East and West ideals.)

One thing I really respected was that the movie didn't overdose on the love factor, I felt that it kept it just right, given the overall tone and the intended effect of the movie.

The movie is, ultimately, about traditional Thai music and the pride that goes along it. I believe that this movie aims to bring about a new respect for the instrumental classical music, which my Thai friends would say, is a dying genre in Thailand. There was this dialogue between the older Sorn and a military official, where Sorn was likening the ethnic roots to the roots of a tree and how it can survive against torrents if it is deeply rooted that I found to be rather profound on many levels.

The movie borrows A lot from other movies (stately "The Legend of 1900"), yet it holds it's own unique charm. The acting is great for Thai standards and the music is ever-so-enchanting. The scenes where they play fast ranad songs are especially encapturing and intense. It follows a lot of basic formulas, and some of the scenes use really cheesy effects (such as the rain that falls when antagonist, Khun-In plays the "musical rebuttal" in Bangkok), yet I would say this movie is definitely worth watching, if not only to catch a glimpse of some of Siam's heritage.

I, definitely, believe that this is an all-round good movie. Worth watching on the big screen and owning on home video. I, for one, want to purchase this opus from Asia when it comes out on DVD, and I strongly recommend any international music-lover and/or ethnically-curious inquirer to look into getting ahold of this movie.

Judging this movie by Thai standards, I give it a 4/5.

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(By the way: I tried playing the ranad myself a few months back... the instrument is not easy AT ALL! It takes very skilled wrists to play at even an intermediate level.)