Surioyothai is INCREDIBLE... Francis Ford Coppola is releasing his own edited version of this film, so expect to hear about it a lot. He thinks it will go down as one of the great films... SURIYOTHAI: Coppola's version a 'classic' Published on Mar 10, 2002 Coppola says his re-edited version is shorter, has more dramatic tension Acclaimed Hollywood director Francis Ford Coppola, who directed "Apocalypse Now" and "The Godfather", yesterday said he had great hopes for his re-edited version of Thailand's blockbuster epic "Suriyothai". "I think that around the world this film will become a classic. I really believe that. We've come up with a version that I'm very, very excited about," he said at a press conference yesterday, two weeks after he arrived in Thailand to re-edit the three-hour film. His version will be ready for screening in the United States in the next two months. The film was directed by MC Chatrichalerm Yugala, who took three years to complete filming the story of Queen Suriyothai, the wife of a 16th-century king, who sacrificed herself in battle to save her husband during a Burmese attack on the capital Ayutthaya. The epic has taken some Bt700 million domestically. When asked to summarise the themes of the film, Coppola replied: "Sex, intrigue, battles, sex, heartbreaking characters, sex. Everything that means anything in life is in this film." He said that after first seeing the film in California, although he did not understand all the historical details, he had immediately been impressed with it. "I thought that a shorter film, clarified, would be a powerful film for anyone to see in any country," he said. Under the supervision of Coppola, Suriyothai will be shortened to 150 minutes. The re-edited version must also be understandable to an international audience which has no background in Thai history, Coppola said. Coppola has made the re-edited version in five acts to portray five reigns. Coppola has added and cut scenes to make the principal characters more powerful. Some of the historical detail in the film will be lost, he said, and some additional scenes shot to clarify the characters' relationships with each other. The re-edited version will bear his credit. It will begin with "Francis Ford Coppola presents" followed by "A Film by Chatrichalerm Yugala".At the press conference, Chatrichalerm said he was delighted that his work was in such good hands as Coppola's. "I'm proud that Francis is helping me perfect this film for a worldwide audience." They are old friends, having been classmates at the Film School of the University of California. Coppola also believes that American viewers do not necessarily hate watching movies with subtitles and Suriyothai has a great chance of success with its passionate theme. He noted that "Crouching Tiger: Hidden Dragon" had been screened in Mandarin with English subtitles. "Though the story of Suriyothai is far more complicated and relies on much more information, I think it could be a success like 'Crouching Tiger'," Coppola said. The night before the press conference, Chatrichalerm screened the new version for foreigners who had not seen the original as well as other selected guests. Film critic Kittisak Suwannaphokhin called it more dramatic within the same structure. "Than Mui's [Chatrichalerm's] version is realistic, which is his trademark in every film; the Coppola version is dramatic and I think will appeal to a universal audience," said the critic, who was concerned with filming the epic from the beginning. Parinyaporn Pajee THE NATION
