Bang-Rajan (2000)

This review is sponsored by

BUY IT

General		Extras
Category	Action	Audio Commentary-Bey Logan and Mike Leeder Featurette-Making Of Featurette-Bang-Rajan The True Story Interviews-Cast & Crew Theatrical Trailer Gallery-Stills Theatrical Trailer-Ong-Bak, Born To Fight, Bichunmoo, Galgo13, Seven Samurai Trailer-Madman Trailers
Rating
Year Of Production	2000
Running Time	113:29
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL (53:39) Dual Disc Set	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Thanit Jitnukul
Studio Distributor	Film Bangkok Madman Entertainment	Starring	Jaran Ngamdee Winai Kraibutr Theerayut Pratyabamrung Bin Bunluerit Bongkot Kongmalai Chumphorn Taephitak Soontree Maila-or Piset Sungsuwan Theeranit Damrongwinijchai Attakorn Suwannaraj
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI	$29.95	Music	Chatchai Pongprapaphan

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	Thai Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) Thai dts 5.1 (768Kb/s) English Dolby Digital 5.1 (384Kb/s) English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.85:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English	Smoking	Yes, occasionally
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    Most people in the West may only know of Thai cinema through the martial arts films of Tony Jaa, such as Ong Bak I & II (2003 / 2008) and The Protector (2005). But Thailand can make historical epics to rival China or South Korea. In 2001 appeared The Legend of Suriyothai, a film based on an historical event in 1548 when a Thai Queen saved the Siamese capital from the invading Burmese. Before that, in 2000, there was Bang-Rajan, a film based on an historical event in 1765 when a small band of villagers defied an invading Burmese army for 5 months.

     Bang-Rajan begins with a voiceover and sepia tinted map outlining the background events for those of us not familiar with Thai history. The Burmese, not for the first time, have launched a two pronged attack on the Thai capital Ayutthaya from north and west. The northern force is expected to pass by the village of Bang-rajan; instead it is held up for 5 months by the farmers defending their village, their lifestyle, their religion and their country. The film concentrates on a number of these villagers and they are all finely drawn with individual back stories: the village elder Taen (Chumphorn Taephitak), farmer and archer Inn (Winai Kraibutr), his wife Sa (Bangkot Khongmalai), her friend Taeng-onn (Soontree Maila-or), their friend Meuang (Attakorn Suwannaraj), the drunken Tong-menn (Bin Bunluerit), spiritual leader Luang Phor Thammachote (Theerayut Pratyabamrung) and the warrior Chan Nuat-kheo (Jaran Ngamdee). This is a good ensemble cast. Most are not experienced actors and it shows in some of the dialogue scenes, Soontree Maila-or being probably the most affected, but they all look authentic and handle the battle sequences with verve. As well, one the film's strengths is the focus it places on normal village life; we see the sewing, the harvesting, the preparation of food, and it is this look at the peaceful village life that allows us to get to know the people, to see what they risk and what they hope to preserve, when they face the superior Burmese professional army.

     These peaceful scenes are powerfully juxtaposed with sudden, frightening and brutal violence. Often in this film violence comes out of nowhere. There is no warning, no hint of danger for either the characters or the audience until the arrows fly and find their targets. The fighting when it comes is not pretty or balletic; it is savage and brutal; think Braveheart rather than Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. In some of the interviews in the extra features, it is stressed that these villagers were not professional fighters but simple farmers. While both the villagers and the Burmese had guns, the farmers mostly carry axes and cutting tools and their style is hack, bash and slash. Nothing graceful or pretty here. The hand held cameras are in the thick of the action; all is blurry movement, half seen images; water, mud and blood splatter the camera lens and it is clear that the camera operators were at risk of injury as well. The film does not ignore the after effects of battle either; the pain and loss, the tragedy, the piles of innocent dead, are there to see.

     The film is beautifully photographed with a stunning set design and a colour palate of earth tones of browns and greens that perfectly captures the feel of the land that is home to these people. Most of the action was shot for real, which makes the infrequent and indifferent CGI shots obvious. The score by Chatchai Pongprapaphan is also suitably epic. It is percussion and voice in the battle sequences but it can be very effective in the quieter moments as well, with wind instruments and orchestral arrangements.

     Bang-Rajan won in 11 categories at the Thai Film Awards in 2001, including Best Picture and Best Director. It was also the highest grossing Thai film at the time. The story of the village of Bang-rajan, of the legend of the villagers who defied an invading army, is well known in Thailand in the same way as the story of The Alamo is an American legend. Like the case of The Alamo, by now it is impossible to separate legend from historical events. But to appreciate this impressive epic film you don't need to know. Taken with the martial arts films of Tony Jaa, Bang-Rajan indicates that Thai cinema is an emerging force in Asian film making. Just enjoy it.

Video

Bang-Rajan is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 and is 16x9 enhanced. The original theatrical aspect ratio was 1.85:1. The film is beautiful to look at; it is crisp with wonderful sharp detail as the village and forest leap into life. Colours are earthy and natural, blacks solid, shadow detail fine. The skin tones (and we see plenty of skin) are wonderful. I didn't notice any obvious artefacts or grain.

Subtitles are in a clear yellow font and don't contain any spelling or grammatical errors.

RSDL change at 53:39 triggers a slight pause.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

Bang-Rajan's audio options include Thai DTS 5.1, plus Thai and English Dolby Digital 5.1. The DTS is a vibrant track; there are plenty of directional sounds ringing around in the battles and always ambient sounds of the forest, village life and rain effects in the surrounds. The subwoofer supports the cannon fire and explosions well. Dialogue is clear and except for one scene lip synchronisation is fine. That one exception is at 80:39- 81:04 when the Burmese General Naymeo is speaking. The commentary suggests that he may originally have spoken Burmese and been looped into Thai later. The music is a great support for the film and it comes across nicely. The Thai Dolby Digital does not have the same depth of sound stage but is acceptable. The English dub is not recommended.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Audio Commentary - Disc 1.

The Making of Bang-Rajan (4:24 minutes).

Bang-Rajan: The True Story (21:53 minutes).

Cast and Crew Interviews.

     Jaran Ngamdee (actor). Jaran was a fitness instructor and this was his first film. He discusses his preparation for the role including sword and horseback training, his character and some of his experiences on set. Thai with English subtitles - 12:56 minutes.

     Winai Kraibutr (actor). Winai speaks about his film character, the pre-commencement "workshop", filming the love scene and his pride in being part of this project. In English - 12:21 minutes.

     Bangkot Khongmalai (actress). This was Bangkot's first film. She speaks about how she got the role, her character, the filming including accidents and her pride in the film. Thai with English subtitles - 14:17 minutes.

     Thanit Jitnukul (Director / Co-writer). In by far the most substantial piece, director Thanit discusses the story, the real villagers, how the cast and crew got into the period, his intentions and techniques in the action scenes including injuries on set and head protection for the cameramen, choosing and building locations and how Oliver Stone took Bang-Rajan to America. Thai with English subtitles - 40:51 minutes.

     Adirek Wattaleela (Executive Producer). Adirek, who is a director himself, talks about choosing the main actors and extras, working on a low budget and the challenges facing the Thai film industry. He discloses the film was made on the same location used by Oliver Stone to shot the Indian battle sequence for Alexander the Great. Thai with English subtitles - 23:45 minutes.

Original Trailers.

Stills Gallery.

Madman Trailers.

   The Region 1 release of Bang-Rajan has Thai 2.0 audio, video that has been criticised and no extras. The Region 2 release is very similar to Region 4 with the same audio options, a similar PAL transfer and the same extra features plus two additional short extras - a feature on re-scoring the film and a compilation of the fight scenes. Unless you really need the two short extra features call it a draw. Both win over Region 1.

 The story of the village of Bang-rajan, of the legend of a village of farmers who defied an invading army, is well known in Thailand. This DVD presentation has excellent video and audio and if the extras are not as impressive as they seem from the cover this is still a wonderful, old style, historical epic film with impressive battle sequences. Recommended.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall