Syndromes and a Century - Censored?

[Richard Barrow]

Thai censors want 'Syndrome' snips
Move raises moral crackdown questions
Variety, April 12, 2007
By KONG RITHDEE
BANGKOK -- Thai censors have demanded that three scenes be cut from arthouse pic "Syndromes and a Century" before it's allowed for theatrical release on Thursday.

Move has stunned producers and local cinephiles and raised further questions about a moral crackdown under the country's military-backed government.

Directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul, "Syndromes" preemed in competition at last September's Venice Film Festival and has since collected awards on the fest circuit. It is a Thai-French-Austrian co-production commissioned as part of the New Crowned Hope series celebrating the 250th anniversary of Mozart's birth.

Controversial scenes in the movie about the memories of two doctors include an image of a young monk casually strumming a guitar; a scene of four doctors drinking whisky in a hospital storeroom; and a scene of a male doctor kissing his girlfriend in the hospital's locker room.

A representative from the Thai Medical Council said that the scenes involving doctors are improper and do not portray good conduct by medical professionals. "Drinking liquor is OK, but drinking it in a hospital is not," Supawat Pothong of the Council's law department said.

The scene showing the monk playing the guitar is against the Buddhist precepts, according to the censorship board.

Weerasethakul, whose parents were both doctors, insists he won't cut his film.

"I treat my works as my own sons or daughters," Weerasethakul said. "If these offspring of mine cannot live in their own country for whatever reasons, let them be free. There is no reason to mutilate them from the fear of the system. Otherwise there is no reason for one to continue making art."

Critics have raised question marks over censorship decisions concerning other Thai movies including "The Bodyguard 2" and "Hor Taew Tak," which employed crude language, expletives and rude behavior. The censors passed the films without cuts, and the movies were released on hundreds of screens. "Syndromes" is skedded for an outing on only two screens.

"This is beyond my expectation," said the film's co-producer, Pantham Thongsang. "The scenes they objected to are much less sensitive than scenes in many other Thai movies."

Producer has appealed the decision, but will only learn the final ruling on Wednesday, one day before the pic's planned release date.

[gnarlykitty]

Sign the petition here http://www.petitiononline.com/nocut/petition.html

[lenss]

Your petition speaks from the throats of kid's. Don't think you have any idea what your saying

[Cam69]

I just saw Syndromes here in NYC and really enjoyed it. I thought it was a very innocuous film-but realistic, interesting, not the least bit offensive. I agree with the petition-there should be a rating system rather than random censorship influenced by things like the doctors' lobby! But it's just the age-old debate of art/free expression vs. "morality" and "decency" (hello, Jesse Helms and the NEA!). There was a mini Thai film festival here and all the Thai and Thai-American directors who were present spoke out against the censorship of Syndromes....GnarlyKitty you're on the right track

[Nora]

I see Syndromes and a Century again yesterday and I found it beautiful and touching once more. I can't believe a movie like this (interesting for his social and anthropological point of view) was censured so senselessly. I sign petion a few months ago 'cause I approve Apichatpong's decision remain faithful to his project.

[Tim]

Interesting news story on several levels. It sounds like a fabulous film, and it is utterly baffling why the censors acted as they did. I absolutely support petitions like these to shed some light on this kind of counterproductive measure. Good grief, with the total idiocies on daily Thai television that can be seen, what in the world are the censors thinking?

Wikipedia articles about the movie can be found in English and in Thai.

The petition is kind of fun just for some practice reading in Thai. A lot of different people express opinions, not just the young. For example, here's one I like from someone claiming to be an independent business owner in Thailand.

คนที่มีอำนาจเซนเซอร์ไม่มีความรู้เกี่ยวกับศิลปะภาพย นตร์ ควรไปทำอาชีพอื่นครับ ไม่รู้พวกนี้มีเงินเดือนหรืดเปล่า...ถ้ามี..มันภาษีข องเราครับ ผมขอไล่คุณออก!

[Stephen Cleary]

Going on from what Shuba mentioned. The scenes which were cut were absolutely terrible ones!
What was the director thinking when he dared shoot scene of monks flying a kite and a doctor drinking whiskey! Disgusting depiction indeed!

Of course, i am taking the pish. I wrote an article on crazy censorship not so long ago with the inspiration from this movie. FACT (Freedom Against Censorship Thailand) liked it and posted in on their website. I also posted a few pics on what is appropraite and what is not appropriate according to Thailand's goldie-oldie censors living in the early 20th century.

http://www.thai-blogs.com/index.php?...&c=1&tb=1&pb=1

[Pailin]

คนที่มีอำนาจเซนเซอร์ไม่มีความรู้เกี่ยวกับศิลปะภาพย นตร์ ควรไปทำอาชีพอื่นครับ ไม่รู้พวกนี้มีเงินเดือนหรืดเปล่า...ถ้ามี..มันภาษีข องเราครับ ผมขอไล่คุณออก!

[Pailin]

So I finally saw this movie this weekend. While I certainly wasn't offended, I was shocked and .... hmmm... I can't think of the right word. It was odd for me seeing monks in such a casual way. I then realized that, of course, they're human and have had those moments...but it was odd and different for me.

And as for the doctors bit... they are not for me under the same cloud of respect as monks are...so that is weird that those scenes were cut.

Having said all of that. I enjoyed the style of the movie, but found some of the artistic direction a bit too dramatic (how long do we have to watch the smoke/carbon monoxide/oxygen blow into the vent?, etc.)