Mon-Rak Transistor
VIEW EVENT DETAILSPart of the film series
Blissfully Thai
Dir. Pen-ek Ratanaruang. 2001. 115 min. 35mm. English subtitles.
Newly married with a pregnant wife, the charming rural singer Pan is drafted into the army, where he enters a singing contest and places second. In order to follow his singing dreams, Pan deserts his post and ends up in Bangkok, where he faces a series of misfortunes. "A piece of candy with just a taste of satirical poison at its center," is how director Pen-ek Ratanaruang describes this tragic, bittersweet tale. Paying homage to the luk thung music of Thai pop star Surapol Sombatcharoen (1930-68), Mon-Rak brims with melancholy and longing.
Standard Readers' Jury Award, Vienna International Film Festival 2002
Best Picture, Thailand National Film Association Awards 2002
Asian Trade Winds Award, Seattle International Film Festival 2002
"A film to marvel at and be enraptured by." — Sukhdev Sandhu, The Telegraph
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Pen-ek Ratanaruang (b. 1962) was born in Bangkok and lived in New York from 1977 to 1985. He studied at Pratt Institute, majoring in Art History. He later worked as a freelance illustrator and a graphic designer. He spent five years as an art director before directing television commercials in Thailand. Pen-ek has won major film awards including Special Jury Prize at Bangkok International Film Festival for Nymph (2009), FIPRESCI Prize at Hong Kong International Film Festival for 6ixtynin9 (1999), and Jury Prize at Fant-Asia Film Festival for Last Life in the Universe (2003). Director Filmography (features): Nymph (2009), Ploy (2007), Invisible Waves (2006), Last Life in the Universe (2003), Mon-rak Transistor (2001), 6ixtynin9 (1999), Fun Bar Karaoke (1997).
This series is presented by Asia Society in association with Cineaste.
Major support for this film series is provided by the New York State Council on the Arts and the Thai-US Partnership Program of Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Thai Artists Alliance.
Event Details
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