*THAT'S THE SPIRIT! HORROR FILMS AS AN EXTENSION OF THAI SUPERNATURALISM
One of the less discussed effects of modernism is its contribution to the metaphorisation of ghosts and spirits. Redefined as symbolic cultural constructs, in the modern world supernatural beings are no longer expected to co-habit the same dimension as its human population. Critical analyses of ghost films and literature deconstruct their ghostly protagonists in the contexts of psychoanalysis, history, politics, postcolonialism, race, gender, and any other methodologies invested in resisting the cultural production of marginalized others. Both the horror authors/filmmakers and the horror audiences are expected to be equally committed to the conscious codification of ghosts and spirits as signs. Admitting one’s belief that ghosts are ‘real’ is simply inconceivable. Thai supernaturalism, attributed frequently to the hybridisation, consumerisation and politicisation of Thai popular religion, can be seen as having significant consequences for the study of Thai horror cinema, since it allows for both a metaphorical (modern) and literal (pre-modern) reading of its ghost movies. On the literal level, these movies function as a fictional retelling of real or hypothetically possible spiritual encounters, and by tapping into the personal experience of their audience they can be found even more frightening. On another hand, if the filmmakers stray too far from the audience’s expectations they risk getting seriously criticized for producing an ‘unconvincing’ film narrative. Adding to this, the movies themselves are frequently being produced and promoted in a variety of supernatural contexts, including making offerings to the spirits, employing mediums and fortune tellers, or documenting instances of haunting on set. Last but not least, as a peculiar form of spiritual exchange, movies (though not necessarily horror movies) are commonly being screened at shrines and temples to appease local gods and spirits, or as a form of post-mortem entertainment for the recently deceased during the wake. This paper discusses these and other examples of the mutual relationship between Thai horror movies and Thai supernaturalism and suggests a connection between the popular animistic, mediumistic and religious practices of the Thais and their love of horror cinema.
*Work in progress.
*THE RETURN OF THE DISMEMBERED: ORGAN SALE NARRATIVES IN ASIAN CINEMAS
Neoliberal economics is often credited with creating a system in which the rich grow richer and the poor poorer. The resulting polarization contributes to a rapid increase in transplant tourism and transnational organ trade. With no other capital at hand, the poor are being commoditized as a sum of re-useable body parts, which they can either be robbed of or encouraged to willingly part with for profit. If mentioned at all, the Asian continent is usually portrayed in Western film narratives as the exploited periphery, continuing the legacy of the colonial/imperialistic representation that saw it as the inexhaustible supplier of human and material resources. This paper eliminates the West from the discussion and investigates how the topic of organ harvesting and organ trade/trafficking is represented in Asian cinemas, paying attention to the specific gothically-inclined narratives that have developed around it. The discussed films belong to a variety of genres (thriller, crime, action, horror, drama, science-fiction), although they all engage with the critique of the capitalistic logic behind the organ trade and related to it criminal environment. The paper discusses the films’ portrayal of Asian power centres and peripheries with economically underdeveloped source countries, profit-guided intermediary countries, and the end-countries that benefit from the process. Finally, it pays detailed attention to a number of films in which organ trade and trafficking are taken out of their usual context and reappear as a peculiar metaphor for empowerment.
*Work in progress.
*SONS, HUSBANDS, BROTHERS: THE GOTHIC WORLDS OF THAI MEN IN THE FILMS OF KONGKIAT KHOMSIRI
Gothic has long been theorised as the domain of the feminine, the queer or, the “soft masculine.” Thai Horror films abound in depictions of the feminine evil, ranging from the grudge-bearing vengeful ghosts of wronged women to the more traditional female monstrosities – dualistic shape-shifters, man-devouring harpies, or pitiful spectral wives who died in childbirth and occasional spectral transsexuals. But interestingly, it is the strong heterosexual men that dominate in Thai cinematic Gothic. Theorising Gothic cinema, as distinct from Horror cinema, is a difficult and, at times, almost impossible task, given the intrinsic connection between the two genres/techniques. Thai cinema provides us with a unique opportunity to do so. Thai horror films are traditionally expected to follow strictly supernatural plots, any attempts to go beyond which meet with general resistance. Kongkiat Khomsiri began his career as one of the directors of a successful black magic horror film, Long Khong (2005) and followed with three solo non-supernatural films: Chaiya (2007), Slice (2009), and The Gangster (2012). If there is one thing these three films have in common it is that they depict the worlds of strong men and that these worlds frequently prove darker and more terrifying than the supernatural nights filled with ghosts and demons. Khomsiri’s boxers, gangsters, policemen, mafia bosses, troubled teens, and working men are relics of the pre-metrosexual past, glorified through their nostalgic portrayals of Thai retro masculinity. But the dark criminal or sexual underworld they inhabit is disturbingly current, though seldom acknowledged in works of other contemporary Thai filmmakers. Though Khomsiri’s films may be difficult to categorise as horror, they nevertheless engage with the gothic, explored through their themes and metaphors, as well as the films’ overall aesthetic. This paper will discuss the gothic dimension of the films of Kongkiat Khomsiri and their significance for the theorising of Asian Gothic, as well as address the potential distinction between Asian Horror and Asian Gothic cinema.
*Work in progress
*MURDER BY NUMBERS: DOMESTICATING SERIAL KILLER NARRATIVES IN ASIAN CINEMAS AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO SUPERNATURAL HORROR
Asian film industries have been said to develop through a combination of indigenous creativity and mimicry, and the influence of American and European filmmaking on Asian cinemas cannot be overlooked. Western production methods and technology have been widely adopted within the film industry throughout Asia; Hollywood-style scriptwriting continues to displace incompatible local narrative forms; western genres have been successfully domesticated and adjusted to better suit the tastes of the regional audiences. Serial killer narratives, a staple feature of western movies since the 1960s, have remained virtually absent in Asian cinemas until relatively recently, introduced to the local repertoire courtesy of Hollywood thrillers, Italian gialli or French film noir. For the most of it, Asian serial killer films remain singular productions; only in South Korea we could speculate about the development of a more or less distinct genre. One reason for that may be the fact that most Asian cultures do not seem to partake in the commercialized, enthusiastic glorification of serial killers, characteristic in particular of American pop-culture known to turn its monsters into attractive commodities. It does not also help that the legitimacy of serial killers in Asian countries is frequently denied by local authorities and portrayed as a specifically western phenomenon. This article discusses the portrayal of serial killers in selected Korean, Japanese, Hong Kong and Thai movies, tracing potential influences and focusing on the various strategies used to incorporate this “alien” figure of fear into local cinematic narratives. The article will examine the significant differences in the way the serial killer genre develops in different Asian countries, and the way serial killer narratives get absorbed into the existing local genres (e.g. HK Category III movies, Japanese rape and torture exploitation, or the vengeful ghost films). Last but not least, the paper will focus on the most common motifs that depict serial killers within Asian film narratives: portraying the serial killer as an artist, as a schizophrenic, or an MPD patient, as a sociopath, as a sex pervert/paedophile, or as a pathological product of past events.
*Work in progress.