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Your Film Page

ART FILM Programs
Faculty of Media Art & Design, Chiang Mai University proudly presents:
Film Space Project
The Month of Traditional Samurai

These films are shown in the lecture room on the second floor of the Media Art and Design Building, Chiang Mai University Art Museum, every Saturday at 6.30 p.m. (Admission Free)

Nominated 2004 Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film, The Twilight Samurai portrays the decline of feudalism in Japan through the life of Seibei Iguchi, a low-ranking samurai whose life is caught between the code of honor as a samurai and his sense of mortality. Since his long-time beloved's divorce, he experiences more and more chaotic events, which lead eventually to tragedy.

Set in the Japanese Edo era when the whole country was facing the the threat of Western hegemony, a classic story of the forbidden love of a samurai named Munezo is narrated. Having had some experience of western methods of warfare, he gets a chance to meet Kie, the female protagonist. However, their relationship fails to develope due to the different social classes to which they belong.

Having experienced the violence and cruelty of the American Civil War, Captain Nathan Algren becomes an alcoholic as well as losing his love of life. As the emperor of Japan has decided to modernize the whole country in the western style, Algren is hired to bring the knowledge of western warfare to the new Japanese army. There, he finds himself involved in the conflict between the adherants of the new policy and the group of samurai who strongly insist on maintaining the traditional way of the warrior, or bushido. Having to some extent overcome his personal crisis, Algren gets to know Katsumoto, the leader of the traditional samurai, and the battle between innovators and traditionalists gets under way.

As one of the all time greats and Kurosawa's masterpiece, The Seven Samurai had great impact on many Hollywood films, including John Sturges' The Magnificent Seven. The Seven Samurai is the story of a village in rural Japan during the 16th century which is continually being raided, and the villagers crops and women being plundered, by local bandits. Eventually some of the villagers agree on the desperate option of hiring some ronin - masterless samurai - to defend them. It isn't easy, but eventually they wind up with six genuine and one would-be samurai - the latter played by the immortal Toshiro Mifune. The battles begin, both inside and outside the village, and love plays its part too. If you haven't seen this one, give yourself a treat. And if you have, you'll need no invitation to see it again. It's one of the few films you never get tired of.

COMMERCIAL CINEMAS IN CHIANG MAI

Chiang Mai is not without good cinemas for film buffs. Although only two cinema operators are competing to attract the big-screen fans, a wide variety of choices are on offer daily from noon to midnight.

The Vista Entertainment Group

Established about 13 years ago, Vista theaters on the fourth floor of Kad Suan Kaew introduced the people of Chiang Mai to the multiplex theaters and the thrills of Hollywood magic. Of the seven digital-sound theaters in Kad Suan Kaew, Vista 1 - 4 offer a large capacity and big screen, while the rest are of medium and low capacity. Vista Group also has four other large capacity theaters, of which two at the 12 Huay Kaew arcade opposite Kad Suan Kaew also show English-speaking films.

Reservation: phone 053-894415 (Kad Suan Kaew), 053- 404374 (12 Huay Kaew)

Major Cineplex

A now household name for movie theater buffs in Thailand, Major Cineplex offers a relatively new cinema complex on the fourth floor of Central Airport Plaza. Although the theaters are generally of lower capacity, they boast more comfortable seats and superior audio-visual systems.

Reservation: phone 053-283939, or visit http://www.majorcineplex.com for on-line ticketing.