Royal Treatment Thai Prince and Director Discusses Making ëLegend of Suriyothaií by Ky N. Nguyen Thai Prince Chatri Chalerm Yukol wears a different hat as director of "The Legend of Suriyothai," a vast historical epic "suggested" by the queen. Taking place over more than half a century, the film depicts the history of the Thai kingdom Ayuthaya during King Ramathibodhiís reign up until the battle with Burmaís King Tabinshwethi in 1548. American filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola, who made his own Southeast Asian war epic with "Apocalypse Now," presented and supervised editing for the international version of "Suriyothai," which is now available on home video. Polite and friendly, Prince Chatri Chalerm recounted, "The project started five or six years ago. I was requested by my queen to make it. The Thai people donít know much about history. We make the same mistakes over and over. She asked, ëIs it possible to make a history?í I told her right away, ëItís not possible. Iím not the type of person to make this film.í Iíve made more personal films in the past." He smiled and noted, "Sheís very persuasive." Prince Chatri Chalerm has directed some 40 films in his long career. While majoring in geology at U CLA, he was an assistant to the legendary American director/producer Merian C. Cooper ("King Kong," "Chang"). Surprisingly, he explained how his formal studies aid his current career. "You can look at the map and tell what the terrain looks like for shooting landscapes, mountains, etc. Geology is helping out a lot. Itís the same logic." He added, "Sometimes, the oldest rock is at the bottom, and the youngest rock is at the top. [Geologic transformations can] put the oldest rock at the top and the youngest at the bottom. Nevertheless, it has to be a layer, just like editing. [The film might have a] beginning at the bottom and an ending at the top, but you can bend it to have the beginning at the top and the ending at the bottom." When asked how he landed a job with Cooper, Prince Chatri Chalerm replied, "Merian had made a film in Thailand a long time ago: ëChang.í My grandfather helped him. When I was looking for a job, I saw an advertisement that he needed an assistant, so I applied. He saw my name and recognized it. I worked with him for two or three years as his assistant. I learned a lot. He was the master at that time. He was the first one to do effects with ëKing Kong.í" Prince Chatri Chalerm said he also learned much from famed director John Ford, whose classic Western "The Searchers" was executive produced by Cooper. "I used a lot of John Fordís style, a lot of John Fordís vast landscapes, a lot of movement of people in front of the camera, [and] moving foliageómuch like a trolley shot," he said. Other filmmakers who have influenced the prince include Japanese master Akira Kurosawa, Americans John Huston and King Vidor, the French New Wave, and Polish auteur Krzysztof Kieslowski (especially the "Three Colors" trilogy: "Blue," White" and "Red"). Prince Chatri Chalerm commented on the current Thai filmmaking industry: "Thai cinema has been going down quite a lot over the past five or 10 years. The style has been changing a lot. Now we have a lot of theaters. Itís a mass kind of distribution, which costs a lot of money to develop prints to show in all the theaters at the same time. Each theater has a minimum. If you go below the minimum, you go out. They have to figure out how to gain the audience back. Theyíve tried to go for the younger generation [25 and younger] and a new type of film. The new crop of directors comes from advertising with a lot of quick cuts and jump cutsówhich people like." Ky N. Nguyen is the film reviewer for The Washington Diplomat.