When one says ‘Thai movies,’ I bet there are only a few genres you can think of: comedy, with its share of transvestites and “funny” sound effects; horror, with same old themes being pounded upon over and over again; action, with Tony Jaa doing his aerial acrobatics; and the historical kind, the multimillion-dollar propagandistic mega-productions that come out once a decade.
Now, imagine The Name of the Rose by Italian writer Umberto Eco, set in Thailand, with Sean Connery’s role played by Thai actor Vithaya Pansringarm and a screenplay by Nick Wilgus, an old resident of Bangkok. What you get is Mindfulness and Murder, or Sati-Mai-Ngeap in Thai, an independent feature film directed by Tom Waller and produced by De Warrenne Pictures. Scheduled for theatrical release in cinemas around Thailand on April 6, the film revolves around an ex-cop Buddhist monk who investigates a murder in his monastery in Bangkok. This is definitely not your usual suspect, but rather something that stands out from the crowd!
In doing research for this article, I met up with Tom Waller, a Bangkok-born film producer and director, at the headquarters of DeWarrenne Pictures, his production company. A confident, street-smart and down-to-earth Tom started talking about his latest movie project, Mindfulness and Murder, without much prompting. Although the Thai Ministry of Culture gave the film the green light, with no cuts and a censor’s rating of 15+ (for the few scenes when dead bodies with gouged eyes are being given a close-up!), Tom still considers the movie “a bit controversial.” And how can it not be, when we live in a country where the mass media avoids displaying pictures of monks with cigarettes in their hands or doing anything the powers-to-be consider not “appropriate” for someone wearing the orange saffron robes!
“Wickedness and evil are hidden even behind the robes of faith and there’s no point denying it,” commented Tom Waller when I asked him how come it is possible that a Thai temple is the scene of a murder. In the movie, Father Ananda, a former police officer turned monk, with twenty years of active service in the homicide division and the drugs squad, is “recruited” by the Abbot of his Buddhist temple to investigate a murder. A homeless boy living at the youth shelter run by the monastery turns up dead and mutilated and Ananda’s investigation uncovers that life is not as peaceful and innocent as one might think it should be at an urban monastery located in the heart of Bangkok. Together with his sidekick assistant, a crippled, orphaned boy named Jak, Father Ananda discovers a series of startling clues that will keep the viewers glued to the their seats until the very end, when the motivation behind the crime is exposed and the murderer is found.
From this short description you already have enough elements to realise that Mindfulness and Murder is a great murder mystery that deserves to be enjoyed with plenty of popcorn and soda. “Although the script of the movie was written by a foreigner and although the main character is part of a series of mystery novels written by the same foreigner, the film was produced for the Thai audience,” admitted Tom Waller. Still, he insisted in pointing out that Mindfulness and Murder “is not a movie about Buddhism and religion is not its main focus.” What Tom and his team tried to do with this movie was create a captivating story that will stand apart from your run-of-the-mill Thai productions.
So, is then this movie just for the Thais? I say, not necessarily. Yes, it’s got Thai soundtrack, but the fact that it is based on a novel written by an ex-pat and has English subtitles, makes Mindfulness and Murder the perfect Thai movie experience for both the local and foreign viewers. It is also worth mentioning the fact that Nick Wilgus, the scriptwriter and author of the novel the script was based on, has lived in Bangkok for more than two decades and his writing and mindset is perfectly tuned to the realities of the Thai society. Published by Silkworm Books in 2003, Mindfulness and Murder is the first book in the “Father Ananda mystery trilogy,” which also consists of Garden of Hell (2006) and Killer Karma (2008).
When asked if there’s going to be a sequel, director Tom Waller confessed that it all depends on the success Mindfulness and Murder will have at the box office, “but I’d love to put Killer Karma on the big screen.” To me, Sati-Mai-Ngeap has all the ingredients to become a success, an opinion also supported by the fact that the movie has won three awards (Best Actor, Best Director, and Best Cinematography) at ThrillSpy International Film Festival in the United States and has participated ‘in competition’ at several other international festivals around the world.
Apart from Vithaya “Pu” Pansringarm in his role as the monk-detective, Mindfulness and Murder boast a great cast with Jaran “See Tao” Petcharoen as the Abbot, and the late Bhijati “Muek” Jusakul as Inspector Somchai. Sadly, Muek passed away in September last year at the age of 55. He is remembered by us ex-pats living in Thailand for his role as the “Thai bad guy”, wielding a gun and confronting Richard (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) in The Beach. Mindfulness and Murder was Muek’s last project, another reason why you should go and watch it.
The leading female character is played by Charina “Kaew” Sirisinha, a Thai singer also known as “ZaZa,” who plays her first feature film role as the journalist Jenjira. The movie also contains a surprising cameo appearance by 2005 Miss Universe Natalie Glebova (ex-Srichapan as of early 2011), who plays the role of the good samaritan, whom she actually is in her real life.
Thirty-six years old director Tom Waller, a talented man born to a Thai Buddhist mother and an Irish Catholic father, has prepared for the audiences in Thailand a gripping movie. It is also his Thai language cinematic directorial debut. The question that we will soon have an answer to is whether the Thai moviegoers possess the maturity, affinity and intellect to make Mindfulness and Murder a box office success and thus maybe set the stage for a future change in the thematic perspective of the Thai cinematographic industry. “It does require a high level of cerebral participation from the viewers and I hope that my Thai audience will be receptive enough to enjoy our film,” concluded Tom at the end of our chat.
For more information, pictures and theatrical trailers of Mindfulness and Murder you can access De Warrenne Pictures website.
Initially published in ‘Bangkok Trader’ (vol.5, no. 5, April 2011)
