Early life Prince Chatrichalerm's parents, Prince Anusorn Mongkolkarn and Mom Ubol Yukol Na Ayudhya were filmmakers and co-founders of the Lavo Pappayon Company. His uncle was Prince
Bhanubandhu Yugala, a pioneering Thai filmmaker. Chatrichalerm was sent to
Australia for schooling, and from there he went to
UCLA, where he graduated with a degree in geology. His minor was film studies, and he shared classes with
Francis Ford Coppola and
Roman Polanski. He also worked as an assistant to director and producer
Merian C. Cooper. (Chatrichalerm's grandfather, Prince
Yugala Dighambara, had helped
King Kong makers Cooper and
Ernest B. Schoedsack with the filming of
Chang in 1927.)
Early films Though he's best known for his work on
Suriyothai, Chatrichalerm's filmography stretches back to the 1970s. His first film, 1971's
Out of the Darkness, was the first Thai
science fiction film. He was among the first of a new wave of Thai directors to produce films reflecting changes in society. One of these films was his
Khao Chue Karn (
Dr. Karn), based on a well-known story by
Suwannee Sukhontha. Released in the months leading up to the bloody pro-democracy student uprisings of 1973,
Dr. Karn dared to address corruption in Thai society. Even Chatrichalerm's status as a prince didn't rate when the authoritarian government's censor wanted to cut the film. Chatrichalerm personally showed the film to Field Marshal
Thanom Kittikachorn and was able to persuade the dictator to let the film be released uncut.
Social message films Most of Chatrichalerm's films have some kind of social message, such as the downside of
prostitution (
Hotel Angel, 1974), teenage sex and delinquency (
Daughter and
Daughter 2), protecting the environment (
The Elephant Keeper, 1987), or the evils of the drug trade (
Powder Road, 1991). His films resist depicting any glamor, focusing on the poor, downtrodden working classes, such as
Freedom of Taxi Driver (1984) or
Song for Chao Phya and often with gritty action, such as
Gunman (1983),
Salween (1993), and
The Colonel (1974). Three of his films from this period were
submitted by Thailand for the
Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film:
The Elephant Keeper,
Song for Chao Phya and
Daughter 2.
Royal epics Around 1999, Chatrichalerm embarked on the most ambitious film project of his career,
The Legend of Suriyothai, a lavish production about a 16th-century Siamese queen,
Suriyothai. For his production, he received the backing of Queen
Sirikit and the royal family. The film was at first conceived as being eight hours long. By the time it premiered in
Thai cinemas, it was nearly three hours long. An even-more-condensed version was released in the
United States in 2003, edited and "presented by"
Francis Ford Coppola, a former classmate of Chatrichalerm's from UCLA. After
Suriyothai, Chatrichalerm started work on an even bigger project,
King Naresuan, about the 16th century Siamese monarch,
Naresuan. More epic in scope than
Suriyothai,
Naresuan was initially released in two parts in early 2007. Under the title
King of Fire, the second part of the series was submitted by Thailand for the
Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. As of late 2007, a third part is scheduled to start production in early 2008. ==Awards==