Here's a word association game for you. What comes to mind when you hear "Thai cinema?" A blank? Don't worry -- in Japan, you're hardly alone.
The few Thai films to make it this far north have usually been auteur efforts with a serious humanist or historical theme that play to a small circle of Asian film buffs. But in recent years, young Thaidirectors more interested in pleasing a general audience or examining the chaos of modern urban life have been moving to the forefront and gaining wider recognition both at home and abroad.
One is Nonzee Nimibutr, whose 1999 film "Nang Nak," a lushly photographed, creepily atmospheric horror film based on a Thai legend about the vengeful ghost of a loyal wife, outpaced "Titanic" at the local box office. Another is Pen-Ek Ratanaruang, whose 1996 film "Fun, Bar, Karaoke" was a frantically paced film about a middle-aged Thai karaoke fan's obsession with a Chinese gangster's moll, and his daughter's affair with the gangster's half-American henchman, with consequences both violent and absurd.