The cover of Thailand’s Movie Theatres. Philip Jablon

KEN SMITH  
13 Jul, 2019

Thailand’s movie theatres, from art deco to brutalist, celebrated and mourned

"Even if Philip Jablon had kept strictly to his original premise of documenting Thailand’s purpose-built cinemas – an obsession he says first took hold in 2008 – his new photo book still would have been warmly welcomed by followers of film history."

"From the book’s earliest Thai temple of celluloid, Bangkok’s Prince Theatre from 1912, Jablon’s photographs in Thailand’s cinemas capture a wealth of 20th-century architectural styles, from Bangkok’s tropical art deco Scala Theatre (built in 1969) to the brutalist Siri Phanom Rama Theatre (1979) in Chachoengsao province, each filtered through a distinct Southeast Asian sensibility."

"When the Lido briskly sold out, management then turned to the Scala. As each reel finished, it was packed up and rushed to the next theatre. “This is perhaps the only time in Thai movie history that a single print of a film served three different cinemas at the same time,”

"Jablon recalls the 1973 run of Sidney Lumet’s Serpico at the Indra Theatre in Nakhon Si Thammarat, when Sirichai Duangphatra not only dubbed the voice of Al Pacino’s whistle-blowing New York police officer but also changed the names to include many well-known corrupt cops in the local police force."

".Jablon ends by offering a slim hope that trends toward renovation and historical preservation will take hold in Thailand before the last of these theatres are gone."

Full https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-cul ... -brutalist