The Legend of Suriyothai (2001)
Director: Chatrichalerm Yukol
Cast: M.L. Piyapas Bhirombhakdi (Princess/Queen Suriyothai), Sarunyu Wongkrachang (King Mahachakrepat; Prince Thienraja), Chatchai Plengpanich (Lord Pirenthorathep), Johnny Anfone (Lord Warawongsa), Mai Charoenpura (Lady Srisudachan), Sinjai Plengpanit (Lady Srichulalak), Sorapong Chatree (Captain Rajseneha), Ampol Lamppon (Lord Intrathep), Supakorn Kitsuwon (Sir Sriyod), Penpak Sirikul (Queen Jiraprapa), Wannasa Thongviset (Akrachaya), Ronrittichai Khanket (King of Prae), Saharath Sangkapreecha (Lord Buyinnaung), Varuth Waratham (Lord Sihatu), Suphakit Tangthatswasd (King Tabinshwehti)..
Financed by Her Majesty Queen Sirkit.
In Siam (now Thailand) around 1528, a beautiful 15-year old girl, Suriyothai, becomes Queen Suriyothai when she marries King Mahachakrapat of the Kingdom of Ayothaya. The film follows her life through civil war and Burmese invasion, showing how she faced resettlement in the capital, life as a royal, and the intrigue of court life.
Spoiler Warning:
Siam (Thailand), 1528. Siam is composed of many small kingdoms. The most powerful of these is Ayothaya in the south and ruled by the king of kings, Ramathibodi II. Cousin Athitaya is the second king of Siam and rules Pitsanulok in the north.
The great enemy of Siam is to the north, Burma (now Myanmar).
1528 (December). Wang Chang, Mount Soi Dao. Athitaya journeys to the mountains of Siam to attend the elephant round-up with Princess Suriyothai of the house of Praruang. The Princess comes along in the hope of seeing again Lord Piren of Pitansuk, a distant cousin. Athitaya enters on an elephant. Lord Piren appears. He wants to catch a baby elephant that Prince Suriyothai likes. But instead Prince Tien, son of Athitaya, catches the baby elephant. The Princess is very mad at him for interfering.
On another day Prince Tien arrives to present the baby elephant to the Princess. He is very interested in marrying her, but she is not interested. But her father intervenes and tells her that if she should marry the one she really wants, Lord Piren, a rift would result between the two kingdoms. And thus did the Princess make the first of many sacrifices for Siam. (Lord Piren, of course, is not happy at all.)
1529. A bad omen, Indra's arrow (a comet) streaks across the night sky. King Ramathibodi II enters the chapel where he passes away. King Athitaya becomes the king of kings.
Wang Chai Palace. The new second king is Chai Raja, the nephew and commander of the armed forces of King Athitaya, with his queen Jitrauadee. He has come to tell King Athitaya that the provinces, especial Chiang Mai. are no longer loyal. In addition, the new king of Burma is harassing the provinces.
Princess Suriyothai sees Lord Piren again and scolds him for not seeing her since her marriage. He apologizes.
The new high consort for King Athitaya arrives. Her name is Lady Oon, daughter of Lord Yommaraj. This threatens Prince Tien's position since he is not the child of a high consort, but of a concubine.
1533. A Portuguese ship at Kua City brings smallpox to Thailand. King Athitaya becomes infected. Before he dies he makes Prince Tien swear that his half-brother Prince Ratha will become king.
Burma camp on the border between Burma and Siam. King Hongsa learns that King Athitaya has died. He decides to take advantage of the situation and attacks Siam. He conquers the city of Bassein.
In Siam second king Chai Raja makes a coup attempt. Prince Tien tries to stop him, but is not successful.
1534. Royal Throne Hall. The city is in turmoil as they learn that Bassein has been conquered. King Chai Raja orders that the very young Prince Ratha be beheaded. Prince Tien is then forced to pledge allegiance to Chai Raja. Queen Jitrauadee gives birth to Prince Yodfa, but she dies in child birth. Lady Srisudachan of the House of U-Thong becomes the high consort. She has a son with the King.
Lady Srisudachan is in love with another. She loves Bonsri, the royal steward, keeper of the outer chapel. Lady Srisudachan goes to visit her royal great grandmother Pimam Rattaya Hall of the U-Thong. The grandmother tells her granddaughter that their beloved U-Thong are being pushed from power. Lady Srisudachan is determined to put a stop to this decline by putting the U-Thong Boonsri on the throne.
King Chai Raja is determined to win back the cities of Bassein, Chiang Mai and Chiang Kran.
Lady Srisudachan is determined to get her way. She asks the royal adviser, Lord Rajapakdee, how she can have Boonsri promoted to the rank of Sir Chinaraj. But there is another man in this post already. Lord Rajapakdee, however, soon changes his mind when he receives the head of the man in the way of Lady Srisudachan's ambitions.
1545. Chiang Mai. Lady Srisudachan is pregnant. But King Chai Raja has been away on military campaigns. The Lady does not want anyone to know, so she has her doctor killed.
Queen Jiraprapa switches to the Burmese side. King Chai Raja attacks her city and takes it.
Back home again, King Chai Raja is poisoned and seriously weakened. Prince Yodfa is to be king with Queen Srisudachan as regent. The Queen pretends to try to find out who poisoned the King. The female servants of the household are tortured and then cry that it was Prince Tien who forced them to poison the King. The Queen tells the King, but he refuses to believe it for he truly knows who killed him and says: "you and Lord Boonsri." The king then dies.
Now that the king is gone, Srisudachan demands that Prince Tien and Suriyothai are killed. But when the death squad arrives, Tien has already become a monk and is now immune.
During the coronation of King Yodfa a bad omen occurs during an earthquake, a chandelier falls nearly killing the new king.
1548. In the northern provinces there is a plot to break away from domination by Ayothaya. Boonsri is in charge now. King Yodfa rather suddenly dies.
Lord Mahasena, Chief of Military Intelligence, is fanning the flames of rebellion. It is decided that he needs to go and he is soon dead.
Princess Suriyothai seeks for some protector. She finally realizes that Lord Piren will protect her and her family. She sends a message to him to return to Ayotha because it is in grave danger. Lord Piren is busy fighting against the minority rebellion in the Kampangpet province, but he does return to Ayotha. Lord Piren believes that it is Prince Tien who should rule. Lord Piren convinces the Prince Tien, the monk, to come back to the political world. Together they hatch a plot to kill Boonsrai and Srisudachan.
The second king learns of the plot to depose Boonsrai and the Queen, but he is shot to death by Captain Saneha. The plan to kill Boonsrai and Srisudachan still goes forward. The plotters decide to attack Boonsrai's retinue at San Bua Canal. Princess Suriyothai shows up at the ambush site. Boonsrai is killed and Lord Indrathep kills Srisudachan. Princess Suriyothai has their child spared.
King Tien now rules. He makes Lord Piren the governor of Pitsanulok. The King then makes his daughter, in love with Lord Piren, queen of Pitsanulok.
But their problems are not over. The Burmese are descending on the capital of Ayotha. King Tien is going out to battle. Queen Suriyothai decides that she also will go into battle to support her husband. In the battle, the Queen, riding upon her elephant, is killed.
Good movie. Good but very confusing. There are just too many characters, too many plot threads, too many names and places. It is hard to keep all this straight. (I hope I got it right in the summary.) And the Thai and Burmese names are not easy for English speakers to handle. It might help to have a character list organized by sides in the struggles and battles for power in Siam at this period of time.
Patrick L. Cooney
Historical Background:
1238 -- Thai chieftains gained control of a Khmer (predominant ethnic group in Cambodia) stronghold at Sukhothai. They then established a Thai kingdom in north central Thailand (1238-1438). About the same time the northern state of Lanna existed.
1277 -- Ramkhamhaeng the Great (of the Phra Ruang dynasty) ruled the Sukhothai kingdom. He is said to have created the Thai alphabet. He also established Theravada Buddhism as the state religion of the kingdom.
Queen Sri Suriyothai was a legendary queen of Siam (now Thailand). Her name in Thai means "sun".
1350-1767 -- reign of the kingdom of Ayutthaya, founded by King Ramathibodi I (Uthong).
1350-1370 -- first reign of Uthong Dynasty.
1350-1369 -- reign of Ramathibodi I or Uthong (formerly Prince Uthong).
1365 to 1700s -- the Ayutthaya kingdom dominated southern and central Thailand.
1369-1370 -- reign of Ramesuan (abdicated).
1370-1388 -- first reign of Suphannaphum Dynasty.
1370-1388 -- reign of Borommaracha I (Pa-ngua).
1376 -- Sukhothai, north of Ayutthaya, was absorbed.
1388 -- reign of Thong Chan.
1388-1409 -- second reign of Uthong Dynasty.
1388-1395 -- reign of Ramesuan (restored).
1395-1409 -- reign of Ramaratcha.
1409-1569 -- second reign of Suphannaphum Dynasty.
1409-1424 -- reign of Inthararatcha.
1424-1448 -- reign of Borommaratcha II (Samphraya).
1448-1488 -- reign of Boromtrailokanta.
1488-1491 -- Sam Phraya becomes King Boroma Rajathiraj III.
1491-1529 -- reign of King Ramathibodi II.
1529-1533 -- reign of King Borommaratcha IV.
1533 -- Ratsada; child king.
1534-1546 -- reign of King Chairacha.
1539-1767 -- there were 24 wars between Siam and Burma.
1546-1548 -- King Yotfa (joint regent); child king & Queen Si Sudachan
1548 -- reign of King Worawongsa.
1548-1568 -- reign of King Chakkraphat & Queen Suriyothai (died 1548).
1548 -- the King of Burma invaded Siam with plans to destroy the main capital, Ayutthaya (about 55 miles north of Bangkok). King Maha Chakapat led his troops from a war elephant.
Queen Suriyothai dressed up like a man, got on her own elephant and participated in the battle. She saw that her husband's elephant had collapsed from war wounds. To save the King, Queen Suriyothai rode her elephant toward him, but she was killed by a scythe.
In her memory, the King built her a Buddhist structure called a chedi. ( It is located outside Ayutthaya at Wat Suanluang Sopsawan where a large statue of the queen riding a war elephant is found in a memorial park.)
1558 -- end of the northern state of Lanna when it fell to the Burmese. It was dominated by Burma and Ayutthaya in turn until 1775.
1568-1569 -- reign of King Mahin.
1569-1629 -- reign of Sukhothai Dynasty.
1630-1688 -- reign of Prasat Thong Dynasty.
1688-1767 -- reign of Ban Phlu Luang Dynasty.
1688-1703 -- reign of King Petratcha.
1703-1709 -- Süa (Sanpet VIII, also known as Luang Sorasak or 'The Tiger King').
1709-1733 -- Phumintharacha (Sanpet IX, Thai Sa).
1733-1758 -- reign of Boromakot (Boromarachathirat III).
1750s and 1760s -- Burma made several invasion attempts.
1758 -- reign of Uthumpon (Boromarachathirat IV).
1758-1767 -- reign of Suriyamarin or Ekkathat (King Boromaratcha V).
1763 -- King Mangras ascends to the throne of Burma.
1767 -- Burma attacked and conquered Ayutthaya. (The Ayutthaya king died of starvation ten days later, extinguishing the Ayutthaya royal line.)
General Taksin reunited the Thai kingdom from his new capital of Thonburi.
1767-1782 -- reign of Taksin as King of Siam.
1769 --- General Taksin declared himself king.
1775 -- Siamese King Taksin conquered Lanna.
King Taksin is said to have gone mad and was deposed.
1782 -- King Taksin executed.
1782 to the present -- Chakri Dynasty.
1782-1809 -- reign of General Chakri (or Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke), who succeeded King Taksin as Rama I. He was the first king of the Chakri dynasty.
1782 -- Rama I founded the new capital city at Bangkok. (It was located across the Chao Phraya River from Thonburi.)
1790s -- Burma driven out of Siam.
1809-1824 -- reign of Buddha Loetla Nabhalai, Rama II.
1824-1851 -- reign of Nangklao (Rama III) or King Jessadabodindra. During his reign, Britain defeated Burma several times.
1826 -- British victories in Burma causes concern in Siam.
1826 -- Siam signed the Treaty of Amity and Commerce with the United Kingdom.
1833 -- the United States began diplomatic exchanges with Siam.
During the later reigns of King Mongkut and his son Chulalongkorn Thailand established firm rapprochement with Western powers.
1851-1868 -- reign of King Mongkut (Rama IV). This is the King in Anna and the King of Siam or The King and I. He had an excellent command of the English language. King Mongkut ordered the nobility to wear shirts to show the Europeans they were not barbarians. He died of malaria.
1939 to 1945 -- the name of Siam was unofficially changed to Thailand.
Thailand is the only country in South and Southeast Asia to avoid European colonization.
1949 (May 11) -- Thailand was officially declared the national name.
1909 -- the Anglo-Siamese Treaty settled the modern border between Siam and British Malaya. Thailand got clear control over the provinces of Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat and Satun.
A number of treaties with France fixed Thailand's eastern border with Laos and Cambodia.
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