A Legend So Real : by Thanong Kanthong

King Naresuan is but a prince in the first part of MC Chatrichalerm Yukol's magnificent trilogy, but a prince to be reckoned with. Among viewers who've already seen MC Chatrichalerm Yukol's "The Legend of King Naresuan," many will have come for the entertainment, and others to learn more about King Naresuan as an historical figure. I was rather curious how Chatrichalerm would treat Siam's greatest warrior-king.

He got it right from the beginning with the title - "legend" being a compromise between reality and the imagination.

Like it or not, we can't separate Thai history from legend. Sometimes history is mixed with legend and becomes more real than reality. Did Naresuan actually fight an elephant duel with the vice-king of Burma before killing him in the most dramatic battle our countries have ever seen?

Did he engage in cockfighting with Burmese princes in his nine years

as a hostage in Hongsa? Did he ever really love a woman or was he only interested in war? Where exactly did he die?

These questions have been raised by historians, but who really knows what happened more than 400 years ago? Chatrichalerm understands the gaps in our knowledge about King Naresuan, but he doesn't hesitate to use his imagination to depict the great Ayutthaya monarch's character.

He portrays Naresuan as a person, born to a mission to instil pride in the Siamese blood and to liberate Siam from the Burmese yoke.

"The Legend of King Naresuan" tries to capture his life and times in the most realistic light. I am not a movie critic, but I reckon this is the best Thai film ever made.

The underlying theme of this first part of the trilogy is how the young prince prepared for his great mission, a task only he could take on.

There are four main scenes in the movie: the sieges of Phitsanulok and Ayutthaya; the exquisite life in the Ayutthaya and Pegu courts; the temple where Prince Naresuan enters monkhood to study the art of war with Mahathera Khanchong, a guru monk of Mon origin; and the Pegu bazaar occupied by the Siamese community.

The war scenes alternate frequently with the dialogue exchanged in the Ayutthaya and Pegu courts.

Chatrichalerm shows Prince Naresuan as a novice monk throughout the movie, although there is no record of this. But a little imagination helped the director conclude that the only place the prince could study was in a temple, which at the time was not just a place for Buddhists to observe their religion but also to study.

Mahathera Khanchong (played by Soraphong Chatree) is prominent as the teacher who shapes Naresuan during his formative years.

The prince was not the sole captive. All of Ayutthaya was under the control of Bayinnaung (Somphop Benjathikul). There was no freedom for the Siamese under the threat of his great armies.

"The Legend of King Naresuan" seeks to portray the turmoil in both the Ayutthaya and Phitsanulok courts as they struggle to survive.

Bayinnaung's presence is felt throughout. He is not cast as a villain, even though he seizes Ayutthaya with force. MC Chatrichalerm adopts Thais' generally positive attitude toward Bayinnaung, to whom previous Thai movies have paid tribute as a conqueror.

There is also an old Thai song about Bayinnaung waging war not to kill but to expand his aura of invincibility. He respects his adversaries and gives them due honour, although it is he who stands on top of all.

Phra Maha Thammaraja (Chatchai Plengpanich) is anxious throughout the film. He has to protect Phitsanulok from the Pegu invasion and gets no help from Ayutthaya.

With the aid of Oakya Chatri (Phairoj Chaising), he agrees to cooperate with Bayinnaung to defeat Ayutthaya.

From our perspective today, Phra Maha Thammaraja seems like a traitor because he sided with the Burmese, but in the old days there was no concept of nationhood. Phitsanulok was a sovereign kingdom in its own right, and it needed to pursue an independent survival strategy.

As a reward for helping defeat Ayutthaya, Phra Maha Thammaraja is installed as its king, but his children are taken away as hostages.

Phra Suphankalaya (Grace Mahadamrongkul) is an exceptional character, maintaining her Siamese pride even though she must subject herself to the pleasures of Bayinnaung.

Her face whitened with powder and her red lips help illustrate how she has to endure the loss of her identity as a Siamese princess, transformed overnight into a mere lady of the Pegu court. It represents Siamese humiliation embraced with courage.

The most dramatic moment of the movie is the cockfighting scene. There is no historical proof that Prince Naresuan was involved in this, but legend has it that he triumphed over a Burmese prince in a dramatic match - a proxy war.

Can a captive Siamese fighting cock defeat a fighting cock of Pegu? Although Naresuan is a hostage, he is treated with as much honour as the Burmese princes.

But when he wins the cockfighting match, he realises that his days in Pegu are numbered: He has breached the honour of the Burmese princes, who want him dead.

Naresuan has to escape back to Siam, along with his followers. He has a greater mission to accomplish - restoring pride to his country and winning independence for Ayutthaya.