Tigress of King River (Thai: สาบเสือที่ลำน้ำกษัตริย์ or Sab Suea Thi Lam Nam Kasat) is a 2002 Thai adventure thriller film directed and written by Bhandit Rittakol.
| Tigress of King River | |
|---|---|
| Thai | สาบเสือที่ลำน้ำกษัตริย์ |
| Directed by | Bhandit Rittakol |
| Written by | Bhandit Rittakol |
| Produced by | Somsak Techaratanaprasert |
| Starring |
|
| Cinematography | Wanchai Leng-Ew |
| Edited by | Sunij Asavinikul |
| Music by | In and On |
Production company | Sahamongkol Film International |
| Distributed by | Sahamongkol Film International |
Release date |
|
Running time | 138 minutes |
| Country | Thailand |
| Languages | Thai English Karenic Burmese[1] |
The story takes place the in 19th year of the King Rama V's reign. When the British captain Peter Bain is busted for trying to sell defective firearms to influential Chinese non-timber forest product trader named Yang. Forced to hunt wild game with these firearms along with Yang's men, Bain links up with ex-monk Wan and Karen-American female guide and hunter Julia, who he meets on the way to the jungle. The group sets off to hunt a long-tusked elephant, said to be protected by a demon tigress that can transform itself into a woman. The tigress is supposedly possessed by the revengeful spirit of Nian, a young woman who was tortured and killed in the King River Battle near the Three Pagoda Pass almost a century earlier.
As Wan learns more about the tigress myth, he tries to release Nian's spirit, but Yang's men want to destroy Nian and get the elephant. With greed, resentment, and karma from past lives encircling the group, violence is surely around the corner.
Tigress of King River is the final work of Bhandit Rittakol a veteran filmmaker who made many hits in the 1980s and 1990s. This is Rittakol's first adventure thriller and special effects film. Of the works that are mostly comedic genre. Due to the change in film production, the response was not good. It is considered a lesser-known work of Rittakol.
Although the story takes place at the King River, but it was filmed on the Songalia River.
Tigers are appeared in the film are trained by Sriracha Tiger Zoo under The Thai Wild Animal Reservation and Protection Act, B.E. 2535 (1992).
The film was criticized "as a state-race blur and the complexity of religion".[2]
The film has been nominated for four awards at the 11th Bangkok Critics Assembly Awards consist of Best Director (Bhandit Rittakol), Best Actor (Panu Suwanno), Best Screenplay (Bhandit Rittakol) and Best Art Direction (Wanchai Leng-Ew). It is also nominated for the 12th Suphannahong National Film Awards for Best Actor (Panu Suwanno), but missed all.