SHAKESPEARE

Alternative title

Shakespeare Must die

Synopsis

Film which tells the story of a theatre group in a fictional country resembling Thailand that is staging a production of Macbeth. One of the film’s characters is a dictator named ‘Dear Leader’ who resembles the former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra who was ousted in a 2006 coup.

Language

English

Country

Thailand

Medium

Film

Technical information

Colour / Sound

Year of release

2012

Duration

178 mins

Availability

No distributor or archive copy known (7/2012).

Credits

Director

Ing Kanjanavanit; Manit Sriwanichpoom

Additional Details

Production type

Fiction Films

Plays

Macbeth

Keywords

Shakespeare, William (1564-1616)

Notes

General

In April 2012 , Thailand’s culture ministry banned the film Shakespeare Tong Tai (Shakespeare Must Die), based on Macbeth, citing "content that causes divisiveness among the people of the nation". It transpired that a slender majority - four out of seven - of the censorship committee had objected to, among others, a scene in the film reminiscent of the infamous 1976 massacre of left wing students at Bangkok’s Thammasat University. The committee also objected to alleged anti-monarchy overtones in the film, as well as the bright red cloak of a murderer in the film - the same colour worn by the "red shirt" movement which helped sweep former premier Thaksin Shinawatra’s sister, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, to office last year. [From the film’s official website].