The Overture

The film sets out from the life of Luang Pradit Pairoh, one of the most revered masters of traditional Thai music. The master lived through the reigns from Rama V to Rama VIII. The account begins with a boy named Sorn, who takes up the mallets as a child and never puts them down. Becoming a master here is not a matter of talent but a matter of a whole life. As the eras change, the place of traditional music in the country changes with them, and that shift stands inside the account. The film follows one life from beginning to end rather than fixing on a single event. The instrument itself is the object at the centre of the account. Anuchit Sapanpong and Adul Dulyarat appear in Itthisoontorn Vichailak’s hundred minute Thai film, completed in 2004.