Yuthlert Sippapak
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Yuthlert Sippapak (Thai ยุทธเลิศ สิปปภาค, born November 8, 1966 in Loei, Thailand) is a Thai film director, screenwriter and producer. He's best known for his genre-blending films Killer Tattoo (comedy and action) and Buppa Rahtree (comedy and horror).
Biography
Yuthlert Sippapak was born in Loei, in northeast Thailand. He had a strong interest in the arts from an early age and at 18 went to Bangkok to study fine arts at Silpakorn University, where he received a degree in interior design (same program as another Thai director, Wisit Sasanatieng).Yuthlert set up his own designing company, which he worked at for year before his interest waned. He then moved to New York City, where he further studied fine arts at the Art Students League of New York. This put him in touch with a group of friends who were involved in the film business, which made him think that was something he wanted to do.
He returned to Thailand and submitted a script to Tai Entertainment and told them that he wanted to direct a movie. The script and his offer to direct were rejected. He then offered a three-page script called Always Love, and it was rejected.
Yuthlert then returned to New York and worked for a time doing architectural drawing while also studying filmmaking on his own and developing his script writing abilities.
He returned to Thailand and Tai Entertainment, offering a screenplay for O-Negative, which was based on his three-page script. Tai Entertainment offered him a position as the assistant director on the film, but he turned them down and took back his script. He ended up selling the script to GMM Grammy's film company (which later became (GMM Tai Hub or GTH), and had the project taken away from him. The film starred Tata Young.
So he wrote another script, which became Killer Tattoo, about a group of aging and /or mentally challenged assassins. RS Film allowed Yuthlert to direct the film and let him cast an ensemble of well-known Thai comedians – including Suthep Po-ngam and Petchtai Wongkamlao – as the stars.
Genre blending
Casting comedians in dramatic roles has become something of a trademark for Yuthlert.His 2004 film Sai Lor Fah (Pattaya Maniac) featured another top Thai comedian, Choosak Eamsuk (better known as Nong Cha Cha Cha) in the lead dramatic role, with Somchai Kemglad - the lead from Killer Tattoo as the comedy relief.
His horror films, Buppah Rahtree (containing references and homages to The Exorcist and Audition) and the sequel [[Buppah Rahtree Phase 2: Rahtree]] as well as Krasue Valentine all feature heavy doses of comedy, but also have significant dramatic elements.
Not all his films have been comedies. His second film, February was a romance about a Thai woman with a terminal illness who goes to New York City, is hit by a car and then develops amnesia, forgetting that she's in need of medical care.
He's faced controversy over casting Sayan Muangcharoen, a Thai comedian with Down syndrome in his films. However, Sayan is a popular staple in other Thai films and on television comedy variety shows.
Miscellanae
- When Buppa Rahtree was screened at the 2004 Toronto International Film Festival, Yuthlert flatly denied that a spiky-haired medical examiner was meant to resemble prominent Thai forensic pathologist Pornthip Rojanasunand.
- Yuthlert makes in jokes and references to his own films. In Sai Lor Fah, a character is encouraged to be just like "Kit Silencer", the lead character from Killer Tattoo. Also, a character in Sai Lor Fah was trying to buy a pirated DVD of Buppah Rahtree 3, a sequel that hasn't been made. In Adirek Wattaleela's film, Ghost Variety, Yuthlert had a cameo (as did dozens of other Thai filmmakers), when characters burst into what they thought was a haunted house, but turned out to be a movie set of Buppah Rahtree 3.
Filmography
- Killer Tattoo (2001)
- February (Khumphaphan) (2003)
- Bupah Rahtree (Rahtree: Flower of the Night) (2003)
- Sai Lor Fah (Pattaya Maniac) (2004)
References
- Director profile, [MovieSeer]
- Tung, Chi and Tseng, Ada (December 3, 2004). ["Yuthlert Sippapak: Not your everyday director"], Asia Pacific Arts, UCLA.
External links
- [Yuthlert Sippapak] at the [Thai Film Database]
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