The Year 2004: SARS Wars (Taweewat Wantha)

Counting Down The Zeroes has the pleasure of welcoming back Peter Nellhaus of the superb Asian cinema centric blog Coffee, Coffee and More Coffee, who once again shines light on a film from a corner of the globe that doesn't feature that prominently at the western multiplex. Having created something of a cult following, the Thai comedy-horror SARS Wars, in which the virus SARS has mutated and the infected turn in to rampaging zombies, is significent, according to Peter, 'for the changes within the Thai film industry' that took place after its release.

Just viewed on a superficial level, Sars Wars might be judged simply as one of the more entertaining films to combine horror and comedy. A shorthand description might be to think of the film as Land of the Dead as re-imagined by Mel Brooks. There are the usual hallmarks of a zombie film, the slow walking zombies hungry for human flesh and brains, exploding heads, geysers of blood, a flying zombie baby, sliced off body parts, and a sense of inescapable doom. Add to that a plethora of jokes about sex and sexuality that are often the staple of Thai films, but may also cause those attached to consistent political correctness some discomfort. In the years since Sars War was released, the film has more significance in light of the career of the director, and also with changes within the Thai film industry.


Taking place during the time when Sars was a genuine concern in Asia, the film begins with a government spokeswoman stating that Thailand has remained untouched by the virus and will remain so. Of course that changes when an infected flying insect travels from Africa to Asia, has a close encounter with an airplane, and lands on the back of the neck of Andrew Biggs. This is one of the film's in-jokes, as Biggs is an Australian who is also a Thai television personality and journalist. Gradually infected, Biggs finds his way back to the parking space of the apartment building he lives in. Provoked by a neighbor, he bites the first of several neighbors in the building where most of the action takes place. Concurrently, Liu, the daughter of a wealthy man, is kidnapped by a team of inept criminals on the streets outside Bangkok. One of the kidnappers is dressed up in a bear costume, while Liu's chauffeur is distracted by a loitering babe in a bikini, who unmasked turns out to be Yai, a transsexual. Yai is played by popular Thai comic actor Somlek Sakdikul, who is as homely as he is hilarious. Liu's father hires the virtuous Khun Krabii to rescue his daughter based on the advice of the aging martial arts master, Thep. Everyone meets up at the apartment building which is soon sealed off to contain this new version of Sars.


Taweewat Wantha pokes fun at Thailand and the sometimes misguided sense of Thai pride, first with the government spokeswoman assumption that Thailand is safe from Sars, but then her solution to the problem. After surrounding the apartment building with troops and closing off the exits, she announces that a cure is available, made in Thailand. A television reporter questions is addresses his concern only to be made the first victim of the cure. It is soon revealed that the actual cure is to kill everyone in the building. Dr. Diana appears, claiming she has a real cure to the virus and is allowed one hour to prove herself. Among those infected by the virus are the patrons of a nightclub at the base of the building, a large ladyboy's cat, and a snake that eats part of the cat, growing giant sized in the process. Khun Krabii finds Liu, while Master Thep joins forces with Dr. Diana.


During the course of the proceedings are jabs at Star Wars, Anaconda, The Matrix, Thai censors, some internationally famous Chinese language martial arts movies, Thai attitudes towards non-Thais, and the movie itself. The narrative begins with an animated introduction of the characters and breaks into animated flashbacks, similar to Kill Bill. Within the context of the film, I view this as Taweewat's love of other films, especially those with a heightened unreality, rather than laziness, as all of the elements work together within a relatively unified whole.

As it's turned out, Sars Wars has been Taweewat's most successful film. Following some screenings at film festivals, Sars Wars is the only one of Taweewat's films to be internationally available on DVD. I was lucky enough to be in Thailand and see his second film, The Sperm. Even more challenging to traditional good taste, The Sperm is about a young man who, in a moment of unrelieved horniness, relieves himself in an alley. The sewer in the alley contains water contaminated by a failed scientist. The young man soon finds that he has fathered hundreds of clones. Aside from showing a couple of years ago at the Philadelphia Film Festival, The Sperm would remain little seen. Perhaps turned off by the title, the film was shunned by Thai audiences, and I was alone at the showing I attended. Taweewat's most recent film, Dek Khong, about the friendship between a high school girl and a very big five year old boy, also failed to attract viewers. That Taweewat's last two films flopped, even when he deliberately set aside his more satiric leanings for something more audience friendly, is not encouraging for a filmmaker who works in an industry where the cost of film production cannot be supported by home audience alone.


Additionally, new rules regarding what is allowed in Thai films would seem to disallow making another film like Sars Wars. In the past year or so, there has been more censorship of on-screen violence, with increased pixelation of scenes of violence. The change in the Thai government that took place in 2006, as well as the rules in the new Thai rating system suggests that even good natured ribbing of the Thai government might not be allowed on films seen by the Thai public. That Thailand film companies have virtually discontinued having English language subtitles on their DVDs severely limits the viewing and appreciation of Thai films, due to a short-sighted need to cut costs and supposedly undermine piracy.


At the very least, Sars Wars should be appreciated for what it is, a genial, goofy riff, that isn't scary, but is at times very funny. Even if a verbal joke about Andrew Biggs being part Alsatian doesn't translate culturally, it does not take much to appreciate seeing Lena Christensen fighting zombies wearing black leather hot pants, or Suthep Pongam on the attack with a light sabre powered by batteries that seem to fail at the worst possible moment.