Restored Thai classic Black Silk selected by Cannes
Prae Dum (Black Silk), a 1961 Thai crime noir directed and produced by R.D. Pestonji, has been selected by Cannes Film Festival in the Cannes Classics section. But since the coronavirus pandemic prevented Cannes from taking place in May, the festival has attached the “Official Selection 2020” banner to the film and will hold a special screening for Black Silk at Shanghai International Film Festival tomorrow.
Black Silk stars Ratanavadi Ratanabhand as Prae, a widow with a young child, who mourns the death of her husband by wearing only black clothes. Prae’s life takes a dark twist when she meets Tom (Tom Wisawachat), a nightclub guard and henchman of the owner. The goodhearted woman soon finds herself dragged into a web of deception and blackmail schemed by Tom’s boss, which involves an insurance scam and identity theft.
Black Silk, shot in bright colour and yet stalked by ominous shadows, is a crime drama and regarded as Thailand’s first film noir. Written and directed by R.D. Pestonji, a pioneer of Thai cinema in the 1950s, the film mixes suspense with Buddhist philosophy, creating a unique cinematic reality unlike most Thai films made in the same period.
The Thai Film Archive has completed the restoration of Black Silk from original 35mm negative preserved at the archive and mastered it for 4K digital projection.
The Cannes Classics programme this year also includes Wong Kar-wai’s In The Mood For Love (2000), Jean-Luc Godard’s A Bout De Souffle (1960) and Michaelangelo Antonioni’s L’Avventura (1960).
In 2016, Cannes also chose Santi-Vina, a 1954 Thai film directed by Thavi Na Bangchang and produced by R.D. Pestonji, for the Cannes Classics section.