"SOPHIE SCHOLL: THE FINAL DAYS" IS THE WINNER

My poll 41 ended with six votes. Thanks very much to everyone who participated in it. Here is the result:

THESE FILMS DEAL WITH NAZI, ITS TIME, ITS SYMPATHIZERS, OR ITS COLLABORATORS. WHICH FILMS DO YOU LIKE?

1.SOPHIE SCHOLL: THE FINAL DAYS (2005, Marc Rothemund, Germany)

It got 4 votes, or 66 %.


2.CABARET (1972, Bob Fosse, USA)

+THE CREMATOR (1969, Juraj Herz, Czechoslovakia)

+THE FIFTH HORSEMAN IS FEAR (1964, Zbynek Brynych, Czechoslovakia)

+MUSIC BOX (1989, Costa-Gavras, USA)

+THE NASTY GIRL (1990, Michael Verhoeven, West Germany)

Each of them got 2 votes, or 33 %.


7.BRUTALITY IN STONE (1961, Alexander Kluge + Peter Schamoni, West Germany)

+CAT AND MOUSE (1967, Hans Juergen Pohland, West Germany)

+THE GOLDEN YEARS – THE BITTER YEARS (1984, Michael Braun, West Germany, TV series)
+HITLER: A FILM FROM GERMANY (1977, Hans-Juergen Syberberg, West Germany)

+MEPHISTO (1981, Istvan Szabo, Hungary)

+THE TESTAMENT OF DR. MABUSE (1933, Fritz Lang, Germany)

Each of them got 1 vote, or 16%.



13.ANGRY HARVEST (1985, Agnieszka Holland, West Germany)

+THE COUNTERFEITERS (2007, Stefan Ruzowitzky, Austria)

+ENIGMA (2001, Michael Apted, UK)

+KUHLE WAMPE OR: TO WHOM DOES THE WORLD BELONG? (1932, Slatan Dudow, Germany)

+MR. KLEIN (1976, Joseph Losey, France)

+THE MURDERERS ARE AMONG US (1946, Wolfgang Staudte, Germany)

+THE NINTH DAY (2004, Volker Schlondorff, Germany)

+TWIN SISTERS (2002, Ben Sombogaart, Netherlands)

Each of them got 0 vote.


--I think my least favorite films in this list are ENIGMA and TWIN SISTERS. I gave each of them only “A-“, but I include them in the list because they really remind me of the current political problems of Thailand.

TWIN SISTERS, which is about two sisters who stand on the opposite sides in WWII, reminds me of the current situation because I found that many friends of mine have opposite opinions from me concerning the Thai political situations. I really hate the PAD and Abhisit’s Democrat Party because this party have been supporting the PAD. But I don’t hate my friends who support Abhisit, as long as they don’t hate me first.


--About the PAD, I like what Pravit Rojanaphruk wrote in Prachatai’s website very much. Here is an excerpt from his article:
http://www.prachatai.com/english/news.php?id=878

“What the PAD is doing is hitting at the wrong target. But more importantly, it shows its disregard for other people's rights. I have wasted time and money due the PAD action. Bus fares, extra hotel bills, meals, work disruption - and I'm not alone. I guess the PAD couldn't care less.

The PAD leaders and followers, after spending months brainwashing each other with propaganda and a simplistic view of Thai politics, have become so intoxicated that they must think everything they do is right - whether others like it or not. Sad to say, what began as a protest attended by many well-intentioned citizens has turned into something bordering on a political cult centred around a few non-accountable leaders.

But please think for a second, PAD members and supporters, whether what you're doing will really bring about democracy and law and order.

My hunch is that it will not. Shutting the country's main airport will not bring democratic reform. It will terrorise the Kingdom, scare away tourists and visitors, and disappoint the public, who may once have been sympathetic to your concerns about rampant corruption and the recent deaths of and injuries to PAD supporters.”



--What I like is the phrase “DISREGARD FOR OTHER PEOPLE’S RIGHTS” in the excerpt above. This phrase reminds me of many things I have been hating in Thailand since I was born. These things include:

1.The Songkran festival in April, in which people splash water on one another. The festival itself is not evil. It can be fun, especially when you go to celebrate it in Khaosarn Road. But what makes me hate this festival is that many Thai people disregard other people’s rights to travel safely during this festival. It is very difficult for me to travel from one place to another to do some business during this three-day festival, because some Thai people insisted on throwing water at me, though I said to them clearly that I didn’t want it or even begged them to spare me from their water. Why don’t these smiling Thai people understand that some people are different from them? Why don’t these Thai people understand that other people are also human beings who are equal to them and these Thai people don’t have authority to force water onto my body, my belongings, or my books? Why do these Thai people think they can disregard other people’s rights?

Thanks Heaven for 7-Eleven, because it opens 24 hours. During the past 10 years, I have been successfully avoiding these evil Thai people because I only step out of my apartment during 23.00-07.00 hrs during the festival. Whenever I get hungry during this festival, I will go to 7-Eleven at 23.00-07.00 hrs to buy some food because the road to 7-Eleven is empty from these evil Thai people during those hours.

I’m not the only Thai person who deeply hates this festival. One of my friends revealed to me that he actually wanted to kill all those people who threw water at him without permission. He has been harboring this hatred for many years now. Fortunately, he hasn’t fulfill his dream yet.


2.The “Rubnong” tradition in some faculties in some universities.

I used to study in the Faculty of Commerce and Accountancy in a university, but I couldn’t bear its strict Rubnong traditions in which the new students have to obey the older students and do many things which are not useful at all. So I dropped out of this faculty after one year. I turned to study in the Faculty of Arts, in which the Rubnong traditions is not strict at all.

Some new students are killed every year in Thailand because of this Rubnong traditions. Some older students like to bully the new students, but sometimes the act of bullying is too cruel or goes too far and it results in death.


3.About 10-15 years ago, some Thai female teenagers started wearing tank tops or started dress up sexily. I remember that some Thai people opposed this kind of dress vehemently. I feel sick with this group of conservative Thai people. I stopped listening to a radio program about films which I had been following for 10 years, because a DJ in this radio program said something like “Girls wear clothes like this because they want to be raped”.

Fortunately, the liberal side win in this issue. Thai teenagers don’t obey this conservative thinking about dress and clothes.


4.I started hating Thaksin’s government in 2001 because of Purachai Piumsombun, who was the Interior Minister at that time. He tried to force nightclubs to close at 0200 AM, because that’s what the law says. I enjoyed nightclubs which close at 0600 AM, especially in 1995. I think this Thai law should be changed. I think nightclubs which don’t disturb their neighborhood with noises or other things should be open as long as they want.


5.I hate some Thai laws which are the opposite of freedom of speech.

6.I hate the Censorship Board of Thailand.

7. I hate the Youtube blocking last year.

8. I hate people who incite other people to assault Chotisak Onsoong.

When I was a child, I used to think that people would have more and more freedom in the future. But what happens in Thailand during the last few years, especially the PAD’s seizure of airports, makes me realize that Thai people may have less and less freedom in the future, because many Thai people disregard other people’s rights.