Scala

Directed by Ananta Thitanat

Country: Thailand

Year 2022

Author review: Roberto Matteucci

Click Here for Italian Version

“The last chair is done.”

Siam Square is the central point of Bangkok's commercial and popular growth. It is an area with an overabundance of mall, shops, offices, professional studios, doctors. Before it was different, it was a favela, a ghetto, poor people lived there, in poor houses. The slum was destroyed by fire. Chulalongkorn University, the owner of the land, planned high-level real estate speculation. Large cinemas were built to attract crowds.

The first, in 1966, was the Scala cinema. Subsequently, the Lido cinema was opened in 1968, and the Siam cinema, all with individual auditoriums:

“Scala was one of the last remaining stand-alone cineplexes and once a favourite spot where teens of the 1980s and 1990s hung out. Famous for its extravagant exterior with a giant hall, grand staircase and chandelier built in the style of Art Deco architecture that emphasises the use of geometric shapes, the cinema eventually received the Outstanding Architectural Conservation Award 2012.” (1)

The architect, Thai Jira Silpakano, combined art deco with modern Thai art. (2)

Scala was inaugurated on 31 December 1969, with the Western The Undefeated con John Wayne and Rock Hudson.

The peculiarity of its programme was cultural:

“Scala has provided an exception to this rule and has regularly attracted a cinephile audience through its alternative screening programme and special events such as Live at the Scala (2013) and the recurring Silent Film Festival, organized by the Thai Film Archive.” (2)

This artistic character was never lost. Up to the end, it kept this peculiarity:

“Before the announcement of the cinema's closure in the summer of 2020, Scala was the city's last remaining single-screen movie theatre, and as such, offered an eclectic programme of films and live events not found at other theatrical venues in Bangkok. Programmes included vintage, retro and art-house films, and the cinema was frequently home to boutique festivals ...” (2)

In the sixties and seventies, the cinema was the only place to enjoy films. The films were broadcast on television only in limited quantities and years after the first screening. But it is the internet that is destroying cinema. Youngs people prefer to watch films on an iPhone or iPad or Mac or Netflix or Prime. Teenagers have abandoned the arthouse cinema. They choose multiplexes. The latter can offer a wide selection of commercial productions. The attraction of arthouse film has diminished.

The Covid health crisis, with home isolation, was the coup de grâce of a system that was already in trouble.

The closure of the Scala had already been planned but was anticipated. On 5 July 2020, the last film was screened. The choice fell on an iconic story about a boy who is infatuated with films: Cinema Paradiso by Italian director Giuseppe Tornatore.

Later, cinema was disassembled of its architectural elements and demolished.

This phase of dismantling is narrated tenderly in the documentary Scala, by young filmmaker Ananta Thitanat presented at the Bangkok World Film Festival 2022 in which it won the Grand Jury Prize.

The documentary closely follows the work of tearing down the interiors and furnishings of the theatre. The style of the building was brilliant, with an extended foyer, staircase, and a huge chandelier. They removed the red seats and unclean curtains. When they fell, the dust rose; it was the dust of the history of world cinema.

While the labourers worked, the author discreetly observed them and often gently began a conversation. Together the carpenters, there are cinema employees who chat nostalgically about the mythical times.

The topics concern the history both of Thailand and cinema. Furthermore, the author introduces the concept of community. The Scala was not just a place for watching epic films, but also a place of friendship for many families. There is a sense of lack in the director's description of that time. In the enormous selfish cities, it has disappeared but it is still present in small villages:

“My father used to be an employee of the parent company of these three cinemas. He brought me to the Siam theatre when I was very young. And in Asia, living at work is commonplace especialy for people from other provices who came to work in Bangkok. Some bus drivers raise their children on the bus they drive. These workers share things and even raise each other's children. They have to do that, because most of them often work at different times. Their neighbours or co-workers can look after their children when they are working, so they don't have to worry. This big family becomes like a community or even a village. Similar to ones you can find out in the provinces. Actually, the only downside to having lived in a big cinema is that i can hardly enjoy movies or any smaller screens.” (3)

The company's employees gathered their children at Scala. They were supervised by colleagues and friends, helping busy parents too. An enlarged community was formed, an enlarged family:

“This big family becomes like a community or even a village. Similar to ones you can find out in the provinces.” (3)

A girl who has grown up watching films on big screens, cannot entertain them on her iPhone.

The filmmaker achieves her goal with elegance and delicacy. In her charming shots and short dialogues, she discovers a community of the past. She knows well that those moments will not return but it is right to remember it with sadness. An example is how workers recognize her. They knew her parents, an image of strong affinity. In fact, Scala spectators call employees by the respectful and familiar names of uncle and aunt:

“It’s not only me who feels that way. Many Scala customers refer to the yellow uniform cinema workers as uncles and aunties. Even the movies themselves also teach me about what family is. For me, it’s not about being blood relatives but it’s about being with the ones who make you feel comfortable.” (4)

Another quality of Ananta Thitanat is her seriousness.

She is completely knowledgeable about Scala and its history:

“The Skywalk connects two shopping malls and the Bangkok Art & Culture Centre but the area where Scala used to be is still waiting to be connected. I remember there was an idea to connect the Siam BTS Skytrain walkway to the Siam cinema but it didn’t happen. The area surrounding Scala has changed a lot since my childhood. The new buildings were constructed, mostly shopping malls. Land prices are rising, small businesses can’t compete with regard to the rent. Other than that, only the big capitalists have the right to own the land.” (4)

She knows the reasons for the troubles of cinema:

“Tickets at the shopping mall multiplexes are very expensive. It forces people to stream movies at home or go to alternative cinemas such as Doc Club, the House cinema, or Lido Multiplex where the repertoire is wider and more diverse than in the cinemas in malls. Recently, young people have started to watch more movies in many forms. The pandemic accelerated the emergence of this new film culture, the new generation seems to be more and more open to alternative, non-mainstream movies.” (4)

The expensive cost of tickets and the confinement caused by the pandemic are the reasons for disaffection. However, there is hope for teenagers, who are more attentive to alternative filmography.

She precisely knows the future of Scala pieces:

“The latest news I heard was that Central Pattana, the new renter, will turn the area into a mixed-use project including a new hotel, car park, shopping mall, and a full-scale replica of Scala.

L'ultima notizia che ho sentito è che Central Pattana, il nuovo affittuario, trasformerà l'area in un progetto ad uso misto che comprende un nuovo hotel, un parcheggio, un centro commerciale e una replica in scala reale di Scala.

...

The owner took the decorations back to Nong Nooch Tropical Garden, Pattaya. He took it there to decorate a new theatre which is also named Scala. Except for the “Asia Holiday” sculpture by Vergikio Ver Manipol which is too complicated to move. Now I don’t know if it was destroyed or stored somewhere.” (4)

They will be used for the redevelopment of a cinema in Pattaya, in a complex with a hotel, parking and a shopping mall. It is a fake reconstruction like Las Vegas style instead of fulfilling an old tradition.

The characters are the labourers and the author herself. She appears only once but depicts personal events. A charming cat who lives in the theatre is another protagonist. He moves curiously among the workforce, the furniture on the ground, the crew. He is indifferent but nosy. He is not worried about the future and he liberty moves. For the cat, Scala was a monumental and luxurious home. A multitude of persons took care of him.

In addition, Scala theatre is the real protagonist. It is haughty, magnificent, sophisticated, docile, faithful, solid and fragile at the same time, hieratic in its majesty, magniloquent, mature and even sensual. Scala has never been envious of the comfortable halls of the multiplexes. It showed pride and a sense of duty. Melancholy is the final act.

The public has sympathy for Scala. Perhaps it is the same audience that has betrayed it, choosing other genres and other cinemas. However, they regret it. Why so much admiration now? It is similar to the death of a friend or relative; people miss them after they are gone.

The structure begins with the presentation of the Scala and its workers. The continuous is the memory of a community that lived inside the theatre. The consequence is an atrocious question: will Scala's testimony remain and above all, will there be other cinemas able to follow the same cinematographic policy?

The rhythm is quick, it is in harmony with the dismantling of the hall. The sequences proceed with varied and powerful language.

At the beginning, a shot from the Scala to the bright sky through a window. Scala seems closed, distinct from external life, which is suddenly transformed. In another similar sequence, the BTS train is seen passing overhead.

The interior scenes are dark. There are red spots of the seats and of the majestic, colossal white chandelier. The workers look at it with perplexity and respect. Maybe they are thinking: how do we disassemble it? Instead, with calm and patience, they manage to lower it piece by piece.

They removed the sign Scala away. The letters are on the floor. It is not a pitiful scene, it could be a metaphor for its fall. For the talented filmmaker, cinema will be able to survive.

Ananta Thitanat marks the rhythm. She talks to the carpenters, to the workers. Her voice is off-screen. A narrative with an intellectual but even entertaining interpretation. It is her answer about her job: I make documentaries and I sometimes take pictures at weddings.

The other aspect is social. The workers operate in non-existent safety conditions. Some object often heavy falls and they risk causing a fatality.

Furthermore, the director pursues the small cat. The little animal does not understand what is happening. Pops out and stares impassively. Where is this kitten going to live? Will he find a new family?

The details are refined. She films them with simplicity and nonchalance. Then, she edits them in an excellent manner. As the poster of Federico Fellini's film 8 ½, from which Marcello Mastroianni emerges. Or rather the Cinemeccanica projector, another of the references to Italy.

The scene with the procession of visiting Buddhist monks blessing the Scala establishes the spiritual theme.

Other elegant subtleties of the film. Shot of the award plaque for the artistic value of Scala, then a close-up of a screwdriver. It is removing the screws.

The best sequence is at night, inside the fully dismantled Scala. All is gone, only the side walls survive, everything is black. At the bottom right, there is a light. She is a woman with a torch. She is advancing into the remaining skeleton of Scala. The flash of the battery radiates onto the walls, representing the light beam of the projector on the screen.

Cinema Paradiso is a different film. Tornatore describes love for films: romantic, dramatic, comic, tragic and the dreams they can inspire. Scala is instead the exaltation of love for cinema as a physical and material organism. Hundreds of people gather in the same place to perceive the emotions of the films in unison. Culture needs a concrete space.

Scala is a delicate film, full of atmosphere. The virtues of Ananta Thitanat are her professionalism, ability, and sensitivity. She films with modesty, she does not want to disturb. The director uses the lower camera while the workers disconnect the speakers or equipment. She pauses on the feet, on the workers, on the rich in particular. The close-ups are discreet, reflecting the director's sophistication.

A damnatio memoriae for the Scala cinema must be avoided. It must be recalled as a symbol. Art and culture want their own locations, collective, social and not divisive electronic tools.

1. https://www.bangkokpost.com/life/arts-and-entertainment/2215439/saying-farewell-to-scala

2. Emma Pett, Experiencing Cinema: Participatory Film Cultures, Immersive Media and the Experience Economy, Bloomsbury Academic, First Published, 2021 https://www.google.it/books/edition/Experiencing_Cinema/vf8REAAAQBAJ?hl=it&gbpv=1&dq=SCALA+THEATRE+BANGKOK&pg=PA158&printsec=frontcover

3. https://youtu.be/tZm9DCov-bA

4. https://www.easternkicks.com/features/ananta-thitanat-interview/