Is the film a generalized pastiche of retro styles or are there references to specific old movies?
A bit of both, actually. There are several scenes and images which are ‘quoted’ from old movies; some people in the Thai audience will recognize them. The shoot-outs and raids are not modeled on particular scenes from old movies bit they’re absolutely in the style of the action genre of the 1960s. Dozens such films were made then, and the genre became known (contemptuously) as Raberd poa, Khaow pao kratom- “Bomb the mountain, Burn the huts” movies. The idea that the hero should die, so that everyone cries on the way out, was a staple of those movies too. The comedy elements, such as the character Sgt Yam, were taken from Mitr Chaibancha’s movies, which always had a lot of slapstick humor. But the presiding inspiration was probably the director Rattana Pestonji, who was never exactly in the mainstream of the industry in the 1950s or 1960s. He was a cinematographer who began directing and producing his own, very idiosyncratic films, and he was very conscious of the need to create a genui
