Phuttiphong Aroonpheng’s film, “The Burning Giants,” depicts a dystopian mystery inspired by the 2014 murder of Indigenous rights activist Porlajee “Billy” Rakchongcharoen and the forced eviction of the Karen people in western Thailand.
The film follows Yak, played by Awat Ratanapintha, who is captured by armed mountain police after being suspected of carrying a mysterious, skin-burning sickness caused by a toxic fog. The police, wearing gas masks, display agonizing blisters from the same affliction. The film intimates a state-sanctioned ethnic cleansing, evidenced by the soldiers setting Yak’s cottage ablaze.
Aroonpheng’s narrative then shifts to a motorbike romance between Lak, portrayed by Pakapol Srirongmuang, and Aepoh, played by Phunthida Phairuangkij, and later reveals Aepoh’s connection to the Karen people. The film’s structure features several narrative pivots, creating a deliberately elliptical and cryptic viewing experience. Aroonpheng’s script originated with news of the 2014 murder of Porlajee “Billy” Rakchongcharoen, a spokesperson for a Karen community forcibly evicted by Thai authorities. Arson was reportedly used as a method of dispersal, with the crimes allegedly denied and ignored by the State.
Competing in Venice’s Orizzonti sidebar, “The Burning Giants” is Aroonpheng’s third feature film, following “Manta Ray,” which won the same section in 2018. Critics note the film’s defiance of hand-holding for non-Thai viewers and its hazy mood fitting for a tale of displacement, though they also point to its arcane worldbuilding and flat rhythm.
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