Ananda is the ‘Red Eagle’

AAHHH……I’m so excited. You have no idea how long I have been waiting for this.

Filming for “Red Eagle (Insee Daeng)”, Ananda Everingham’s latest film, directed by Wisit Sasanatieng (Citizen Dog, Tears of Black Tiger) has begun filming. Screams with pure excitement! Ever since I heard about it at Wise Kwai’s blog, it has become one of my most anticipated Thai film of the year.

Action, romance, a mysterious guy donning a red mask and fighting for justice, totally up my alley. I love characters with hidden personas, it fun to watch as their true identity slowly revealed itself. Also, movies of this genre always conjure up pleasant memories from my childhood.

When I was a kid, I didn’t watch Barbie the cartoon or whatever girly show was on, I gravitated towards more of the masculine kids show. My favorites were usually the masked crimefighting crusaders such as Batman, Zorro (yea, the black and white 1950′s version), Spiderman, X-men and many more. They were my afternoon delights after school. The brother and I would watch them together. Before school, we watched ‘Robotech’ anime on the Sci-fi channel. After school, it was either Chip N’ Dales, Duck Tales or our favorite action packed superhero cartoons. I miss those days.

For the film, Ananda Everingham is the ‘Red Eagle,’ a fun-loving drunk by day and a crimefighter by night. Yarinda Bunnag from the hit film “Best of Times (Kwaam Jam San Dtae Rak Chan Yaao)” is Ananda’s leading lady.

Jarinda, the director, Ananda, and the main cast.

More opening ceremony pictures.

Mit Chaibuncha, the decease prolific Thai actor from 40 years ago, was the topic of choice for this opening ceremony. Mit died while filming the last installment of the Red Eagle films back in 1970. He fell off a helicopter.

From the Wiki Mit Chaibuncha page: “On the last day of shooting, the script called for Mitr, having vanquished the villains, to fly off into the sunset in a helicopter. As the camera rolled, Mitr leapt from the ground to grab a rope ladder hanging from the aircraft, only managing to reach the lowest rung. Unaware of this, the helicopter pilot flew higher and higher, and Mitr finally lost his grip and fell to the ground. The accident was all caught on film and was actually left in the final theatrical release. The fatal fall has since been removed from DVD versions of the film, with Mitr simply flying off into the distance and some onscreen text paying tribute to the star.”

For Red Eagle, the 2009 version, there will be a helicopter scene. Director Wisit Sasanatieng joked that they don’t plan to have Ananda fall off the helicopter. That was an accident, he said. For sure, there will be a helicopter scene. If you understand Thai, you can listen to the interview here.