Guest wowpow Posted January 27, 2008 Posted January 27, 2008 Film's take on drug trade pure fiction 'American Gangster' claims to be based on fact, but as far as Thailand's role is concerned the movie is a fraud By ALAN DAWSON When moviegoers head into the cineplex to watch the latest Denzel Washington movie which begins on Thursday, they should know that American Gangster is peddling them a fantasy that is not at all ''based on truth'' _ especially the part about Thailand. The motion picture actually comes late to Thailand, after just about playing out its string in the United States. Tellingly, promoters are not boosting American Gangster much, even though significant scenes take place in Thailand, and the main plot revolves around heroin deals which germinate and develop in this country. These scenes were actually shot in Thailand, although most are as authentically Thai as American Fried Rice. This is not a problem, let alone the problem. Hollywood makes fictional stories as a matter of course, and sets them in fictional surroundings. Rather, American Gangster is not what it is billed on the official website and in publicity handouts: ''true'' or ''based on fact''. Hollywood story: Incredibly cunning black man comes to Thailand for a couple of days, travels to the Golden Triangle, bargains an almost humiliating deal with heroin warlord of undetermined ethnicity who just capitulates to this smart guy, goes back to the US, corrupts the American anti-drug establishment, charms the only narc on his case because of his obvious love for his mom and becomes the most successful criminal since the Earth cooled. There is an unpleasant period when the unbelievably incompetent, probably racist system actually makes him go to jail for a while. Actual story: Frank ''Superfly'' Lucas bought heroin from a Bangkok-based ring of US servicemen, became a big-shot drug peddler in New York City, got arrested, went to prison, agreed when Hollywood came calling that his story would make a great movie. And in a way it does. Thai moviegoers will love the performance their favourite, Denzel Washington, puts into the Lucas role. They will swallow their disbelief for the 90 minutes required to accept that Denzel/Lucas is a pretty smart guy and got one-third of the entire New York office of the Drug Enforcement Administration sentenced to prison for their corruption in his case. Unfortunately, it did not live up to the Hollywood hype. At the emasculated Golden Globe awards earlier this month, American Gangster lost all three awards it was up for, and they were the biggies: Best movie drama, best director for Ridley Scott and best actor for Washington............." Full article: http://www.bangkokpost.net/News/28Jan2008_news14.php Quote
