Blackbirds at Bangpleng
As of 1994, it reportedly had the biggest budget of any title in Thailand's film industry.,Version of Village of the Damned (1960),MR Kukrit Pramoj, who "wrote" the novel on which this movie is based, was one of the truly noble figures of modern Thai history. It was a terrible shame that at the end of his life this movie was made, and not until its release did anybody notice that MR Kukrit had stolen the whole plot from the classic s.f. novel "The Midwich Cuckoos" by John Wyndham. The Wyndham book had already been made into a movie called "The Village of the Damned," and it is just amazing that the Thai film makers who spent years of their lives and millions of dollars in the production of "Cuckoos" never came across the English novel or movie. It was hoped that this would be the first Thai movie released internationally, but of course once it was publicized that the movie was in violation of international copyright laws, these hopes were dashed. The movie did not do well in Thailand, and journalists had a field day digging up others of MR Kukrit's many books that were obviously "lifted" from Western sources. It is truly sad that this event was the last chapter to a wonderful, colorful, brilliant career.,