King Naresuan (film)

The Legend of King Naresuan
Thai movie poster.
Directed byPrince Chatrichalerm Yukol
Written by
Based onLife of Naresuan the Great
Produced byKunakorn Sethi
Starring
Music by
Distributed by
Release dates
Part I
January 18, 2007
Part II
February 15, 2007
Part III
March 31, 2011
Part IV
August 11, 2011
Part V
May 29, 2014
Part VI
April 9, 2015
CountryThailand
Languages
Budget700 million baht

The Legend of King Naresuan (Thai: ตำนานสมเด็จพระนเรศวรมหาราช; RTGSTamnan Somdet Phra Naresuan Maha Rat) is a Thai biographical historical drama film series about King Naresuan the Great, who ruled Siam from 1590 until his death in 1605.

The films are directed by Chatrichalerm Yukol and are a followup to his 2003 film, The Legend of Suriyothai. The films were released in the U.S. under the titles Kingdom of War.

  • The Legend of King Naresuan The Great, Part I, Hongsawadee's Hostage, was released on January 18, 2007.
  • The Legend of King Naresuan The Great, Part II, Reclaiming Sovereignty, was released on February 15, 2007.
  • The Legend of King Naresuan The Great, Part III, Naval Battle, was released on March 31, 2011.
  • The Legend of King Naresuan The Great, Part IV, The Nanda Bayin War, was released on August 11, 2011.
  • The Legend of King Naresuan The Great, Part V, Elephant Battle, was released on May 29, 2014.
  • The Legend of King Naresuan The Great, Part VI, The end of Hong Sa, was released on April 9, 2015.

Part I deals with Naresuan's boyhood, when he was taken hostage by Burmese King, Bayinnaung to keep the vassal Ayutthaya Kingdom subservient. During this time, he was a novice Buddhist monk under the tutelage of a wise father-figure monk (Sorapong Chatree). Part II depicts Naresuan as a young adult prince, already a formidable military strategist, as he leads his army on exploits against breakaway kingdoms for King Bayinnaung's successor, King Nonthabureng, and eventually breaks away to declare sovereignty for Siam. Part III was to depict Naresuan's military and leadership skills and the expansion of the Siamese kingdom.

In production for more than three years, the project has an estimated budget of 700 million baht, making it the most expensive Thai film made.[1][2][3]

As King of Fire, part II was selected as Thailand's submission to the 80th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film.[4][5]

  1. ^ Na Talang, Jeerawat. January 16, 2007., "Naresuan should be great" Archived 2007-01-18 at the Wayback Machine, The Nation (retrieved on January 18, 2007).
  2. ^ Rithdee, Kong. November 24, 2006. "Twin films", The Bangkok Post, Realtime, Page R5 (print edition).
  3. ^ Rithdee, Kong. 'King Naresuan' expands to trilogy, Variety (retrieved on December 21, 2006).
  4. ^ Rithdee, Kong, August 24, 2007. Naresuan II reigns in Oscar race Archived 2007-09-03 at the Wayback Machine, Variety (magazine) (retrieved on August 26, 2007)
  5. ^ 63 films qualify for foreign Oscar category, Hollywood Reporter; retrieved 2007-10-13