Buppah Rahtree
Encyclopedia
Buppah Rahtree is a 2003
Thai
comedy
-horror film
written and directed by Yuthlert Sippapak
. With its comic references to The Exorcist
and Audition
, Buppah Rahtree gained a cult following through screenings at the 2004 Toronto International Film Festival
and the Fantasia Festival
. Its sequel
s are Buppah Rahtree Phase 2: Rahtree Returns
(2005), Rahtree Reborn
(Buppha Rahtree 3.1) (2009) and Rahtree Revenge (Buppha Rahtree 3.2) (2009).
university who becomes the object of a wager by a group of male students to see if she can be bedded. Ake, the son of a wealthy family, takes the bet and courts young Buppah. She resists him at first, but one day sees him feeding pigeons in a park and goes to talk to him. She remarks that in her next life
she hopes to become a bird
, so she could fly away. Noting his BMW
convertible
parked nearby, she goes on to say that if she had a way, she would fly away right now. So Ake takes Buppah for a ride down the highway. They continue to have a relationship, which culminates in a three-day weekend at Bang Saen, during which Ake has sex
with her and stays in bed with her the whole time.
Ake had videotape
d their sessions and upon his return to Bangkok, he shows the tape to his friends. He has succeeded where the others failed and for his efforts, he wins a bottle of Johnnie Walker
, which he reflects to himself seems like a trivial prize for messing up another person's life. Ake then breaks off all contact with Buppah, who finds she cannot reach him by phone.
One day she is given a ride in a car by her stepfather, who takes Buppah to a short-time hotel and sexually assaults her. She stabs her stepfather with her fountain pen, that was given to her by her stepfather as a present and runs home to her apartment, room 609. Depressed, she decides to commit suicide
and is about to cut her wrist with a utility knife
when the phone rings. It is Ake and he wants to meet her. Ake informs Buppah about the wager with his friends and apologizes. He then informs her that he is to leave Thailand
to study in England
, but he hopes he and she can still be friends. Buppah then informs Ake that she is two months' pregnant
. Ake is directed by his mother to convince Buppah to have an abortion
. He brings her back to her apartment after the operation, and she is in obvious pain. He says he is going to get her some rice congee
, but he instead gets in his car and drives away and then leaves the next day for England.
Buppah is living an apartment block managed by Mrs. See. One day Mrs. See tries to collect rent money from Buppah, who answers the door and looks weak, but says she'll pay the rent the next day. The next day passes and the landlady goes to investigate. She finds Buppah's door locked and chained. Using a hacksaw
, Mrs. See's brother gains entry to apartment 609, and he discovers Buppah's corpse in the bathroom. Buppah has bled to death due to complications from the abortion.
The police come, along with a spiky-haired female medical examiner, and the rescue squad, to retrieve the body. However, when the rescuers try to carry Buppah's body out, she starts moving. They put the corpse on the bed, and she sits up, scaring the rescue men, who run screaming from the room. The police are then sent in to retrieve the body, but they, too, are rebuffed. Buppah's vengeful
spirit
refuses to be dislodged.
The apartment block is home to a false shaman named Maew, who puts on a daily act and earns quite a bit of money for Mrs. See. To make people believe he is real, Mrs. See convinces Maew to try to exorcise
the ghost. After he fails, he convinces his teacher, Master Tong, to try. For his effort, Master Tong is left with a knife in his back.
Then, a pair of Roman Catholic
priest
s try to perform an exorcism, but only end up having obscenities shouted at them by the ghost, who also vomits a liquid akin to pea soup
on one of the priests.
Buppah's ghost runs wild throughout the apartment block. One night, she haunts every bathroom in every room. Her death by bleeding is re-enacted, with black blood flooding the hallway. Residents leave in droves, ruining Mrs. See's finances.
Meanwhile, Ake has grown homesick in England, and has turned to drug use. He wants to come home. He then appears at Buppah's door, and offers to bring her some rice congee. Ake catches the eye of Muay, a young woman at the congee stand. Muay seduces Ake, and has him take her to an old movie theater
, where they have sex. When Ake returns to Buppah's apartment, he has forgotten the congee. Buppah knows that Ake has cheated on her, and for his transgression, she amputates
his legs with the hacksaw that had been left behind by Mrs. See's brother.
Muay later comes to the apartment to find Ake. Buppah takes possession of Muay's body and starts to have Muay cut her own legs off with the hacksaw.
Mrs. See still wants to get Buppah out of her building, so she has summoned a genuine shaman from Cambodia
. The shaman and his men come to the apartment just as Muay is being possessed. They put a spirit cloth over Ake and on Buppah's corpse. Through a prayer, the shaman is able to get Buppah's spirit back into the corpse. They then plan to take Buppah to a temple to be cremated
, but on the way, the spirit cloth blows off the body, which is in the back of a pickup truck
. Buppah takes control of the vehicle and causes it to crash into another truck.
Muay, saddened by the turn of events, makes contact with Ake's father, who is angered and puzzled by the call. As it turns out, Ake has been dead for more than a month. Muay had sexual relations with Ake's ghost.
Buppah is back in apartment 609, where she will likely stay for eternity. Ake's ghost, now legless, sits outside in the hallway, and apologizes to Buppah for the rest of his ghost eternity.
and pop music
. Most of the tracks feature members of Joey Boy
's rap collective Gancore Club, the heavyset duo BZ and Fukking Hero, who were also featured in the film as residents of a neighboring apartment to Rahtree's.
2003 in film
The year 2003 in film involved some significant events. Releases of sequels took place with movies like The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, 2 Fast 2 Furious, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix Revolutions, Pokémon Heroes, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines,...
Thai
Cinema of Thailand
The cinema of Thailand dates back to the early days of filmmaking, when King Chulalongkorn's 1897 visit to Bern, Switzerland was recorded by Francois-Henri Lavancy-Clarke. The film was then brought to Bangkok, where it was exhibited...
comedy
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
-horror film
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
written and directed by Yuthlert Sippapak
Yuthlert Sippapak
Yuthlert Sippapak is a Thai film director, screenwriter and producer. He's best known for his genre-blending films Killer Tattoo and Buppah Rahtree .-Biography:...
. With its comic references to The Exorcist
The Exorcist (film)
The Exorcist is a 1973 American horror film directed by William Friedkin, adapted from the 1971 novel of the same name by William Peter Blatty and based on the exorcism case of Robbie Mannheim, dealing with the demonic possession of a young girl and her mother’s desperate attempts to win back her...
and Audition
Audition (film)
is a 1999 Japanese horror film directed by Takashi Miike and starring Ryo Ishibashi and Eihi Shiina. It is based on a Ryu Murakami novel of the same title. Over the years, the film has developed a cult following.-Plot:...
, Buppah Rahtree gained a cult following through screenings at the 2004 Toronto International Film Festival
2004 Toronto International Film Festival
The 2004 Toronto International Film Festival ran from September 9 through September 18.- Canada First :* CQ2 * I, Claudia * Ill Fated The 2004 Toronto International Film Festival ran from September 9 through September 18.- Canada First :* CQ2 (Seek You Too) (Carole Laure)* I, Claudia (Chris...
and the Fantasia Festival
Fantasia Festival
Fantasia International Film Festival is a genre film festival that has been based mainly in Montreal since its founding in 1996...
. Its sequel
Sequel
A sequel is a narrative, documental, or other work of literature, film, theatre, or music that continues the story of or expands upon issues presented in some previous work...
s are Buppah Rahtree Phase 2: Rahtree Returns
Buppah Rahtree Phase 2: Rahtree Returns
Buppah Rahtree Phase 2: Rahtree Returns is a 2005 Thai comedy-horror film written and directed by Yuthlert Sippapak. It is a sequel to the 2003 film, Buppah Rahtree.-Plot:...
(2005), Rahtree Reborn
Rahtree Reborn
Rahtree Reborn is a 2009 Thai comedy-horror film written and directed by Yuthlert Sippapak. It is a sequel to the 2005 film, Buppah Rahtree Phase 2: Rahtree Returns...
(Buppha Rahtree 3.1) (2009) and Rahtree Revenge (Buppha Rahtree 3.2) (2009).
Plot
Buppah Rahtree is a loner female student at a BangkokBangkok
Bangkok is the capital and largest urban area city in Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or simply Krung Thep , meaning "city of angels." The full name of Bangkok is Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom...
university who becomes the object of a wager by a group of male students to see if she can be bedded. Ake, the son of a wealthy family, takes the bet and courts young Buppah. She resists him at first, but one day sees him feeding pigeons in a park and goes to talk to him. She remarks that in her next life
Reincarnation
Reincarnation best describes the concept where the soul or spirit, after the death of the body, is believed to return to live in a new human body, or, in some traditions, either as a human being, animal or plant...
she hopes to become a bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
, so she could fly away. Noting his BMW
BMW
Bayerische Motoren Werke AG is a German automobile, motorcycle and engine manufacturing company founded in 1916. It also owns and produces the Mini marque, and is the parent company of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. BMW produces motorcycles under BMW Motorrad and Husqvarna brands...
convertible
Convertible
A convertible is a type of automobile in which the roof can retract and fold away having windows which wind-down inside the doors, converting it from an enclosed to an open-air vehicle...
parked nearby, she goes on to say that if she had a way, she would fly away right now. So Ake takes Buppah for a ride down the highway. They continue to have a relationship, which culminates in a three-day weekend at Bang Saen, during which Ake has sex
Sexual intercourse
Sexual intercourse, also known as copulation or coitus, commonly refers to the act in which a male's penis enters a female's vagina for the purposes of sexual pleasure or reproduction. The entities may be of opposite sexes, or they may be hermaphroditic, as is the case with snails...
with her and stays in bed with her the whole time.
Ake had videotape
Videotape
A videotape is a recording of images and sounds on to magnetic tape as opposed to film stock or random access digital media. Videotapes are also used for storing scientific or medical data, such as the data produced by an electrocardiogram...
d their sessions and upon his return to Bangkok, he shows the tape to his friends. He has succeeded where the others failed and for his efforts, he wins a bottle of Johnnie Walker
Johnnie Walker
Johnnie Walker is a brand of Scotch Whisky owned by Diageo and originated in Kilmarnock, Ayrshire, Scotland.It is the most widely distributed brand of blended Scotch whisky in the world, sold in almost every country with yearly sales of over 130 million bottles.-History:Originally known as Walker's...
, which he reflects to himself seems like a trivial prize for messing up another person's life. Ake then breaks off all contact with Buppah, who finds she cannot reach him by phone.
One day she is given a ride in a car by her stepfather, who takes Buppah to a short-time hotel and sexually assaults her. She stabs her stepfather with her fountain pen, that was given to her by her stepfather as a present and runs home to her apartment, room 609. Depressed, she decides to commit suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
and is about to cut her wrist with a utility knife
Utility knife
A utility knife is a knife used for general or utility purposes. The utility knife was originally a fixed blade knife with a cutting edge suitable for general work such as cutting hides and cordage, scraping hides, butchering animals, cleaning fish, and other tasks.Today, the term "utility knife"...
when the phone rings. It is Ake and he wants to meet her. Ake informs Buppah about the wager with his friends and apologizes. He then informs her that he is to leave Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
to study in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, but he hopes he and she can still be friends. Buppah then informs Ake that she is two months' pregnant
Pregnancy
Pregnancy refers to the fertilization and development of one or more offspring, known as a fetus or embryo, in a woman's uterus. In a pregnancy, there can be multiple gestations, as in the case of twins or triplets...
. Ake is directed by his mother to convince Buppah to have an abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
. He brings her back to her apartment after the operation, and she is in obvious pain. He says he is going to get her some rice congee
Rice congee
Congee is a type of rice porridge popular in many Asian countries. It can be eaten alone or served with a side dish. Names for congee are as varied as the style of its preparation...
, but he instead gets in his car and drives away and then leaves the next day for England.
Buppah is living an apartment block managed by Mrs. See. One day Mrs. See tries to collect rent money from Buppah, who answers the door and looks weak, but says she'll pay the rent the next day. The next day passes and the landlady goes to investigate. She finds Buppah's door locked and chained. Using a hacksaw
Hacksaw
A hacksaw is a fine-tooth saw with a blade under tension in a frame, used for cutting materials such as metal or plastics. Hand-held hacksaws consist of a metal arch with a handle, usually a pistol grip, with pins for attaching a narrow disposable blade. A screw or other mechanism is used to put...
, Mrs. See's brother gains entry to apartment 609, and he discovers Buppah's corpse in the bathroom. Buppah has bled to death due to complications from the abortion.
The police come, along with a spiky-haired female medical examiner, and the rescue squad, to retrieve the body. However, when the rescuers try to carry Buppah's body out, she starts moving. They put the corpse on the bed, and she sits up, scaring the rescue men, who run screaming from the room. The police are then sent in to retrieve the body, but they, too, are rebuffed. Buppah's vengeful
Revenge
Revenge is a harmful action against a person or group in response to a grievance, be it real or perceived. It is also called payback, retribution, retaliation or vengeance; it may be characterized, justly or unjustly, as a form of justice.-Function in society:Some societies believe that the...
spirit
Ghost
In traditional belief and fiction, a ghost is the soul or spirit of a deceased person or animal that can appear, in visible form or other manifestation, to the living. Descriptions of the apparition of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to...
refuses to be dislodged.
The apartment block is home to a false shaman named Maew, who puts on a daily act and earns quite a bit of money for Mrs. See. To make people believe he is real, Mrs. See convinces Maew to try to exorcise
Exorcism
Exorcism is the religious practice of evicting demons or other spiritual entities from a person or place which they are believed to have possessed...
the ghost. After he fails, he convinces his teacher, Master Tong, to try. For his effort, Master Tong is left with a knife in his back.
Then, a pair of Roman Catholic
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
priest
Priest
A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...
s try to perform an exorcism, but only end up having obscenities shouted at them by the ghost, who also vomits a liquid akin to pea soup
The Exorcist (film)
The Exorcist is a 1973 American horror film directed by William Friedkin, adapted from the 1971 novel of the same name by William Peter Blatty and based on the exorcism case of Robbie Mannheim, dealing with the demonic possession of a young girl and her mother’s desperate attempts to win back her...
on one of the priests.
Buppah's ghost runs wild throughout the apartment block. One night, she haunts every bathroom in every room. Her death by bleeding is re-enacted, with black blood flooding the hallway. Residents leave in droves, ruining Mrs. See's finances.
Meanwhile, Ake has grown homesick in England, and has turned to drug use. He wants to come home. He then appears at Buppah's door, and offers to bring her some rice congee. Ake catches the eye of Muay, a young woman at the congee stand. Muay seduces Ake, and has him take her to an old movie theater
Movie theater
A movie theater, cinema, movie house, picture theater, film theater is a venue, usually a building, for viewing motion pictures ....
, where they have sex. When Ake returns to Buppah's apartment, he has forgotten the congee. Buppah knows that Ake has cheated on her, and for his transgression, she amputates
Amputation
Amputation is the removal of a body extremity by trauma, prolonged constriction, or surgery. As a surgical measure, it is used to control pain or a disease process in the affected limb, such as malignancy or gangrene. In some cases, it is carried out on individuals as a preventative surgery for...
his legs with the hacksaw that had been left behind by Mrs. See's brother.
Muay later comes to the apartment to find Ake. Buppah takes possession of Muay's body and starts to have Muay cut her own legs off with the hacksaw.
Mrs. See still wants to get Buppah out of her building, so she has summoned a genuine shaman from Cambodia
Cambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
. The shaman and his men come to the apartment just as Muay is being possessed. They put a spirit cloth over Ake and on Buppah's corpse. Through a prayer, the shaman is able to get Buppah's spirit back into the corpse. They then plan to take Buppah to a temple to be cremated
Cremation
Cremation is the process of reducing bodies to basic chemical compounds such as gasses and bone fragments. This is accomplished through high-temperature burning, vaporization and oxidation....
, but on the way, the spirit cloth blows off the body, which is in the back of a pickup truck
Pickup truck
A pickup truck is a light motor vehicle with an open-top rear cargo area .-Definition:...
. Buppah takes control of the vehicle and causes it to crash into another truck.
Muay, saddened by the turn of events, makes contact with Ake's father, who is angered and puzzled by the call. As it turns out, Ake has been dead for more than a month. Muay had sexual relations with Ake's ghost.
Buppah is back in apartment 609, where she will likely stay for eternity. Ake's ghost, now legless, sits outside in the hallway, and apologizes to Buppah for the rest of his ghost eternity.
Cast
- Laila Boonyasak as Buppah Rahtree
- Krit Sripoomseth as Ake
- Chompunoot Piyapane as Muay
- Sirisin Siripornsmathikul as Mrs. See
- Ampon Rattanawong as Maew
- Somlek SakdikulSomlek SakdikulSomlek Sakdikul is a Thai film actor and musician. He is sometimes credited as Somchai Sakdikul. He portrayed "Suwat" or "Daddy", the lecherous music producer in Pen-Ek Ratanaruang's 2001 comedy, Monrak Transistor...
as Master Tong
Soundtrack
A soundtrack album, Original Motion Picture Soundtrack: Buppah Rahtree, was released to accompany the film. It features a mix of Thai hip hopHip hop
Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...
and pop music
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
. Most of the tracks feature members of Joey Boy
Joey Boy
-Biography:Born into a Thai-Chinese family, Joey Boy started listening to hip hop when he was 14 years old and skateboarding. In 1994, he was signed to Bakery Music. His first release was a self-titled EP. He recorded nine more albums with the label....
's rap collective Gancore Club, the heavyset duo BZ and Fukking Hero, who were also featured in the film as residents of a neighboring apartment to Rahtree's.
Track listing
- "Kruey mai klub" (กลัวมั้ยครับ) (Beat Mix) - BZ and Fukking Hero with Thinny-P (2:50)
- "Sorry 4" - Cazh (3:58)
- "Buppah Rahtree" - Panadda (4:43)
- "Pee loke" (ผีหลอก) BZ and Fukking Hero with Gin-Meeh (3:26)
- "Lhub"/"P.O.P." - Fukking Hero featuring Zentrady (4:40)
- "Yoo" (อยู่ ) - Pakeeta (5:24)
- "Mai klub mah" - Maf (4:22)
- "662" - A.Y.M. (4:25)
- "Ar deed" - Maf (4:53)
- "Buppah Rahtree" - Demo (3:04)