Ghost of Mae Nak Director Interview

HorrorMovies.ca got an exclusive chance to sit down with the director of Ghost Mae Nak and do an interview. It is a truly fascinating interview with an up and coming director who has some serious potential. His name is Mark Duffield. ( Read our Ghost of Mae Nak Movie Review ) In Ghost of Mae Nak, Mak and Nak, a young newlywed couple in Bangkok, acquire an antique brooch and an old abandoned house that soon bring them into contact with Mae Nak Phrakhanong, a figure of horror and despair from one of Thailand's most enduring ghost legends.

While Mae Nak's ghost protects the couple from an unscrupulous real estate agent as well as a pair of burglars, it becomes apparent that she expects a terrible favor in return. Mak, the young groom, is incapacitated by a powerful coma, and his bride Nak must exhume Mae Nak's corpse from its hidden grave so that the skull can be restored using the antique brooch. Only in this way can Mae Nak's spirit finally be set free.. Thanks to The Goon and Danny boy our two top notch writers for putting together the interview questions for Mark. Without further ado here is the interview with this up and coming director who you will hear plenty about on this site in the future.

Where did you first hear of the Mae Nak legend?

MD: I first heard about the Mae Nak legend when I visited the Mae Nak shrine in Bangkok Thailand. I had heard about this ghost legend Mother Nak who Thai people believe in and would give offerings to and ask for her blessing and guidance. The Mae Nak shrine is still there, at Wat Mahabut in the Prakanong area and hundreds of people visit it everyday.

Every country has its ghost stories, what was it about the Thai Legend that drew you to it?

MD: The Mae Nak legend is a tragic ghost story about true love that transcends her death and allows her walk the earth to be with her true love. I was drawn to the love story that I felt was a universal and timeless tale. I also like the idea that the ghost of Mae Nak would seek revenge on those who tried to take her true love away from her.

The ghost in the movie comes across both as a protector and a terrorizer, was this intentional, and how does that differ, if at all, from the Thai Legend?

MD: My version of the Mae Nak legend is different to Thai films made about her. Yes I was keen to show her as a protector of the young newly wedded couple and also show the dark side of her who terrorizes or curses those who try to come between the couple. Most Mae Nak Thai films are hysterical and portray the ghost as a vindictive spirit. I wanted to make a film that I felt was truthful to the legend and me.