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in the making of the movie The Legend of Queen Suriyothai . It is common knowledge that Sirikit strongly identifies with her historical predecessor. 39 Statements on the topic by people close to the queen have regularly appeared in the newspapers. Rumour (which does not appear in the press in Thailand) has it that the queen regards herself as a reincarnation of the warrior queen. We have to understand the interest of Sirikit in promoting the story of Suriyothai in this context. In 1999, Sirikit approached one of Thailand’s most established film directors, M. C
, the British film director revealed that he persuaded his boss, Alexander Korda, to send him to Burma to fetch film costumes and props, and make contacts. At the age of eighty-one he recalled his Imperial journey from Southampton to Rangoon in 1937 as one of his happiest travel memories. He exaggerated flying on average 2,000 miles a day (half that is more likely), but he
a particularly powerful vehicle for imperial sentiment, 167 and film directors quickly realised how much they could benefit from bringing the colonies into the cities: even contemporaries theorized the appeal of movies which took place in colonial locations. 168 About ninety French films were shot in the Maghreb in the inter-war years. 169 Featuring eminent actors such as Jean Gabin, Raimu or