Legacy
Rattana's death was the first of two tough blows for the burgeoning Thai industry in 1970, for later in the year, it would lose its biggest star, Mitr Chaibancha, in a fatal accident during the filming of a stunt.
A few days after Rattana's death, the government did set up the Thai Film Promotion Board, which would be responsible for promoting and encouraging investment in Thai films. But to this day there is still no direct government support for the Thai film industry and foreign films continue to dominate the domestic cinema landscape.
Movies made in the Thai studio system, such as Ong-Bak: Muay Thai Warrior, fare better in local cinemas, while indie directors such as Apichatpong Weerasethakul are left to seek funding from overseas backers.
Still, Rattana's legacy is recognizable. His films are cited as a major influence by Wisit Sasanatieng, a Thai film director whose acclaimed Tears of the Black Tiger (Fah Talai Jone) was shown at the Cannes Film Festival in 2000.
The studio that Rattana started, Hanuman Films Company, is still operated by his family. It is now called Santa International Film Productions and it provides technical support and equipment to foreign film productions. Santa Pestonji directed a remake of Santi-Weena in 1976. The original version of Santi-Weena has become a lost film.
Rattana's films are periodically shown in retrospectives at film festivals. The 10th Pusan International Film Festival screened Sugar Is Not Sweet, Black Silk, Country Hotel and Dark Heaven. He was posthumously awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2004 Bangkok International Film Festival.
The R. D. Pestonji Award, the top prize of the Thai Short Film and Video Festival, is named in his honor.
Read more about this topic: Rattana Pestonji
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“What is popularly called fame is nothing but an empty name and a legacy from paganism.”
—Desiderius Erasmus (c. 1466–1536)