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Beautiful Boxer

Andrew Heskins — Thu, 29 Dec 2005 11:23:53 +0000

You couldn’t make it up! The bizarre true story of the man who became Thailand’s most famous kick-boxer to pay for an operation to become a woman…

Well, they do say truth is stranger than fiction, but the real life story of Thai kick-boxer Parinya Charoenphol is something else!

Even as a child Parinya, also known as Nong Toom (played by Asanee Suwan) always knew he was different from other boys. Happier playacting with makeup and flowers in his hair, his parents don’t know quite what to make of him – even sending him off to be a monk. Nong soon realises that he really wants to be a girl, yet his poor background puts the cost of the necessary operation way beyond his means.

Quite by chance Nong finds that he has a natural aptitude for kickboxing, defeating an opponent in a rural match. After joining Pi Chart’s (Sorapong Chatree) Muay Thai training camp, Nong finds success in the ring. When Pi finds out about his predilection for make-up that – rather than expel him from camp – he realises this might be the way to finally get noticed on a national scale and make the big time. Before too long Nong has become one of the most famous kick-boxers ever, but can he really equate himself with the extreme violence of the sport?

Of course, there have been several Muay Thai or kickboxing films released off the back of Ong-Bak’s popularity. Unlike many of them, however, Beautiful Boxer really deserved its wider release. It’s a solid, remarkably poignant film that effectively turns the Rocky mould of a struggling boxer who makes good – with all its machismo – on its head. A real life offbeat story defies genre classification, it unites very different audiences, attracting as much interest from the gay community as action fans.

Director Ekachai Uekrongtham competently brings the story to the screen, convincingly portraying both the action of the ring and drama of Nong’s confusion about himself, all with a keen eye for style. Weaknesses in the script come from common mistakes made in biography films. For instance, the device of having the lead relate his story to a reporter seems rather unnecessary, even if it does offer one of the visual highlights of the film as Nong comes to the reporters rescue in high heels – ouch! That’s gotta hurt!

It doesn’t help that the lead Asanee Suwan recounts his memoirs in English, which is so obviously not his language. (Presumably this was to help obtain an international market for the picture?) Yet Asanee’s performance is outstanding, especially considering he’s actually a professional kick-boxer himself (and has been since the age of 12). Uekrongtham reaps solid performances from the cast, as well as an appearance from Japanese wrestler Kyoko Inoue playing herself and a cameo by Parinya Charoenphol herself in a beauty parlour.

The result is an uplifting and touching movie, where even Nong’s parents are portrayed as pretty supportive of their son and his wishes, despite their poverty. Fascinating, and very different from any other martial arts film you’ll see, this is well worth checking out!

Citizen Dog

Andrew Heskins — Wed, 23 Nov 2005 19:15:11 +0000

Wisit Sasanatieng’s long awaited follow up to Tears of the Black Tiger is a charmingly naïve and beautiful fairytale for adults – think Amelie with smoking teddy bears and zombie taxi drivers…

It’s been several years since Wisit Sasanatieng impressed everyone with his beautiful Tears of the Black Tiger, but the wait has been worth it. A charming fairy tale bound to win audiences over (should it get a proper release?)

Pod (Mahasamut Boonyaruk) leaves simple farm life behind for the big city, ignoring his grandmas warning that he’ll grow a tail if he ever gets a job there. A job at a sardine-packing factory leads to disaster when he accidentally chops of a finger that ends up in the tin, leading to a thorough search of local supermarkets in order to find it. In the end, he finds the finger of a colleague, Yod (Sawatwong Palakawong Na Autthaya) and the two become friends.

Pod leaves the factory to become a security guard, even though he can’t stand to share a lift with anyone. Anyone except for Jin (Saengthong Gate-Uthong), a meticulous cleaner to the point of near obsessive-compulsive disorder, preoccupied with a weekly newspaper serial and an unmarked book in a foreign language that dictates her life – even though she can’t read it – and allergic to public transport.

Pod is besotted with Jin, believing he can win her heart. He gives up his job on security to become a taxi driver, just so he can drive her around. But Jin is oblivious to his feelings, deciding to ditch her job and become an eco-warrior bent on ridding the world of plastic.

Welcome to the world of Wisit Sasanatieng’s Citizen Dog, a place where anything can happen, and often does. Where a motorcycle taxi driver continues his work, even after a deluge of red helmets killed him. Where a 22 year-old looks all of six and smokes like a chimney, and even her only friend a talking teddy bear has a terrible habit after twenty years with her. Where a man can only experience the world around him by licking every surface. Where a mountain of plastic bottles dwarf’s even Bangkok’s skyscrapers.

It’s a charming world seemingly conjured up from the imagination of the child, unsullied by any adult complexity. Yet Sasanatieng uses a variety of the most sophisticated means, from CGI effects to confident filmmaking to make this world come alive. In doing so he’s left behind the overly self-conscious references that spoilt Tears of the Black Tiger. There is a real knowing to how he portrays Bangkok and modern day Thailand, where citizens want to grow tails in order to show how cultured they are. Once again, as is often the case in recent Thai movies (even Ong-Bak) the loss of innocence and simplicity to a technology, money driven world is an underlying concern.

Citizen Dog shares its predecessors colour palette, all blue/greens and pink/purples – like a real life version of an old faded Thai movie poster. It’s artwork from those posters that form a major part of the sets as striking murals, adding to the films distinctive style. And it s beautifully accomplished, from the cinematography to the performances of the leads – with Mahasamut (Pod) appropriately gormless throughout. Even the soundtrack impresses, using a barbershop vocal style that brings to mind the Beach Boys – only in Thai.

Part musical, part fairytale, all heart – Sasanatieng’s Citizen Dog is one of the sweetest movies of the year.

Bangkok Dangerous

Andrew Heskins — Wed, 01 Dec 2004 19:28:43 +0000

This impressive debut by the Pang brothers is a heady mix of dazzling imagery and a violent tale of love, betrayal and redemption…

A deadly accurate and efficient hitman, Kong (Pawalit Mongkolpisit) – deaf and mute since birth – has been detached from society due to his disability. His carries out his assignations with that same level of detachment – unable to hear his victims pleas for mercy, this is his revenge on an unforgiving world. His only friends are Joe (Pisek Intrakanchit), the professional killer who trained him and he lives with, and Aom (Patharawarin Timkul), an exotic dancer who forms their link to the underworld and supplies Kong’s hits. (She also happens to be Joe’s ex-girlfriend.)

Then the beautiful Fon (Premsinee Ratanasopha) enters his world. Kong falls heavily, and for the first time has a chance to have a normal relationship and become a real part of society. But how long until his past catches up with him? Events are colliding to bring Kong’s tiny world down around his ears, and as he finally begins to feel remorse about his actions there can only be one conclusion…

The theme of the hitman is familiar, films like John Woo’s classic The Killer have covered similar territory (and it owes a definite debt to Ringo Lam’s Full Contact) but Danny and Oxide Pang’s first collaboration on script and direction breaks new ground. Proving that while the west is content to simply copy Hong Kong movies other countries in Asia, like Thailand, are taking it further.

Using inventive film treatments and sound techniques their imagery hits you on all levels right from the start. A flashback of a bullying incident from Kong’s childhood is treated as a washed out home movie. Elsewhere, Kong and Joe’s heydays look like a lost reel from a Hong Kong movie of the eighties. One assassination is taken from the p.o.v. of a lizard. When Kong enacts his revenge on a gang in a restaurant (very reminiscent of The Killer, a gun in each hand) scenes of the ensuring carnage are flashed up as he walks to the room, skipping to the end when he gets there. The soundtrack sometimes cuts out completely, so we hear the world as Kong does, or rather don’t. There’s no end to the Pang brothers creative approach.

Yet these stunning visuals never get in the way of the story or great performances. The intelligence of the script makes Kong’s character ultimately sympathetic without denying his cold, almost mechanical killing abilities. Neither Kong’s love nor his redemption can ever be.

This is a stylish, near perfect production that should appeal to more than just fans of the action genre. Unmissable.

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Beautiful Boxer

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Citizen Dog

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Bangkok Dangerous

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