Hickboxing

Noel Vera

Prachya Pinkaew's "Ong Bak: The Thai Warrior" is a sleek little movie
that's making a few waves in the international arthouse cinema
circuit. It's ostensibly about a Buddha statue named Ong Bak whose
stone head is stolen from a little Thai village; Ting (Tony Jaa,
screen name of Phanom Yeerum) is assigned to go and retrieve it.
Coincidentally, he's been taught everything he needs to know
about "Muay Thai" (an ancient form of martial arts where the hands
are bound in rough hemp, and even knees and elbows come into play),
then promptly admonished never to use it--seems that his master once
needlessly killed an opponent, and has regretted it ever since. Guess
how long after said admonishment does Ting start using said technique
against all comers?

Actually, the stone head's theft is merely an excuse to string
together a series of action setpieces, some of it inventive, much of
it intense (fight choreography courtesy of martial arts master Phanna
Rithikrai). The movie's tagline goes: "No computer graphics. No stunt
doubles. No wires." Jaa makes good on that promise, though the film
isn't entirely free of CGI: I noticed a few digitally animated coins,
among other things, flying through the air. But the fights and chases
seem honest enough--the kind of action Jackie Chan and filmmaker Liu
Chia Liang (who directed Chan in perhaps his greatest
picture, "Drunken Master 2") used to do, quick-witted and fast of
feet.'

This being sold as an old-fashioned action flick, the burden of
success falls squarely on Jaa's muscled shoulders, who seems to bear
up quite well, thick black hair and lowering glare and all. His Ting
doesn't seem to care much about winning or losing a few kickboxing
competitions--maybe only up to the point where doing either will get
him what he really wants. More, he has the kind of modesty you see in
the most compelling action heroes--he looks as if he'd rather stand
in a corner and wait to see if anyone comes for him, which they will;
even without doing anything people seem drawn to him. Bruce Lee had
this sort of charisma in spades; Jet Li, Jackie Chan, Gordon Liu and
now Jaa seem have it to some extent.

But an action hero who stands in one corner and rarely smiles or even
seem interested in the girls can pall easily, no matter how high he
can jump; worse, when Jaa opens his mouth his voice can be high-
pitched and girlish, not what you expect at all (unless you're
familiar with real-life country hicks fresh from the provinces, in
which case the voice makes perfect sense). What he needs is a foil,
preferably one with a more manly voice, which he gets in George
(Petchtai Wongkamlao), a former villager who has largely forgotten
his village roots (or the color of his hair roots, apparently--his
dyed blonde mane is horrifying to look at). George is allowed
everything Ting cannot do: he lies, cheats, steals, and gripes while
he's doing all that. When trouble appears, he's the first to run;
when compromise is necessary he's ready to negotiate the best deal
for himself. Yet he does have his soft side, as his girl sidekick
Muay (the cute but not very memorable Pumwaree Yodkamol) might attest-
-he neglects her or cadges her for money but doesn't physically abuse
her (not that I can see) and he seems to make for an affable
companion and older brother, otherwise. Watching this failed monk,
this clown with a divine spark still smoldering inside fan that spark
into flame makes up the dramatic core of the movie--or a more
interesting one than Ting's, anyway.

Apparently Jaa and his mentor Phanna came up with the idea of doing a
picture about "Muay Thai," then approached Prachya about directing,
He seems to be the right choice: Prachya is old-fashioned not only in
his avoidance of most things digital, but in his insistence that
fight choreography be shot like it was dance choreography, with
position and movement coherently recorded and edited together: no
flashy music-video cuts (though he does use lively pop music), no
fancy strobe lighting, and a moderate amount of slow motion for
punctuation. He does tend to repeat the money shots (the more
spectacular leaps and blows), presumably to make sure you don't miss
them, and he does put in graffiti tributes to Steven Spielberg and
Luc Besson (who, in fact, is helping to distribute this picture) in
his chase sequences (but why none to Sammo Hung's "Pedicab Driver?"--
an obvious influence?), although these faults are easy to overlook:
Prachya has the chops to be a decent director, of the John Woo school
of action filmmaking.

A few other complaints: the fight scenes towards the end tend to be
more grueling and sadistic than innovative and entertaining, and it's
a little hard to believe that people would be so hesitant to pull out
their guns (but then if they did, the movie would be over). As I've
noted, Jaa needs a comic foil to play against; will he have to drag
Petchtai along with him to his next project, or will he learn to act--
perhaps tell a joke or two, kiss a few girls? And it's misleading to
have Ting's mentor warn him against using his fighting skills, then
have Ting use them some minutes later like there's no tomorrow,
without expressing even an iota of regret, or guilt--makes you wonder
if the mentor has placed too much emphasis on Ting's physical
training, to the detriment of his moral and spiritual training (if
you find this line of thought funny, questions of ethics and of
fighting spirit are classic themes in kung fu flicks); one thinks
that maybe Ting's mentor has created a walking time bomb (the basis
for an altogether more interesting film).

"Ong Bak" isn't meant to be redefining (to recast the genre in its
image), or representative (it's no "Drunken Master 2" or "36th
Chamber of Shaolin")--but it is an intriguing glimpse into what
mainstream Thai movies are like (as opposed to, say, Apichatpong
Weerasethakul's strangely beautiful "Mysterious Objects at Noon"),
and a refreshing return to old-fashioned martial arts (as said, the
kind Chan and Liu Chia Liang championed). Not bad, worth seeing.

(First published in Businessworld, 4/15/05)

(Comments? Email me at noelbotevera@...)