JiFFest-review-Boxers

JP/19/BOXER

Just an everyday tale of kickboxing and a sex change

John Badalu Contributor/Jakarta john badalu@yahoo.com

So many boxing films have been made, from Ali and Bloodsport to Clint Eastwood's Million Dollar Baby.

But why did Beautiful Boxer stand out and get so much sympathy at its Berlin Film Festival premiere two years ago? Is it because it comes from Thailand or because it's all about Thai kickboxing?

Director Ekachai Uekrongtham found a unique story of a Thai kickboxer who took the limelight in his teens. The reason why Parinya Charoenphol (the hero/heroine) went into kickboxing was to earn enough money to have a sex change.

Coming from Chiang Mai in northern Thailand, Parinya Charoenphol (later known as Nong Toom in the boxing arena) was already determined to master Thai kickboxing with distinctive drive.

He wanted to be a woman and the fastest way to get enough money was to dive into the boxing arena. He fought like a man so he could become a woman. Believing he was a woman trapped in a man's body, he trained hard to become a professional boxer.

His fight ritual starts with full face makeup; he also performs a traditional dance in the ring and always kisses his opponent after a match as he cannot stomach seeing a bleeding opponent in pain.

He becomes a legend because of his ritual as well as his swooping kicks, flying elbows and stinging uppercuts.

The paradox in Nong Toom is complex: Masculinity versus feminity; heart versus head; dreams versus reality; fighting versus living.

Although she can no longer fight in the ring because women are not allowed in the male professional sport in Thailand, boxing is still very much in her heart. She is now teaching kickboxing to children. She also works as a model and actress in Bangkok.

Attending JiFFest for her film, Nong Toom, who is now a beautiful woman said, "I'm surprised at people's positive reaction over here. It meant a lot to me." The screening was almost full with a lot of people cheering during the fight sequences.

"Of course, it is not 100 percent of my life story, as the film would ideally like to dramatize some parts but Ekachai managed to capture most of the important events in my life."

The Q&A session at the end of the film was endless. Many in the audience were still fascinated by her appearance on stage. Everybody wanted to take a picture with her. She took off her high-heeled shoes and demonstrated some kickboxing movements for all to see.

Asanee Suwan, the actor who plays her, also attended the screening. "I was a professional Thai kickboxer myself. When I heard about this film, I took a chance on the casting. It wasn't as easy as I thought. It took me more than a year to study the character of Nong Toom.

"I had to take an acting class: I learned how to dance and, furthermore, had to take a personality enhancement course designed to groom beauty queens.

"I'm very different to Nong Toom. I'm a man and I had to spend some time with her to learn her body language as a woman". Before playing Nong Toom in the film, Asanee was quite a well-known kickboxer himself.

He was ranked no. 5 by the World Muay Thai Council in 118- pound category. He has fought in 180 matches in Thailand and Denmark and has won in most of them.

Director Ekachai is still probably a new name in the film world, but his experience in staging various plays and musical like Viva Viagra!, Autumn Tom Yam, Mail-Order Brides and Confessions of Three Unmarried Women are well-known across Southeast Asia as well as in the U.S.

He is now shooting his second feature film.

Touching, funny and jam-packed with breathtaking kickboxing sequences, the film has traveled to many festivals and won some awards, including Best Film at the Turin Gay and Lesbian Film Festival in Italy.

Asanee Suwan won the Supannahongsa Award for Best Actor (Thailand's equivalent to an Oscar) for this movie.

Beautiful Boxer will be screened at JiFFest at 9:30 p.m. on Dec 16 at Djakarta Teater 1. For more information click on www.jiffest.org or hotline number 31925115.