Customer Reviews

Beautiful Boxer

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Rising even higher than the greatest expectations engendered by the International Press when it became a favorite of the film festivals, BEAUTIFUL BOXER is one of the more poetic, sensitive, luxuriously vivid and colorful films to come out of Thailand - and that is saying a lot, given the extravagant epics that yearly grow in popularity. This work of art is simply stunning in content, in direction, in acting, and in heartfelt simplicity of message. This is a great one!

Writer/director Ekachai Uekrongtham based his first film on the true story of Parinaya Charoemphol AKA Nong Toom, a famous Thai athlete Muay Thai boxer (better known as 'kick boxer' - a demanding, dangerous sport) who entered the world of Muay Thai to garner enough money to help his family and pay for his ultimate sex-change surgery. A tough story to offer general audiences, perhaps, but Ekachai Uekrongtham presents this edgy biography with such cinematic finesse and care that it becomes a film that should appeal to a very wide audience. And much of that success is due to the towering performance by Asanee Suwan in his acting debut: Suwan is in life a professional kick boxer who won the title role after extensive auditions by many practitioners of Muay Thai.

BEAUTIFUL BOXER takes us through the life of Nong Toom, his childhood in a family of loving accepting parents who respect his love of beauty and things feminine, his brief period of being a monk sho must leave the monastery because of his inclinations, through his introduction to makeup and play-acting women's roles in the Thai theatres, his ridicule as being more girl than boy (a fact that results in his parents' incarceration!), and his devoted friendship with a girl who supports his desire for femininity and a young man who stands up for him in the boys' camp for learning sports. Gradually Nong Toom realizes that the only way he can make enough money to achieve a sex change operation is to become a successful kick boxer and he aligns himself with a trainer Pi Chart (Sorapong Chatree) and with much commitment and practice becomes Thailand's most famous Muay Thai. His self-respect is further established when he openly wears makeup in the boxing ring, causing many to believe his act is a gimmick and not the manifestation of his true transsexualism. He fights the toughest opponents and wins consistently until he at last arrives in Toyko for the 'big purse' of fighting female wrestler Kyoko Inoue (who plays herself). With the money from the fight he is able to have his surgery and becomes the famous actress and model now living in Bangkok.

Under less sensitive eyes and minds this story could have become audacious, but instead the film elects to be sensitive to the transsexual conviction that Nong Toom is a woman trapped in a man's body, and it is the journey of self acceptance and personal victory that makes the story so deeply touching. Asanee Suwan, as a fine athlete, does all of his own fighting in the film and it is more choreography than brutality. He is amazing to watch and coupled with the fact that he is so wholly convincing in his fine acting that he makes this young transsexual utterly credible in movement, emotional density, and purity of vision is an extraordinary achievement.

Yes, the film has a few flaws of editing and other minor aspects, but the overwhelming power of the story more than compensates for those 'first film' learning curves. Highly recommended for ALL audiences, especially for those who fear there will be gratuitous physical scenes that might offend. There are none! Grady Harp, August 05

This Thai film tells the true story of Parinya Chareonphol, a transvestite kick boxer. I was fascinated by the exotic setting and the world of kick boxing. And I was even more fascinated by the fact that this particular young man became famous throughout Thailand by wearing full makeup in the ring as well as consistently winning every fight.

We first meet young Nong Toom as a child. He finds a lipstick and dresses up to amuse his family. Later, when the family falls into poverty, he discovers he is good at kick boxing and helps support them. After schooling in a monastery where he discovers he does not belong, he enrolls in a kick boxing camp where he trains very hard in this form of martial arts. However, he still likes to put on makeup and does it secretly. When he is discovered, his instructor tells him to wear it in the boxing ring. It completely unnerves his opponents.

I found this all fascinating as I had never seen a kick boxing match. It certainly involves strength and coordination and a willingness to be hurt. The combatants wear boxing gloves but they also use their bare feet to fight. It looks like a difficult and precise art that requires discipline and courage to master. Our hero does just that in spite of many obstacles.

However, our hero lives a tortured life as he really wants to be a woman. By now the audience understands this wants him to get his dream.

I really enjoyed this film. It held my interest throughout and although at times it was predictable, I just couldn't stop watching. I loved the setting and found myself learning more than I ever knew about Thailand and its culture. The acting was great and so was the cinematography. And, most of all, I loved stepping into this very different world for a little while and really understanding the character.

I was drawn to this movie because of the wonderful reviews and the praise for the star, Asanee Suwan. My expectations for the film were not only met but surpassed. This movie is thrillingly photographed---the lush scenery is extraordinary. And the storytelling is surpassed only by the wonderful acting by all of the performers. But the movie belongs, as it should, to Asanee Suwan. He is a find! A wonderful kickboxer and actor and he's stunningly sexy and believable as a man with a woman inside. I hope we see many, many more movies with Asanee in the future. I wish he were staying with me tonight!

The world of Noon Toom (Asanee Suwan) is a world askew, a paradox really for Noon is not only a terrific and talented Thai Kick-boxer, he is a young man who is sensitive to the female side of his personality. As his mother says to her husband, early on: if my son turns out be a transvestite that is our karma...we must accept him for what he is.
But born into a tough, hard-working farm family, Noon was also taught not to take any guff from anyone even it meant using your fists to settle an argument. And Noon embarks upon his life with the psychological backing and support of his family: a life that places him in a kick-boxing match from which he learns that he has a real talent for the sport, through a short stay at a monastery and ultimately as a champion kick-boxer.
Toom's gender bending becomes more and more apparent to his fans as his talent and stature rises in the Thai kick-boxing world: his fans take his wearing makeup and outlandish colored trunks as a gimmick, even when he takes to kissing his defeated opponents.
But it is when Toom decides to pursue a surgical transformation that the waters part: some take it as an outrage, most see it as insulting and besmirching Thai manhood.
"Beautiful Boxer" is a remarkable film, in that on the one hand it is ironic, soft and supple as a beautiful woman and on the other hand it is hard, muscled and bloody as a well-fought boxing match. That director, Ekachai Uekrongtham, with his unique and knowing insight has bridged the gap between the two is remarkable. That he has made a film of such uncommon grace, gritty realism and transformative beauty is quite another.

This Thai film about the famous transgendered fighter, Nong Toom is an excellent film. It moves incredibly slow at times, but it was not shot in Hollywood, so don't go into this one expecting alot of eye candy. The film is rudimentary at best, but also scathingly open and honest. The fight scenes are good, the build-up to each fight done well...
Beautiful Boxer is definitely worth watching, especially if you like import films or fighting. Half of this movie would be labeled a "chick flick" by most Americans...but the drawn out story of the transition is worth watching.

The elegant tastefulness, gentleness and unpretentiousness of this film was absolutely refreshing. Definitely a Buddhist flavor to it! Makes me shudder to think how badly this movie would have been mangled in the hands of most Western (particularly American) directors like Steven Spielberg, who can't resist shoving some feel-good "message" down the viewer's throats and indulging in glib stereotypes or soggy histrionics.

The fight scenes are not nearly as graphic and brutal as they could have been since this is after all Muay Thai, one of the most brutal martial arts in the world. This could be disappointing or relieving, depending on your tastes. However they are fairly convincing for a movie---you don't get the ludicrous "Hollywood Kwon Do" spinning jump cartwheel-kicks often seen in Van Damme and Chuck Norris films, and the fights do not consist of two guys taking turns suddenly deciding to drop his hands and be a punching bag for the other guy (as is standard for those pathetic "Rocky" movies).

The acting is nothing to write home about but nothing to cringe at either---not anywhere as weak as "Ong Bak: Thai Warrior" which is another Thai film that features even more spectacular Muay Thai fight choreography. Likewise, the plot keeps us engaged, and the film often has the audacity to segue into surreal, symbolic passages. There are a few spots where it appears that the director is trying too hard to make this an oh-so-very hip, stylish MTVish music video with some jump cuts, colored/polarized lens filters such as during the first 5 minutes, but they are not fatal.

I wish they had included some real fight footage of the real-life transvestite kickboxing champion that this movie is based upon, though. All in all this is definitely worth seeing, it's a unique and fascinating look at a sport that is still underexposed here in the US, and a controversial subject matter (transexuals and transvestites) that the Thais seem to handle far more humanely and intelligently than we do.

This visually and intellectually stunning debut film by Thai director Ekachai Uekrongtham is also a realistic and captivating portrait of the real life of Thailand's most famous Thai kickboxing champion, Nong Toom. The depth of presentation and plot of this film obviously required a great deal of thought, planning and coordination, and it is simply a masterpiece.

The story behind Beautiful Boxer occurs within an enchanting and fascinating feature of Thai culture, as well as on Nong Toom's life - the belief in a third sex. Within this context, Nong Toom knew since he was a boy that he was not male, but female. Coming from a poor family, he began boxing to support his family, and then to realize his dream of re-assigning his body to match his true gender. So determined was he to realize this dream, that he trained very hard, and, along with his natural talent, became an extremely successful boxer, winning most of his fights.

The film presents us all this, taking us from Nong Toom's childhood in the gorgeous Thai countryside, as a child Buddhist monk, to a teenager, and then an increasingly formidable boxer. Along with its presentations of poverty, family responsibility, identity crises, and definitions of gender, Beautiful Boxer delivers punches of great humor that never fall far behind the action in the ring. Nong Toom's struggle to be accepted for who he really is, is a compelling story to follow, and this story is delivered tastefully, artistically and sensitively, while never letting up on the drama that builds up with exquisite planning and timing. It is also artistically exquisite, with imaginitive close-up shots and gorgeous vistas; its visuals are always colorful and deep at the same time.

Some of the greatest films portray dichotomies, or the play of what are perceived to be fundamental opposites. This film melds the aggression of boxing with a gentle femininity that Nong Toom so values, and, beyond that, hints at questions on the meaning of gender. Just watching it is an intellectual exercise.

This film is so realistic and detailed that one of Nong Toom's most famous fights (against a female Japanese wrestler) was re-enacted for the film, with the same female wrestler who had fought against Nong Toom in real life.

I discovered this film in an absolutely intriguing feature on National Geographic's website about Thailand's "ladyboys", or members of the "third sex". For more details, please read the article, "Thai "Ladyboy" Kickboxer Is Gender-Bending Knockout".

Nong Toom is now an extraordinarily beautiful woman, inside and out. Visit the film's website for more: http://www.beautifulboxer.com/flash/eng/index.html

Asanee Suwan is amazing in the lead role of this wonderful film. The night before my wife watched Shall We Dance with Richard Gere and although I could only stand a few minutes of it I compared the fakey Hollywood emotions of that to this film. WOW...what a difference!, this film generated such a range of genuine feeling both from the truly amazing sensitive first time acting of the lead to the excitement of the excellently coreographed fight scenes. This guy Asanee is just incredible! Only problem is...he is so convincing he may always be thought of as this role if he ever acts again. I highly recommend this to both foreign film lovers as well as martial arts fans with an open mind. Once again...simply amazing performance and movie!

Based on the true story of one of Thailand's female models, Parinaya Charoemphol, "Beautiful Boxer" (Thailand, 2003) tells - through flashbacks as she is being interviewed by the press - about her childhood and teen years of before her sex change operation, when she was Nong Toom, a boy from a very poor but accepting family in a small village. The family generally assumes he will "grow out of" his early instances of wearing makeup or women's clothing, but his mother seems to sense, early on, that there is more to it than childlike games. Encouraged by his mother to be able to defend himself, Toom takes up kick-boxing, and soon finds himself winning amateur competitions, one after the other. His trainer's discovery of Toom's fascination with makeup and cross dressing coincides with a time when he wants to make Toom stand out from other boxers, so he encourages him to wear makeup in the ring. Toom soon becomes a national favorite, and a hero to transgender people in his country, although most of the population do not realize this is not just a publicity stunt. As he lives with his coach and other fighters, a situation that offers no privacy, Toom also struggles with taunts that he is demeaning his sport and acting more as a "clown," and becomes increasingly aware of people trying to manipulate him. Following a traumatic event in his life, Toom faces his greatest challenge yet, a high-profile fight with a much larger woman wrestler in Tokyo.

In the title role, Asanee Suwan (who actually has been kick boxing since age 12) is absolutely riveting as the self-assured young girl trapped in a boy's body, nervously straddling the line between masculinity and feminity, while trying to make the most of what she has available to support her family and make her dream come true. The fight sequences as well as location shots are beautifully photographed, with many special effects that add to the dramatic effect of the story. A beautiful transgender story, but also contains quite a bit of "eye candy" for gay males. Obviously brings to mind the Oscar winner "Boys Don't Cry," and I'd put this up against that on many levels. Won numerous film festival awards, a GLAAD award, as well as a "best actor" award for Suwan from the Thai movie board. DVD extras include a "making of" featurette, info on the fight sequences, interviews and a music video. I give this five stars out of five.

It's basically a story of a person trying to find his/her happiness in the world, as well as be able to take care of the family. Kickboxing was means to achieve her dreams.

The fight scenes were well done, and it's always interesting to me to see other cultures. The actor playing Toom Parinya is quite believable, and overall the film has a nice charm to it.