| Tony Jaa (the clever screenname of Phanom Yeerum) is hyped as the successor to Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, and Jet Li in publicity for the film Ong-Bak, directed by Prachya Pinkaew. Accordingly, the film is subtitled oxymoronically as The Thai Warrior in some United States screenings. The third in a recent spate of films about Thai country boys who score athletic fame and bring their innocent charm and good nature to the big, bad city of Bangkok, Ong-Bak differs from the biopics The Iron Ladies and Beautiful Boxer in being based on a fictional story about a guy with conventional sexuality. Ting (played by Tony Jaa) is an orphaned Isan (the ethnic group in the northeast part of Thailand adjacent to Laos). Early in the film, Ting displays the muaythai boxing positions that he learned from the village monk (played by Woranard Tantipidok) who reared him but asked him never to use them. One day, a young Bangkok gangster, Don (played by Wannakit Siriput), arrives in his home village and makes off in the night with the head of a local Buddha, named Ong-Bak, aiming to be paid a considerable sum by a mobster, Khom Tuan (played by Sukhaaw Phongwilal), who sells priceless artifacts on the black market to First World millionaires. When the town discovers the missing Buddha head, Ting volunteers to retrieve the object, which the people believe is responsible for the harmony of their community, and they in turn contribute possessions so that he can afford to survive in the expensive metropolis. Upon arriving in Bangkok, he tries to make common cause with someone who moved from the same village a few years ago, namely, Humlae (played by Petchthai Wongkamlao), whom they do not realize has become corrupted by Bangkok’s dog-eat-dog atmosphere, runs a confidence racket with attractive Muaylek (played by Pumwaree Yodkamol), a female Isan, and goes by the name of George. After meeting Humlae (George), the latter quickly steals Ting’s nest egg to put money down on a contender in a secret Bangkok fight club arena. When Ting finds the arena, he breaks his vow to the monk, enters the ring to stop one of the foreign racist champs (played by Nick Kara) from abusing a female, and overpowers the bully despite his much smaller stature. Next, George is pursued by gamblers who are angry over his latest scam. Ting, nevertheless, comes to his aid, and soon the Isan trio are united in their attempt to recapture the Buddha head. Many delightful, original stunts proceed, influenced mostly by Jackie Chan, with the end of the story never in doubt. Lessons of Buddhism also prevail, as filmviewers see Ting as loyal to his people, a defender of abused women, nonmaterialistic, and a fearless fighter who triumphs over evil. Clearly, Tony Jaa is destined for stardom in Western settings, though the Thai scenes in Ong-Bak may be far more fascinating to Western filmviewers. MH |