"Beautiful Boxer"

Beautiful Boxer
2005
Thailand

Cast and Credits
Starring:
Assani Suwan, Sorapong Chatree, Orn-anong Panyawong, Kyoko Inoue, Sitiporn Niyom
Directed by:
Ekachai Uekrongtham
Produced by:
Paiboon Damrongchaitham, Boosaba Daoreong, Choophong Rattanabanthoon



Based on the true story of Thailand's famed transgender kickboxer, "Beautiful Boxer" is a poignant action drama that punches straight into the heart and mind of a boy who fights like a man so he can become a woman. Believing he's a girl trapped in a boy's body since childhood, Parinya Charoenphol sets out to master the most masculine and lethal sport of Thai boxing to earn a living and to achieve his ultimate goal of total femininity. Touching, funny and packed with breathtaking Thai kickboxing sequences, Beautiful Boxer traces Nong Toom's childhood, teenage life as a traveling monk and grueling days in boxing camps.


In the mountainous province of Chiangmai, for instance, it’s not unusual for poor boys to dream about escaping their poverty by becoming one of the few, select stars of Muay Thai, or Thai kickboxing – much like adolescents in inner-city Chicago dream of playing professional basketball.
In Thailand, Muay Thai is often called “the science of eight limbs,” because practitioners use their entire body to subdue opponents. The hands, feet, elbows and knees work in harmony to punch and kick the adversary until he succumbs.
It’s a manly sport, requiring total athletic prowess and the extreme endurance of pain. It is a sport, says the Professional Muay Thai Association, unfit for women.
Their manly Thai world was turned upside down six years ago, however, when Parinya Charoenphol, a pre-operative male-to-female transgendered person, joined the rank of professional in that masculine and lethal sport. She was admired by many in Thailand for her courage, and despised by others for tarnishing the sport’s masculine image.
Parinya, affectionately nicknamed Nong Toom in Thailand, is the subject of a Thai biopic entitled Beautiful Boxer. In limited release in the US beginning on January 25, the film won the 2004 Grand Prix Award by an undisputed vote of the jury at the Brussels International Film Festival.

“It’s rare that all the jury members were so unanimous and passionate about the same film,” said the festival’s president, Marc Lobet.
Ironically, that film, one of the top-10 grossing movies in Thailand for 2003, almost never got made. Director Ekachai Uekrongtham initially pitched his studio three scripts: a romantic comedy, a heavy drama and Nong Toom's story.
The studio bosses wanted to make sure they could recoup their investment, so they chose the comedy. Comedies and action flicks are “box-office boffo” in Thailand. Luckily, the chairman’s decision was reconsidered when Ekachai and international movie distributors voiced their preference for Nong Toom’s story.

But deep inside his heart, Ekachai was still hesitant about portraying the complexities of Nong Toom’s life. In an email interview from Bangkok at the beginning of December, Ekachai said, “I’d heard of her and was intrigued by her story. To me, she’s a walking paradox: a lethal kickboxer who fights like a man but dreams of becoming a woman. The conflicts within such a young person must have been extraordinary.
“There’s certainly a fertile ground there for a great deal of dramatic exploration,” he continued. “But I was not sure if I’d be able to find an emotional anchor in her controversial story for myself, or for the audience.
“But ultimately, for me, the most important conflict in the film is probably the internal conflict within Nong Toom herself.”

Ekachai’s artistic interests has always centered on conflicts within human situations. As founding artistic director of ACTION Theatre, one of Singapore’s best-known modern professional theatre companies, he has staged works dealing with the brothers Chang & Eng, the original “Siamese Twins” who became freak-show stars in America; Asian mail-order brides; and gay relationships between Thais and Westerners.
“I was drawn towards Nong Toom's story at first because I wanted to explore the concepts of masculinity versus femininity,” continued Ekachai. “As I was writing the screenplay, other layers presented themselves.”
Ekachai first met Nong Toom shortly after her sex change operation in 1999. “Admittedly, I went to that meeting with some pre-conceived ideas about who she is, the boy she was, and the man she used to be. She surprised me,” the director said. Nong Toom is now a successful model, actress and Muay Thai teacher based in Bangkok. Unfortunately, she no longer can fight, as women are not allowed in Thailand’s professional boxing rings.
Nong Toom also served as an advisor on the film. “Having [her] on this journey was really special. But from day one, I made sure we were both clear on the parameters,” Ekachai said. “She's our consultant and she made herself available for countless interviews. We spent a great deal of time together and she introduced me to her family, friends and even some of her ‘enemies.’”
Ekachai emphasized that “she had no say in the script or in the making of the film. She did visit our set sometimes just to give us moral support. I did send Asanee [the actor who plays Nong Toom] out on some ‘dates’ with her so he'd get to know her and understand her essence.”