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The Appropriate Tune: "Phua Kao", by Khun Narin
China has kung fu, Japan has karate and judo, and Thailand has Muay Thai. Also known as Thai boxing, also known as the art of eight limbs, since its entrance onto the global kickboxing stage Muay Thai has become the single biggest thing to come out of that region in recent memory, although I’ve never had Pad Thai so I might be off on that. A large part of that I think is due to its reputation for being dangerous as hell: Aside from the general danger of the style itself, which emphasizes the use of elbows and knees in striking (like being attacked by a sentient table corner), in its native country where things might be played a little more fast and loose Muay Thai matches can be nasty, bloody affairs, more so than any other combat sport in Southeast Asia. At least according to wikipedia.
Martial arts films as a genre are typically associated with two regions: China, Hong Kong in particular, and Japan. That’s where the big martial arts movies come from, that’s where the big martial arts stars come from. With the increasing recognition of Muay Thai in the world however it was inevitable that at some point we would see a movie centered around Thai boxing just as we had for kung fu and karate. Which we did. This film has been a potential Marathon entry for as long as the Marathon has existed, but I always managed to find something new that grabbed my attention, and the ‘one western & martial arts movie per Marathon’ rule is the oldest tradition of them. This year though we’ve got no distractions, and just as this film is long overdue to be covered, taking a step into Thai and Southeast Asian cinema was a long time coming as well. Which we will, right now.
Released in 2003 through Baa-ram-ewe and Sahamongkol Film International, Ong-Bak: Muay Thai Warrior (or Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior in some places) was directed by Prachya Pinkaew and written by Pinkaew, Panna Rittikrai and Suphachai Sittiaumponpan. In the small village of Nong Pradu there is nothing more precious to the villagers than their statue of the Buddha, known to them as Ong-Bak. So much so that when a shady guy named Don steals the head of Ong-Bak, the people are convinced that the village will fall into ruin as a result. Thus the village charges Ting (Tony Jaa) to travel to Bangkok in order to retrieve the head, telling him to seek out former villager Humlae (Mum Jokemok) for help. Trouble is Humlae isn’t a monk-in-training like his parents thought, he’s a sleazy conman constantly in trouble with thugs and gangs for ripping them off, and that the theft of Ong-Bak is only a part of a much larger conspiracy taking place in the dirty underbelly of Bangkok. It’s a good thing that Ting is a living weapon fueled by the art of Muay Thai then.
Stylistically, Ong-Bak is not that dissimilar from what had been coming out of Hong Kong years before: Kinetic, highly choreographed fight sequences and intense stunt work. Which is not to say that it’s derivative or lesser than it’s neighbor, while the set pieces are not on the scale of a superstar-era Jackie Chan film, the actual stunt work is some of the best I’ve seen in a martial arts film. The acrobatics/parkour stuff is absolutely insane; If that is Tony Jaa doing his own stunts there then I don’t understand how he didn’t become the world’s biggest action star, because he’s the closest thing I’ve seen to a comic book superhero come to life. The fight scenes start off looking good and just get crazier as the film goes on, and while there are multiple cuts throughout there are also scenes of long, intricate sequences as well. Also a huge amount of credit to the stuntman and stunt coordinators, because I don’t know how they pulled any of this off without serious injuries (if they did). I mean the first scene of the film involves guys getting pushed off a tree and dropping several feet into the ground, and there are several scenes where someone leaps into the air and drives another person into the ground knees first. I watch a lot of professional wrestling, the entire point of which is to give the illusion of fighting and causing their opponent pain, and even I end up feeling sympathy pains for the things that these folk do to themselves over the course of the film. You’ll never be able to go back to Steven Segall films after watching Ong-Bak, that’s for sure.
Where it stumbles is in its characterization. Ting is no Wong Fei-Hong, he’s a kickboxing mannequin who is placed next to more emotive, more weird and entertaining characters that you kind of wish you got to know more about. Honestly at the time of my writing this review I’m still not sure what the antagonist’s name is or if anyone actually says his name at any point in the film, and you don’t learn his right-hand man’s name until near the end of the film when he becomes Thailand’s version of Bane. Luckily Mum Jokemok comes through on that front with Humlae, who takes care of the character arc and as well as many of the comedic moments of the film, including a solid gag involving knives during one of the film’s chase scenes. I do wish they had done more with Muay though, Humlae’s friend and possibly the only woman with a name in this movie, as she feels almost slapped on at the climax of the film and doesn’t really contribute anything leading up to that scene.
I’m also not a huge fan of Pinkaew’s overuse of the ‘repeat the shot of the stunt’ gimmick. Yes the stunts are so awesome that you’d want to see them again, but the way it keeps happening comes across as silly. Not quite the Matrix, more like those films that ripped off parts of the Matrix in the years following its release. You could say it’s justified because it’s often used to highlight Ting/Jaa’s skills, which is fair, but I would counter that doing it so often takes the bloom off the rose. One of the main appeals of martial arts film is the spontaneous nature of it, seeing something incredibly complex and/or dangerous done with a speed and competency that exists on the edges of believability, like Jackie Chan’s insane stunts. By constantly calling back to these stunts, Ong-Bak comes close to lessening their impact and adds unnecessary energy to already high-energy scenes. It’s as if the filmmakers are trying desperately to convince the audience that their film is cool, rather than letting the film do that.on its own. Tony Jaa is cool as hell though, so I guess there are worse cases of cinematography in the world.
Speaking of the Matrix, like that film Ong-Bak is definitely of that late 90s to early period in terms of aesthetics. Nightlife in Bangkok means grimy underground clubs and ratty and mood lightning that only comes in shades of dirty yellow set to high energy hip-hop and electronic music, which contrasts well with the poor yet peaceful life in Nong Pradu. Whether that aesthetic has made the go-round and become popular again I can’t say for sure, but I do enjoy the glimpses of Bangkok and the Thai countryside that we get from Ong-Bak. As I’ll probably never have a chance to visit Thailand myself, it’s nice to catch a glimpse and see how Thai people showcase their home.
Ong-Bak gets the recommendation like gangsters get an elbow to the skull. An uncomplicated story, simple motivations between the protagonist and antagonist, a chock full of fights and stunts to keep you engaged. I think if you’re a fan of slightly surreal action films like John Wick or The Big Hit, or martial arts films in general, then I think you’ll get a kick out of Ong-Bak. Or a knee, as the case may be. Pull out your own statue of the Buddha this Halloween, punch out a Big Bear, and have yourself a good time.
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