Ah Foo

An disgraced ex-boxer gets out of prison after serving for thirteen years. He goes back to Thailand to find his sweetheart, only to find her already dead. He has to reconcile his past while building a relationship with a daughter he never knew existed.

"A Fighter's Blues" has a very simple plot, focusing on the life of boxers. It also spends quite a lot of time with the people in the orphanage, to deliver emotional scenes that may conjure tears. I like the fact that many Thai people are cast, and Thai is spoken in some scenes as well, making it more authentic. I am a little lost as to why the orphanage staff is Japanese though, it does feel a little out of place. In summary, "A Fighter's Blues" is an adequate film that combines boxing and emotions.

A kick-boxer called Tiger (Andy Lau) has it all going for him. At the peak of his form, he meets the woman of his dreams, a freelance photographer called Pim (Intira Jaroenpura) who wants to make a documentary of him. But in one moment in the ring, Pim walks out on him for not trusting her, and a crazy moment later leads to him being jailed. More than 10 years later, he is released, to find that Pim has died and he has a daughter, Ploy. He tracks her down to an orphanage run by Sister Mioko (Takako Tokiwa) where he settles to rebuild his life. However, things won't keep him out of the ring for too long.

Despite having the VCD sitting in my collection for well over a year, it's taken me that long to finally decide to watch it. Well, I have to say that I regret that now, because simply this is a very good film.

There may not be that much to the plot. It's a fairly simple setting and the story is quite straightforward. But the composition of this movie is excellent. The beautiful and true locations in Thailand, the excellent editing and direction, and a script that is conservative on the words, especially in Andy Lau's case (he has so few words to say), but is delivered powerfully and adds to the atmosphere of the film.

The performances of most of the cast is good, with some almost very good, but one does stand out beyond any doubt. Andy Lau's portrayal of Tiger was for me one of the most outstanding performances I have seen in a long time as he simply makes the character real and evokes the emotions of the viewer.

Where the film does fall down are the Rocky-esque fight scenes. With such an original script, it is a shame that it is almost knocked out by such unoriginality. The scenes are too long, and stagnates the flow of the film. Nonetheless, they do play an integral part of the film.

Ultimately, I have to recognise that this may not be a film for everyone as it is a film that is supposed to tweak at your emotions. It isn't an action film as such. But for me, I'm glad it's not, and if you remove that expectation, you will see that this is a truly well made film.

Lee Yan-kong directs "A Fighter's Blues" ("Ah Fu") featuring Andy Lau as "Tiger", a 40-ish (e.g., way past having any business stepping in the ring) former Muay Thai champion (from HK, no less)who has battled corruption in his career, eventually landing him in jail for killing an opponent outside the ring. Once released, he seeks out his lover, a Thai photojournalist named Pim. "Passive InterModulation"? No, Pim, a Thai woman. Unfortunately, Pim is no more, but their one-nighter has yielded a daughter named Ploy, a 14-year old street-wise orphan who was raised in a Catholic orphanage by a Japanese pseudo-nun named Sister Miyoko, played by TBS drama queen Tokiwa Takako ("Meguri Ai", "Utsukushii Hito", "Saigo no Koi", "Beautiful Life"). A nun, by the way, who has a tattoo, smokes cigarettes and drinks Heinekens. Okay, so she's not really a nun, but that's okay, because she does a heck of a job with the kids. And it frees her up to fall in love with Tiger. But one thing gets in the way - the Thai Boxing Commission wants Tiger out of Thailand because of his past. Tiger asks to make amends by fighting the reigning Muay Thai champ, Tawon, who's half his age. Personally, I was hoping for better training and fight footage, but sadly, the story leaves only a few minutes for the big fight. By far, the biggest question in my mind was whether Tokiwa Takako's voice was dubbed or just badly synched. I mean, her character speaks Chinese, Thai, Japanese and English, so that's asking a lot from the dialogue coaches. Overall, an interesting if not predictable story with the sub-par fight sequences the only real let down for me.

This is one of Andy Lau's best movies. The story is moving. The view in Thailand, esp. Pattaya is really intriguing. And the ending is beautiful, though expected. But some details aren't clearly stated. And the boy Ray seems to be an optional character. ANyway, it's recommendable to those who cherish the warmth from heart.

After almost a decade of churning out flick after flick, Daniel Lee delivered this drama heavy, boxing flick set in Thailand before taking a break and releasing films every few years after that. It also happens to be Andy Lau's 100th film, which is quite amazing considering it took Jackie Chan another 11 years to (theoretically) reach his...

Star and producer Andy Lau, who had had a very busy 1999 - is great as Tiger, the ex-con kick-boxer who aims to become dad of the year after finding out he has a daughter to the (now dead) girlfriend he met before prison. Because it's set in Thailand, we get to see him jump between Cantonese and English, and deliver a great performance as a more mature character haunted by regrets, redemption and his feelings for the beautiful Takako Tokiwa who starred in Daniel Lee's, Moonlight Express, from the previous year.

As a Hong Kong flick, A Fighters Blues may be slow-burning to some, but I quite enjoyed its pacing with the story it had to tell. Co-written by Lee, it carefully blends drama with action, romance with darkness, with great performances from all involved - especially from Andy Lau, who gives one of his best performances. Its also very neatly directed, and could be mistaken for a Johnnie To movie in fact, which is far from a bad thing!

The action is directed by Ridley Tsui (Pantyhose Hero, Red Trousers), and while not amazing or overly memorable, fits the tone of the film with its realism for the most of it...

Even though it carries a simple plot, and the fact that Muay Thai or life-in-the-ring has never interested me, you can't deny that A Fighters Blues is a film full of heart and may well be one of director Daniel Lee's best films. Don't expect a hard hitting action flick, but do expect a very well made film with an emotional (although expected) ending.

Overall: A nice change of pace and beautifully made, A Fighters Blues is worth the watch!