Beautiful Boxer

Beautiful Boxer is a very sensitive film which portrays a biographical timeline of the life events of the transsexual former Muay Thai Champion, Nong Thoom.

Thoom's story is told in a very sympathetic manner, and it is through the delicate story telling that the audience can see Thoom's struggle of self-acceptance, perseverance, inner courage, and social circumstances.

Nong Thoom's character is portrayed very believably by Asanee Suwan as his debut film. The performance even awarded him the Thailand National Film Association's prize for Best Actor. Through his portrayal of Nong Thoom, it becomes possible for the audience to really gain of a sense of the inner struggle that Thoom endured throughout her life in order to be who she wanted to be.

Aside from the story and it's portrayal itself, a commonly overlooked aspect of the film is it's color and sense of atmosphere. The sequences in particular which depict Nong Thoom's childhood/early years display very lush forest greens, and carry a very soothing atmosphere. Not to say that there were was any graphical/color manipulations applied to the forest scenes (while there may have been slightly, as is the case in practically any film) it is more of how delicately such scenes were treated in terms of atmosphere which was a standout quality to the film. Such relaxing scenes also aid the depiction and communicate the sense that Nong Thoom's childhood, although she was discriminated against in a subtle manner; was lucky enough to still live a peaceful childhood despite her transgender feelings. It could be that through such a base of peace, and (mostly) support around her at a young age, that she was able to persevere at a very consistent rate until she became the most popular Muay Thai Champion in Thailand.

I rate this film highly for it's sense of biographical delicacy, nicely shot fight-scenes, and soothing sense of atmosphere. Biography, martial arts, and drama fans alike all have equal potential to enjoy this film.

I thought it was a very touching and powerful movie. Parinya Toom showed a lot of courage and heart and stood up for what she wanted to do and believed in herself. I thought a lot more people were understanding in the choice she made and showed that the Thai culture is very understanding. I felt sorry for her, however, when she fought the Japanese professional wrestler because it seemed like more of publicity stunt than a real fight which I think hurt her reputation with the people.

Overall I thought it was a great film and really shows that you can follow through with anything you want to.

I almost did not believe that this was a true story. I didn't know that this movie would go into that much detail about Toom. The movie followed him from a small boy to full grown man or should I say woman. Also, I did not know that Thai boxing was losing its appeal to the Thailand audience. Now Thai boxing is back in full swing worldwide thanks to Toom. It was very interesting to go into rural and urban Thailand to see the vast difference between the two. I was required to view this movie as part of my class, but in all reality it proved to be one I will remember. Just an overall good movie. This movie has both action for the guys and beauty for the girls so this one might even be a good date movie. I would recommend this movie to anyone who wants to see the REAL Thailand the country, the people, and the culture or simply a tearjerker that packs a punch.

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 who must leave the monastery because of his inclinations, through his introduction to makeup and play-acting women's roles in the Thai theaters, 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

Based on the true story of a famous Thai transsexual, Nong Toom, this film is about a championship kick-boxer, who excels in the ultra-macho martial art, purely to raise money to finance his sex-change. While it could have been truly lurid and tasteless, the film has been handled with great seriousness and sympathy, with an excellent performance from a non-actor, real life kick-boxer Asanee Suwan, in the central role. This film brings to mind the similarly sensitively handled "Ma Vie En Rose", the Belgian film from a few years ago. Confused gender identity has been examined in several recent films, but what takes one aback is the testosterone-fueled back-drop against which this story unfolds. The gentle Nong Toom is derided and teased mercilessly for his effeminacy, but it's only when he realizes the one way by he can achieve his female body is via the kick-boxing championship prize money, that he becomes motivated and focused on this unlikely (for him) sport. Thai films are coming of age and the new crop of films and directors do not shy away from uncomfortable issues or controversial topics.