The movie starts out with scenes depicting a man getting ready for a fight, a very masculine portrayal of himself. With body oil, and all the right gear that a MALE boxer would need. However, there is also a scene that the movie keeps switching too, a scene of a beautiful "woman", that is very feminine, getting ready with stockings, a reddish dress, jewelry and very sexy red nails. The switching of the two scenes sets the stage for the movie
A Beautiful Boxer. You already start to see his inner turmoil to become what he already knows himself to be
a woman. This movie is based on a true story of a Thailand Transvestite, named Nong Toom/Parinaya Charoemphol, who is a boxer who "fights like a man, so he can become a woman".
In the next scene, we see a "woman" beat up a lot of people who are fighting a male reported that was trying to catch up to "Nong Toom" or "Parinya" who apparently goes back between the names depending on dress. The "woman" is the boxer. After this scene, is where the boxer, Nong Toom, starts to tell us about his life and how he decided that he wanted to become a woman through boxing.
You see a small child, about 8 or 9, he is at a carnival and is following a girl with a pretty flower in her hair, he sees a boxing match and is rather scared of the sport. He then sees a woman singing, she sings a song that goes something like this: "Even though I was born a genteel girl, I won't let anyone intimidate me, I'll give my blood and tears, to save my beloved land" and he is enthralled by her and her look, we see him fall for this look and this want of emulating her.
Almost every male Thai child goes through period of their lives when they taken in by the monastery and try to accumulate good Karma for their parents (at least that is how I understood it though the movie), so Toom also went. He was told that he had had bad Karma in a previous life and now must suffer through this life wanting to be what he is not. Many more events unfold this movie is brilliant in showing a person's inner chaos and pain and at the same time keeping a sliver of hope for something better, something better to come.
I love the way this movie portrays Thai culture and the warmth and love between the mother and son (Toom). I believe that the mother was responsible for being able to keep Toom strong and confident enough to be able to become a fighter, in fact this movie has a whole line of strong and beautiful women guide him when it is needed, who help him when there is nothing else for him to do and who ultimately save him in just the right moment.
There is a moment when he first starts training to become a boxer and he is running up a very, very long flight of stairs and he is so winded that he just can't go on anymore the trainer says "Just imagine what you want most in life is up there. And run for it!" That would be the premise for his entire training as a boxer. There is this pure, genuine need for him to become his true self. To be able to get a sex change operation.
The way the movie depicts boxing is so beautiful, it is not just violence, it is like a choreographed dance. After he sees how beautiful the "sport" can be, he starts to work harder and harder, pushing himself to max There are many struggles to get over his timidity. The more he fights, the more confidence he acquires. There is a quote from Toom in this movie that I really loved, it really embodies a part of his fighting career: he says "It seems like the more makeup I put on, the harder my opponents kick me. So kick them back harder!"
In a later fight, when one of the boys tries to trick him into rigging the fight, we see him really grow up, and lose a lot of his naiveté; the rain starts pouring, the lighting comes out and he seems to change, to harden a little, at least his "male boxer" persona does. He is going through such frustration, such pain, he wants to be the woman he sees. The little girl with the flower in her hair, he followed her as a child, he now sees that girl and tries to see her face however, he cannot. In my eyes, that girl is him, the person he keeps chasing is himself, or herself.
He remembers the dance of the beautiful lady, and her song of never being intimidated, he dances that same dance in the ring impeccably, with a joy, but also with a certain hidden sadness. Then he cries and you want to cry with him because anyone could understand having a goal, wanting something so bad that you would do anything to get it. You really feel for him.
My most favorite shot in this movie is when there are 7 people all sitting and waiting for the bus. The 7 people are all him / her, from a young boy to the little monk, though the stages of the boxer and now as almost a woman he has finally achieved his dream, has become who he is meant to be, gets off the bus and is a beautiful woman The quote form this part is the culmination of the movie:
"It's hard being a man. And it's difficult being a woman. But the most difficult thing is trying not to forget who you really want to be."
In the next scene, we see a "woman" beat up a lot of people who are fighting a male reported that was trying to catch up to "Nong Toom" or "Parinya" who apparently goes back between the names depending on dress. The "woman" is the boxer. After this scene, is where the boxer, Nong Toom, starts to tell us about his life and how he decided that he wanted to become a woman through boxing.
You see a small child, about 8 or 9, he is at a carnival and is following a girl with a pretty flower in her hair, he sees a boxing match and is rather scared of the sport. He then sees a woman singing, she sings a song that goes something like this: "Even though I was born a genteel girl, I won't let anyone intimidate me, I'll give my blood and tears, to save my beloved land" and he is enthralled by her and her look, we see him fall for this look and this want of emulating her.
Almost every male Thai child goes through period of their lives when they taken in by the monastery and try to accumulate good Karma for their parents (at least that is how I understood it though the movie), so Toom also went. He was told that he had had bad Karma in a previous life and now must suffer through this life wanting to be what he is not. Many more events unfold this movie is brilliant in showing a person's inner chaos and pain and at the same time keeping a sliver of hope for something better, something better to come.
I love the way this movie portrays Thai culture and the warmth and love between the mother and son (Toom). I believe that the mother was responsible for being able to keep Toom strong and confident enough to be able to become a fighter, in fact this movie has a whole line of strong and beautiful women guide him when it is needed, who help him when there is nothing else for him to do and who ultimately save him in just the right moment.
There is a moment when he first starts training to become a boxer and he is running up a very, very long flight of stairs and he is so winded that he just can't go on anymore the trainer says "Just imagine what you want most in life is up there. And run for it!" That would be the premise for his entire training as a boxer. There is this pure, genuine need for him to become his true self. To be able to get a sex change operation.
The way the movie depicts boxing is so beautiful, it is not just violence, it is like a choreographed dance. After he sees how beautiful the "sport" can be, he starts to work harder and harder, pushing himself to max There are many struggles to get over his timidity. The more he fights, the more confidence he acquires. There is a quote from Toom in this movie that I really loved, it really embodies a part of his fighting career: he says "It seems like the more makeup I put on, the harder my opponents kick me. So kick them back harder!"
In a later fight, when one of the boys tries to trick him into rigging the fight, we see him really grow up, and lose a lot of his naiveté; the rain starts pouring, the lighting comes out and he seems to change, to harden a little, at least his "male boxer" persona does. He is going through such frustration, such pain, he wants to be the woman he sees. The little girl with the flower in her hair, he followed her as a child, he now sees that girl and tries to see her face however, he cannot. In my eyes, that girl is him, the person he keeps chasing is himself, or herself.
He remembers the dance of the beautiful lady, and her song of never being intimidated, he dances that same dance in the ring impeccably, with a joy, but also with a certain hidden sadness. Then he cries and you want to cry with him because anyone could understand having a goal, wanting something so bad that you would do anything to get it. You really feel for him.
My most favorite shot in this movie is when there are 7 people all sitting and waiting for the bus. The 7 people are all him / her, from a young boy to the little monk, though the stages of the boxer and now as almost a woman he has finally achieved his dream, has become who he is meant to be, gets off the bus and is a beautiful woman The quote form this part is the culmination of the movie:
"It's hard being a man. And it's difficult being a woman. But the most difficult thing is trying not to forget who you really want to be."