Last weekend, Phillip, Ah Toi and I watched a hilarious Thai musical ‘action’ comedy flick (so-named above) which Ah Toi brought back from Bangkok (Thank you Silly French Man for recommending this!)
It is easy not to take this film seriously because of its title, and to dismiss it as yet another cheesy transvestite story. But to my surprise, not only did I thoroughly enjoyed the plot, the song & dance, the lines and the cinematographic (or rather, its lack thereof), I was also laughing from the first scene right up to the last. And big boisterous laughs at that!
What is absolutely refreshing about this film is that it is so raw and unpretentious. It gives you the feeling that the director(s) kind of just made up everything as it goes along. Having said that, the setting, stunts, costumes and tacky dialogues are all deliberately staged and the film itself is digitally shot in low-resolution (like those old 70s P. Ramlee movies) to give it a very low-cost production feel. (….or maybe they really did have a very low budget!)
This film is about a transvestite Thai secret agent “Iron Pussy” (played by Michael Shaowanasai) who masquerades as a male 7-Eleven shop keeper to hide her secret identity. Her missions are communicated to her by the Thai Government through the 7-Eleven cash register.
Her ‘adventure’ began when she was tasked to enter the household of a rich socialite, Madam Pompodai, as a maid to spy on her dingy Ang Moh fiancé but she in turn, fell in love with Madam's errant son, Tang - who, of course, turns out to be her long-lost twin brother. *grins*
This film is a fun paradoxical mimicry of familiar faces and movies. From look-alike actors masquerading as Prime Minister Thaksin and his Cabinet, action scenes from James Bond and Bruce Lee films, song & dance moves from Sound of Music to melodramatic but totally predictable Hindi movies plot twists and old-fashion tragedies such as incest, hidden identity, sibling rivalry and catastrophic fortune-telling predictions.
My favorite (sub-title) lines from the film:
"Do I have budget for wardrobe?" - The only question Iron Pussy has when given details of her mission.
"Beneath this pretty face....... is yet another pretty face" - Rangranee the Secret Service agent, when ripping off her face mask.
Rangranee: “I’m actually a Secret Service Agent”
Tang: Don’t you need to train 25 years for that?
Rangranee: Yes
Tang: And you have been pretending to be my chief maid and lover at the same time?
Rangranee: Er. Yes.
Tang: You lied to me!
Iron Pussy: Look into my eyes. I’m Lamduan…and Iron Pussy.
Tang: You lied to me!
“Who is this girl so smartly dressed for the occasion?" - Madam Pompodai when Iron Pussy appeared in leather pants and knee high heeled boots to save the day.
"God, if you allow them to live, I would give up being a Parisian socialite and settle for being just a Thai hi-so*" - Madam Pompodai prays for the safety of her children
"Of course I can sing. Don't judge me just because I'm pretty" - An indignant Iron Pussy offering to take over the stage when the hired singer contracted diarrhea
And Iron Pussy's advice to us all - "Be focused, be good, and always exercise."
*" Hi-so" is a famous Thai abbreviation for "high society"
3 comments:
Hahahaha! The Frou, now I know what you got up to in KL... watching trannies!
I completely agree with Iron Pussy's advice to be focused, be good, and always exercise. That's what we do, eh?? OK, maybe not so good...
*pok pok keh*
not so silly right?
I loved it... and co-directed by Sir Apichatpong.... jury of this year's Cannes Festival together with Natalie Portman... bastard...
Another very nice Thai movie is Tears of the black tiger... 60's feel and cinematography... very well done
Cheers
Silly French Man! I changed the layout of this blog cos Ah Toi said you didn't like it!! Grrr!!
I heard you will be meeting with the directors of Iron Pussy during the festival. Pls tell him it was hilarious and us Malaysians dig it! I will definitely look out for tears of the black tiger.
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