'Beautiful Boxer'

IN THE WAKE of Iron Ladies' success, recent Thai cinema has bent gender into ever more playful, and sometimes profound, shapes. Sayew charts the unresolved fantasies of a nerdy tomboy who writes porn for a dwindling family business. The Adventures of Iron Pussy imagines an avenging hero who is supermale or superfemale, depending on the occasion. Now Beautiful Boxer proves truth can be as wild as, and perhaps more poignant than, fiction: it's based on the story of Parinya "Nong Toom" Charoenphol, a kickboxing champion who, to paraphrase the film's concise tag line, fought like a man to become a woman. This biopic's framing device verges on being a P.R. ad for Thailand, and a pop-pulp approach dominates. Close-ups of oiled pecs and abs, check. Side plot about dying coach, check. Final showdown, check. But first-time director Ekachai Uekrongtham – as capable of finding dynamism in a makeup case as he is at capturing the aesthetic beauty of muaythai moves – faithfully visualizes Nong's life. The result is a tearjerker that kicks ass. (Johnny Ray Huston)