28 Aug 2006

Beautiful Boxer

Director: Ekachai Uekrongtham

Language: in Thai with English/Chinese subtitles

Starring: Asanee Suwan, Sorapong Chatree, Orn-Anong Panyawong, Kyoko Inoue

Screening: 2004-04-27

Parinya Charoenphol is a big name in Thailand, but
she was better known as Nong Toom, the Muay-Thai champion. From
the age of 12, Nong Toom had to fight like a man to become a woman,
over a ten-year career in one of the most lethal sports known to
mankind.


Nong Toom's dreaded kicks resounded as far as the Tokyo Dome where
a historical match took place in 1998 against Japanese wrestler
Kyoko Inoue.


Singaporean theatre director Ekachai Uekrongtham works with award-winning
playwright Desmond Sim to retrace Nong Toom's journey from dealing
deadly blows in the boxing ring to becoming a drop-dead beauty.


Fridae Lifestyle Movie Review: Leona Lo, a transsexual
activist and book author, reviews Beautiful Boxer. Read
here.