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Bangkok
Dangerous |
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review | notes
| awards | availability | |
Pavarit Mongkolpsist |
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Year: |
2000 |
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Director: |
Oxide Pang Chun,
Danny Pang Fat |
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Producer: |
Nonzee
Nimibutr |
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Writer: |
Oxide Pang Chun,
Danny Pang Fat |
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Cast: |
Pavarit Mongkolpisit, Premsinee Ratanasopha, Patharawarin
Timkul, Pisek Intrakanchit
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The
Skinny: |
In this stylish film noir effort from the Pang brothers, a
deaf-mute hitman gets a first shot at love and a final chance
at redemption. |
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Review by
Calvin
McMillin: |
From the twin brother directorial
team of Oxide and Danny Pang comes Bangkok Dangerous,
a gutsy plunge into the dark depths of Thailand's criminal
underworld. Unlike most "contract killer" films,
Bangkok Dangerous does not contain the suave, glamorous
assassin cliché popularized by John Woo and his imitators.
Instead, it gives us the story of Kong (Pavarit Mongkolpisit),
a simple deaf-mute who, after years of anguish due to his
disability, finds that solace and strength can come from the
barrel of a gun.
At the beginning of the film,
Kong's ailing, insecure business partner Joe (Pisek Intrakanchit)
has parted ways with his still-very-much-in-love girlfriend
Aom (Patharawarin Timkul), a moll who serves as a go-between
for the Boss and the two killers. But as Joe's chance at romance
seemingly ends, another begins when Kong meets and befriends
Fon (Premsinee Ratanasopha), a local pharmacist who helps
the beleaguered hitman when he wanders into her store one
fateful day. As their relationship blossoms, the once-unfeeling
killer begins to change for the better. But that romantic
bliss is only momentary. The party's over when Fon discovers
- in highly dramatic fashion - Kong's true identity. Worse
yet, Aom is raped, an incident that sets in motion a bloody
trail of revenge from which no one will survive.
Though Bangkok Dangerous
explores the seedy underbelly of the professional assassin
gig, it would be a mistake to compare (as some critics have)
this Pang Brothers flick to the crime films of John Woo and
Quentin Tarantino. Whereas the crooks of Woo's films are majestic,
dark knights and the hoods of Tarantino's movies are manic
pop culture junkies, the Pang brothers' killers are a different
breed altogether. Kong and Joe, with their very human frailties,
seem far more real. While there is one scene in Bangkok
Dangerous that clearly apes a popular Chow Yun-Fat moment
in Woo's A Better Tomorrow, the Oxide brothers make
a nifty addition to the sequence that sets it apart from its
predecessor, a touch that solidifes the brotherly bond of
Kong and Joe in cinematic fashion.
Ultimately, Bangkok Dangerous
is a satisfying film, if for no other reason than Pavarit
Mongkolpisit's depiction of Kong's guilty conscience. Though
numerous filmic assassins have expressed remorse for their
killings onscreen, never have I seen it so believably portrayed.
The poetic justice dealt out by Kong at story's end allows
Bangkok Dangerous to rise above the trappings of a
mere genre film. It may be dark, and it may be gritty, but
it's still art. (Calvin McMillin,
2002)
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Notes: |
•
The raindrops in the last scene were created digitally in
post-production by the folks at Centro (the HK effects house
that did Storm Riders and A Man Called Hero).
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Awards: |
2000
Toronto International Film Festival
• International Critics' Fipresci Award (Oxide and Danny
Pang)
2000 Bangkok Critics Assembly Awards, Thailand
• Best Film
• Best Director : Oxide and Danny Pang
• Best Actor : Powarit Mongkolpisit
• Best Screenplay : Oxide and Danny Pang
• Best Cinematography : Dacha Srimunta
• Best Editor : The Pang Brothers
2000 Phra Surasawadee, Thailand
• Best New Actor: Pisek Intarakanchit
• Best Score: Orange Music |
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Availability: |
DVD
(United States)
Region 1 NTSC
First Look Home Entertainment
Full-screen
Thai Language Track
English Subtitles
Trailer |
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DVD (Thailand)
Region 0 PAL
16x9 Anamorphic Widescreen
Thai Language Track
Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Surround Sound
Removable English Subtitles
Trailers
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image courtesy
of First Look Home Entertainment
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| LoveHKFilm.com
Copyright ©2002-2017 Ross Chen
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