King
Taksin defeated the constant waves of Burmese invaders, unified his country as
the Thonburi Kingdom, and promoted trade with the European powers. Of course,
he did not do it alone. Initially, the bullied Joi does not look like he will
be much help to anyone, particularly himself. However, destiny has different
plans in Bin Bunluerit’s Broken Sword
Hero
(trailer here),
which screens during the 2017 Fantasia International Film Festival.
Unless
you really know your Thai history, forget about the sword and focus on the
hero. That will be Joi—eventually. It would seem like fate dealt him a tough
break, considering the regional governor’s entitled son Cherd is his chief
tormentor. When he finally fights back hard enough to draw blood, Joi resigns
himself to a life of exile. Living by his wits, he becomes a talented Muay Thai
fighter. Unfortunately, that will not be enough to defeat a true master. At
least he learns an important early lesson: humility. From then on, Thongdee (as
the white-teethed, betelnut abstainer is now known) will study any discipline,
under any master with a unique specialty.
Along
the way, Thongdee makes some real friends and serves his successive masters
faithfully. Periodically, he will face off against his old nemesis Cherd and
his corrupt uncle. Although Thongdee is still an outlaw, his good deeds and
multi-disciplinary martial arts skills start to attract the attention of a mysterious
mustachioed observer.
Bunluerit
must be a heck of a persuasive director, because he convinced former Miss Teen
Thailand Sornsin Maneewan to portray Thongdee’s potential love interest Ramyong
with betelnut-stained teeth. Chutirada Junthit was doubly lucky to play
Mauylek, an itinerant Chinese opera performer and marital artist, because she
was spared the betelnut and had the chance to show off her own action chops in
some of the action sequences.
Of
course, the film is clearly intended to launch Muay Thai champion Sombat “Buakaw”
Banchamek as the next Tony Jaa. There is no question he has the skills and the
super-chiseled physique. Granted, his screen presence will not exactly blow you
through the back wall of the theater, but he has greater emotional range than
Van Damme and Schwarzenegger displayed early in their careers (or arguably even
in their latest films). Still, he is not another Tony Jaa yet, but it isn’t for
a lack of effort. He brings tremendous physicality to the action scenes, which
should earn him good will from fans right from the start.