Chocolate: An Autistic Hero Who Channels Her Inner Tony Jaa And Bruce Lee

Monday, July 07, 2008



All I have to say is that the Thai movie Chocolate brought to you by director Prachya Pinkaew and fight choreographer Panna Rittikrai (from Ong Bak and Tom Yum Goong) completely and utterly rocks.

Here's the synopsis:

Yakuza Masashi and his Thai lover Zin were forced to separate with Masashi being sent back to Japan and Zin to continue staying in Bangkok as a single mother. Brought up single-handedly by Zin, thier daughter Zen is autistic in nature. She is compensated with agility and picks up Muay Thai through watching television programs and from observing the trainings taking place at the Muay Thai academy next door. Zen becomes an obsessive fighter who excels at catching fast-flying objects. When Zin is diagnosed with cancer, Zen has to fight her way through to collect money from her mother's debtors to raise her medical funds.
Yanin Vismistananda plays the ass-kicking autistic Zen - without any stunt double - who during parts of the movie does a couple of great Bruce Lee imitations (there's even a fight scene homage in an ice factory) and does some flat out amazing stunts - and even though the plot is kind of thin (but who really needs it in this type of flick?) her acting in non-fight scenes is pretty good too, and I imagine we'll be seeing a lot more from her in the future.

If you get a chance, definitely check this out - and then watch it again, because it's just that damn good.