[usr 3]
The true story of an English boxer incarcerated in one of Thailand’s most notorious prisons as he fights in Muay Thai tournaments to earn his freedom.
Why is it boxing movies are always about redemption? “Southpaw,” “Rocky,” “The Fighter,” “Million Dollar Baby,” “Warrior,” “Cinderella Man.” The list goes on and on. This movie sits firmly along with the rest. Even as I deep dived into this nightmare first half, the second half started to lift me from my despair. This movie is, in a single word: brutal.
To truly capture the feeling of being alone, unwanted, in a prison in the middle of nowhere you have to understand the intense solitude of it all. When Billy Moore, our protagonist, lands himself in prison these circumstances are made incredibly clear through some absolutely brutal scenes. In the first thirty minutes, an anal rape scene and subsequent suicide definitely set a tone. Interestingly this movie plays with language to beautiful effect – taking away subtitles to illustrate our incapacity to understand and by doing so to relate. Entire scenes pass before our eyes and we, like Billy, have to guess at what happened. Thankfully the scenes are easy to interpret but they’re dark and uncompromising. The stories you hear in other movies about locking someone up in a hell hole far away in a foreign prison comprise the conflict of this story.
The movie succeeds in its lead (Joe Cole of “Peaky Blinders” fame) as he viciously and savagely tears his way through the film, offering us glimpses into his mind. We’re not treated to flashbacks or much of a backstory in general. We learn just how savagely this man’s been treated and how savagely he responds.
A starkly conceived production design makes this movie stand out. The camera bobbles from fighter to fighter from scene to scene. We bounce back and forth as Joe Cole slowly works his way towards “redemption.” Stark, savage, and grim with the tiniest sliver of hope.
I want to talk about boxing movies. This film clearly cares about realism. It’s a genre designed to redeem the savagery of (VERY specifically) men. Plenty in boxing circles consider it the most savage sport. It confuses me because this sport centers around savagery, sure, so why is every movie about their redemption? Most of these movies revolve around a savage man, taming his inner violence. But the reality we understand with boxing is that it only grows violence more. It’s a violent culture with only a deeper and deeper hole of violence to dive into. So, I never understand how boxing provides the laser-focused concentration and intensity to master one’s inner rage. I imagine it only enhances and grows that rage, turning a human into a savage individual. It seems like boxing movies are stories men tell other men to validate the sport itself and to redeem the savage nature of men. I’m not sure we can validate those kinds of stories anymore, especially in a new era where we’ve reached our limits on validating men’s savagery.
This movie’s commitment to authenticity stands above all the rest. It exists almost exclusively as a Thai production. Normally I would be distraught to see a white man taking center stage in a movie so deeply entrenched in Thai culture (more the dark side of Thai culture) but since it’s based on a true story this movie gets the slightest of a pass.
It’s a dark movie and I’m hard pressed to recommend it. Only men are going to enjoy this because it’s such a manly tale. The fact that it’s based on a true story does not inspire me so much as make me wonder. I can’t say this film is for everyone (it very much is not) but I can say this movie made me promise to NEVER get arrested in a foreign country. I would genuinely die.
Now available on Blu-ray™ (plus Digital) and DVD
