Panna Rittikrai has made not one but two great contributions
to the Thai film industry. In the mid-1980s to
1990s, he was known as the indie king of action, producing
dozens of popular B-grade realistic action
movies. In the new millennium he has opened a new
chapter in Thai film history and the international market,
as action choreographer for the highly successful and
stunning Ong Bakand Tom-Yum-Goong. Here is the man
behind Ong Bakand Tony Jaa.
How did you start your career as an action choreographer?
I had no proper training. I learned martial arts from
watching Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan movies. It began
with a Bruce Lee film, which I liked very much so I tried
to imitate his punches and kicks. After school I would
rush home to practice. This was before videotapes so I
would go to the cinema - almost 200 times for some
movies. When I had mastered one move, I would go back
to see another move. Sometimes I scoured newspaper
ads for used martial arts books from Bangkok’s
Chinatown bookshops. I’d ride from Khon Kaen in
Northeastern Thailand to Bangkok just to buy these
books or watch a new Jackie Chan movie.
I practiced in this way for about seven years. Then I
studied gymnastics, taekwondo, Muay Thai, judo, and
krabi-krabong(Thai sword fighting) to improve my skills.
I mixed these martial arts together. At that time, girls
started to notice me, kids started to train with me. I was
able to form my own team of stuntmen and that boosted
my confidence. Most of them were still students who
trained in their time off from studies.
I decided to move to Bangkok to work in the film industry
under the famous action movie director Khom Akadej
(aka Kom Akadet). Khom was working with Hong Kong
stars like David Chiang (in 1982’s Phet Tad Yok, literally
“Diamond slashing the jade”) and making action films
like Mountain Tigers (1979) and Payak Yeekay (1983,
literally “The tiger of Thai song and dance theatre”). It
was then that we got proper stunt training - much more
than just typical punches and kicks. I felt that I was on
the right road.
Were you the first person to use stuntmen in Thai
films?
You could call them action actors, or stuntmen. But
there was no established system. Older films had at most
swordfighting, and the actors were brave enough to do
it themselves! Those action stars even fought with Bruce
Lee when he was here in Bangkok or Saraburi Province
for one of his films.
I was in the stunt department first. Before working with
Khom, I had never seen a movie set, or a dolly for tracking
shots. I helped out in every department: directing,
cinematography, screenwriting, editing, cleaning up -
everything. How did you start making your own films?
In 1983, after working with Khom for three years, I
raised funding for my own film. It was difficult because
I was a new director. For my first film, Born To Fight
(1979, remade in 2004), I did practically everything. I
thought up the story and how to combine it with the
action. I acted, directed, edited, and choreographed
the action. I found the lead actress at the location
where we were shooting. She acted for free which
allowed me to use the budget for more raw stock and
sets.
Apex theatres showed the film for only four or five
days in Bangkok and the response was bad. They programmed
the film only because the thrilling action
sequences were unlike anything before in Thai cinema.
But when I showed this movie in the provinces, the
responses were phenomenal! Movie houses and openair
theatres were fully booked. It was shown everywhere
and made a lot of profit for the regional distributors
who would later finance my films. From that point
on, all my movies were released in Bangkok and the
provinces.
How long did you keep doing this?
About a decade or so. I acted in a lot of movies to get
money to make my own movies because I couldn’t do
what I wanted to do in other people’s films. I was in a lot
of movies, about three a month. I typically played the
same role, so people started to get bored with me!
I made a few of my own movies, such as Kong Tub Tuen
and Puen Kliew.They were moderately successful but the
returns were not enough to offset the investment.
Teen flicks and B-grade horror and action films were
popular from the mid-1980s to 1997, with over a hundred
titles made per year. When these films went into
decline Panna went to choreograph fights for TV drama
series and for Five Star Production film studio. His protégé
Tony Jaa worked as a stuntman. Then, in the early
2000s, director Prachya Pinkaew called him.
When times were tough, did you ever think of quitting?
No. I just tried to live one day at a time.
When Prachya contacted you, did you think it was
going to be for a big project?
Yes, because he was from a major studio, Grammy
Entertainment. When I walked into the building, it was
very exciting and humbling. At the meeting, I mentioned
I knew a boy who was very good at martial arts. He
asked, “As good as you?”. I said we were from different
eras. [Panna is 15 years older than Jaa] He asked
me if Tony Jaa was as good as Jackie Chan, and I nodded.
Obviously he didn’t believe me and thought I was
exaggerating. I was downhearted. But then he said
something reassuring: “Who knows, he might be one in
a million”.
Panna took two years to prove himself. Taking Prachya’s
main idea that Tony Jaa should adopt a Thai action-style,
Panna trained Tony Jaa for a year in the arts of Muay Thai.
They made a demo reel and showed it to Prachya. Why did you have to make a demo? Why not just perform
in front of him?
If we just performed in front of him, he wouldn’t see
the moving picture, the story. I wanted him to see the
filmed version. We named it Khon Sara Pit (literally “A
man of many poisons”). Tony Jaa played a man who is
proficient in all martial arts. Prachya watched it in the lab
and was expressionless. Later he called me: “Panna,
don’t show it to anyone. And as for the post-production
fees, I’ll take care of them”.
How was the action choreography in Ong Bak different
from the previous movies?
It was much different. It was not Jackie Chan and not Jet
Li. It was Muay Thai, which I taught myself. But of course
I did not know it as well as the real Muay Thai teachers. It
was a new kind of martial arts which worked well with
Tony Jaa’s unique talents. If the move required him to fly
in the air, Tony Jaa would fly higher and further. We added
more movement and put in the “real action”. The result
was the raw power that people in Thailand and overseas
loved. When Tony Jaa was kneed, he was actually kneed.
Tony Jaa performed his own stunts and they were real.
How come Tony Jaa had so much talent?
The first time he studied with me, he actually had no
martial arts foundation. He imitated Jackie Chan and
Bruce Lee. After graduating high school, I told him to
pursue physical education in college. Then, he learned
the craft of filmmaking - film technique, stunt work - and
developed his own unique talent that complemented my
choreography.
What was Tony Jaa’s unique talent?
He could jump higher and stay up in the air longer
than others. He had immense determination. He would
die for movies. He didn’t want to do it just for the fame,
but to prove that he could do it. He was a genius in the
martial arts - he could learn any discipline. If Jackie
Chan could spin two rounds, Tony Jaa would train until
he could do three. If he could not succeed today, he
would practice tomorrow and the day after until he got
it right.
How about other actors, like Dan Chupong and Jeeja
Yanin?
Dan can do everything but lacks the charm. We must
get him to do something completely different. We are
working on that.
As for Jeeja, she could be as good as Tony Jaa. She is
now perhaps at 40% his capability. But she has cute
looks and the position of foremost female action star is
still vacant! As for the kids, it was a similar idea.
What has made your action choreography a success?
Watching lots of Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee films, and
making almost a hundred action movies. I think I have
a unique point of view. For example, we’ve all seen a
jump over a parked car, or a leg spread, and a slide,
but it was exhilarating to see a leg-spread slide under
a parked car.
In Ong Bak, I choreographed every action scene
myself. Tony Jaa was a long and high jump champ in his
hometown so he was well trained in this area. He could
do the jump shots in Ong Baknaturally but I got the crew
to arrange the tree branches to give him more confidence
in doing the stunts. And if he could step on other
actors without the help of wire-work, what would happen?
What if there were 10 people instead of one? We
did it and the world was amazed.
When you choreograph the fight, do you think of the
audience?
All the time. And I use myself as the “tape measure”.
The action should not have been done on screen before.
I may look at Jackie Chan and Jet Li for inspiration, but I
will do it differently. I know they use wires but I will not
use them. And it works because when Tony Jaa went to
perform in the United States and Japan, we never
brought wires with us. Everyone believes us now when
we say it’s the real thing.
Do Hong Kong action films influence you today?
Not much. Jackie Chan reused his own stunts in a new
way. For example, in the Hollywood film Rush Hour, all his
fight scenes were basically his old ones, but the equipment
was better and the opponents were different
(Westerners instead of Asians).
The audience will remember, so I have to constantly
improve myself and invent something new.
Does this mean you have to watch more movies now?
Everyday. But I tend to watch old Jackie Chan movies
more than Hollywood action because the latter are just
full of computer-generated special effects.
What is the next trend in Thai action films?
Not so many movies. Now, we have a female action star
like Jeeja Yanin in Chocolate and child action stars in
Somtumand Power Kids. We have expanded to different
groups (women, children) but not invented much that is
new in terms of the action itself. We have not had something
as radically new as Ong Bak.
The next step would be to improve the action
sequences to be broader and innovative. We need to
work on the concept of “run away from the self”, so that
what we will always outdo ourselves.
Anchalee Chaiworaporn