In just over a decade, Prachya Pinkaew has been
responsible for two tectonic shifts in the Thai film industry.
In 1992, he made his directorial debut with The
Magic Shoes( Rong Ta Lab Pap). Originally planned as a
long-form music video for the then popular pop singer
Touch Na Takuatung, the film became a runaway box
office hit that ushered in an era of teenage movies from
record-cum-film studios RS Film and Grammy Film. In
2003, his studio Baa-Ram-Ewe Productions, revitalised
the dying genre of action films when he directed the
immensely successful Ong Bakthat brought Thai action
cinema and Tony Jaa to the world.
Action movies were considered “dead” before you
made Ong Bak . You had only made teenage movies
before so why did you decide to bring it back to life?
I had many ideas then, and action was one of them.
Spending nine years at RS Promotion taught me that
whatever I made must have elements that appeal to large
audiences. If I were to make a romance, I’d make sure it’d
be a hit. Ong Bakwas one of these projects. Others were
the new style horror films such as 999-9999 Tor Tid Tai
and a modern ogre ghost story Krasue 2000.
Why did you choose Panna Rittitkrai, who had only
been making B-movies, to be involved in the Ong Bak
project with you? Did you think of anyone else?
I only thought of Panna. I devoutly followed his work
when I was an upcountry student. I recalled seeing many
of his films. They were very popular in Northeastern
Thailand, where I came from.
At first I didn’t like him very much on screen. I thought
he was full of himself and often played the snobbish,
arrogant character, much like the leads in Hong Kong
movies. But his Born To Fight changed my perception.
This was the movie in which he and his stuntmen had
risked their own lives and pulled amazing stunts and
tricks on screen.
That made me a fan but we didn’t have a chance to
work together until a decade later when we finally sat
down to talk. We got along well as we were both from the
Northeastern part of Thailand - Panna was from Khon
Kaen, I was from Korat.
How did you arrive at the combination of “Muay Thai”
and “Tony Jaa” for your first action film?
Panna told me about an exceptional young stuntman
but his style was more Chinese martial arts than Muay
Thai. I told him we needed something new. He would not
be outstanding if he performed Chinese martial arts. At
first there was a negative perception of Muay Thai and I
thought we shouldn’t bother with it. But after talking to
Panna, I thought Muay Thai could do it. If you remember,
there was a television commercial almost 30 years ago
that featured Muay Thai and it was a huge success. So
Panna and I decided to do it. We had faith in it.
Panna choreographed; I screened his moves. The
public doesn’t know exactly which styles are Muay Thai
and which are not. I cut anything that looked like Chinese
martial arts. Of course, I was no expert on Muay Thai
but most of the moviegoers weren’t either! Every martial
arts in the world shares some moves because they all
came from the same root so some similarity is inevitable.
It is even said that Muay Thai originated from China.
At the time, Prachya was the head of Megahead, an
affiliate studio of the Thai record giant Grammy
Entertainment and its film subsidiary Grammy Film. When
Grammy turned down his Ong Bak project, he left
Megahead and pitched the project to Sahamongkol Films.
Why did you take a risk with Tony Jaa? For example, he’s
not handsome by Thai entertainment industry standards.
I had complete confidence in his martial arts skills and
I had faith in the potential popularity of Muay Thai. When
I saw the combination, I thought, “Yes, this is it!”. I had
seen earlier a movie called Taxi - the opening scene
shows the leading man’s amazing driving without showing
his face for five minutes. Then he takes off his hat and we see that he doesn’t really have a leading man’s
looks at all! I thought of using the same technique for
Ong Bak. It had to open with a scene that shows Tony
Jaa’s skills for five minutes before showing his face. Only
then would the audience accept him.
I didn’t know why I thought of that. Perhaps it was
because of my sales experience at RS Promotion, which
taught me to sell, sell, sell until I was scolded for not having
any social conscience at all.
Can I say that, without you, Thai action films would not
be on the world map?
I’d admit that I have something to do with it. Panna originally
thought of turning a stuntman into a Chinese martial
arts leading man like Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee. But I
thought that this would have gone nowhere. Everyone
wanted to be the next Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee. We
needed to differentiate ourselves. So, we had to do something
with Muay Thai. I’d say my vision of that helped a lot.
But with such a good team as Panna Rittikrai and Tony Jaa,
it might still have been possible without me.
How do you work with action choreographers?
Actually this is totally a new issue for Thai directors.
Working with action choreographers requires a totally different
mentality from dialogue-driven movies. Some directors
still feel that they have to control everything. If you
work with action choreographers and treat them as if they
are just someone who makes the bomb goes off, that’s not
the way to go. You have to treat action choreographers
like the second unit - give them space and control.
Actually I was not like this at first. I had to control
everything. But then I realized that I had to take a step
back and see if I liked the results or not. It’s a little trick
most Thai directors don’t know. In Thailand you cannot
give the second unit total independence. I have to be
there and serve as the final decision maker.
How about screenwriters? Do you write your own
scripts?
I think very quickly but write very slowly, so for me writing
just holds me back. I have my screenwriting team, but
all the scripts must contain my thoughts and ideas. Good
Thai screenwriters are scarce and I don’t know how to
improve the situation. Sometimes I challenge them by
giving them a list of what my movie must have, but often
the writers can’t deliver. I might not be fully satisfied with
the plot but production has to proceed, so I have to
shoot and revise the script at the same time. Tom-Yum-
Goong, and in some instances Chocolateand Ong Bak,
were mostly criticized for their weak scripts.
Our industry produces about 50 movies a year but
there may be fewer than five good professional writers.
Five screenwriters are not enough for 50 movies. In the
end, it’s the director who is criticized for the plot. Thai
cinema has made great progress in many aspects, but
the least is the screenplay.
What do you think about special effects movies and
martial arts movies?
Special effects are good gimmicks for action movies. But
martial arts are raw and real. The audience can feel what
is real. Like the music industry, there are singers who are
very “dressed up” and engineered, and there are those
who are just naturally and effortlessly good. The dressed
up singers will never be as good as the natural singers.
Following the success of Ong Bak and Tom-Yum-
Goong , Thai filmmakers started to produce more and
more action films. What do you think of this change?
If you look at the broader perspective, Hong Kong used
to dominate the action film. Hollywood action flicks typified
the genre, while French action films were more interesting
but there were so few of them. Lately, Hong Kong action films have declined, so the world began to focus on
Thai cinema, especially after Muay Thai was introduced. I
can confidently say that the world now regards Thailand
as the center of exciting action films. We still look fresh
and new. But who knows what tomorrow will bring, now
that Hong Kong is trying to regain its prominence.
Some said that Tony Jaa rose to global fame because
Jackie Chan and Jet Li were getting old.
That may be partially true. But I think that it is also
because of Muay Thai which is raw, real, and artistically
beautiful. We found that some of the martial arts look too
unrealistic, too playful with the moves. In many Jackie
Chan movies, we see that the Chinese martial arts are
given a comedy treatment. It does not exist in the real
world. But Muay Thai is the martial arts of realism, it’s
actually used for real fighting.
Secondly, the credit must go to Tony Jaa himself. He has
amazing talent in translating the vigor and beauty of Muay
Thai onto the screen. It looks great and liberating - flying,
jumping, kicking, or punching. Plus, our action films involve
real fights. Muay Thai is still a popular sport in Thailand.
They fight for real, so why should we do otherwise?
What trend in Thai action cinema do you foresee, now
that you have worked with male (Tony Jaa and Dan
Chupong), female (Jeeja Yanin), and child actors?
The trend is a mixture of different martial arts. We
started by focusing on Muay Thai but I don’t think Muay
Thai alone can still be a hit. Audiences get bored very
easily, and we have to change all the time. I can’t say
what is going to happen in the next five years. I can only
say that we must continue to innovate and experiment
every year. Action films are here to stay, but the question
is how. Similar to horror movies, some people may write
them off as mundane and formulaic year after year, but I
don’t believe that statement. You can do it but it has to
be something new.
Chocolate is not purely Muay Thai.
Correct. Even though we do not have any Muay Thai
actresses yet, we thought it was better to blend different
martial arts styles in Chocolate. In the plot the lead
actress is also supposedly influenced by different fighters
she encounters along the way.
Actually, the person who influences her character the
most is Bruce Lee. The ice factory scene is a tribute to a
Bruce Lee’s film The Big Boss, which was also shot in
Thailand. Every Bruce Lee fan in Thailand remembers
those scenes.
Do you watch lots of action films?
Yes, I learn a lot from watching. When I decided to
make action movies, I watched action movies - at least
the top ten most popular and influential ones - as part of
my personal research into the genre. When I made
romance, I watched the top romance movies.
Personally, which genre do you like most?
Fantasy. It is new and magical, and of course bigbudget.
But it challenges the Thai film industry. Actually,
I had the opportunity to make fantasy work when I made
music videos, but not as a real film. Now I want to make
one, especially as a Thai filmmaker, because I’m in touch
with the thoughts and the imagination of Thai society.
Anchalee Chaiworaporn