Oh, man. I hope the film is that good.
And luckily, we’ve got a spy who’s seen it, and who wants to spread the word: CHOCOLATE is as sweet as that trailer seems. Check this out:
Hi there,
Love the site. Checking and reading as often as I can.
But today I just have to write this to share with you all... 'Chocolate' - the latest Thai film from the director of 'Ong-Bak' and 'Tom Yum Goong'.
As some of you may already knew, 'Chocolate' starred Yanin 'Jeeja' Wisamitanant.
Here's some background on this rising star:
She was not a strong kid, got sick quite often. So her mom sent her to Taekwondo class when she was 11. She just loved it and kept practising.
She won Miss Taekwondo which was held for the first time in 1999.
She went in to cast for 'Born to Fight' - one movie of Pratchya Pinkeaw (The Director) and Panna Rittikrai (The stuntmaster and fight choreograhper).
Panna thought she was too small and too girly, even though she got some impressive moves.
Pratchaya thought there's something in her eyes. He said it's the fighting spirit or something. So he made an executive decision....
Jeeja didn't get the part in 'Born to Fight', but she got the offer to come in and rehearse with the Stunt Team.
Pratchaya asked her if she can take the pain, the strict schedule of it all and the most important part - no project whatsoever for now. But Pratchaya promised her that he will come up with something.
Jeeja said yes.
And then she took 2 years training Muay Thai (Thai Boxing), Gymnastics, Acrobatic and other stuffs.
Then Pratchaya came up with the idea of 'Chocolate', which took them another 2 years to finish.
The result is AWESOME.
I mean if you guys love Ong-Bak, you'll love this movie. And what surprised me most is the storyline is much better than 'Tom Yum Goong'.
'Chocolate' is the story of Zen (Jeeja) autistic girl with the gift of fighting. The same way as Rain Man with Math gift, Zen remembers the fighting movement she watched on TV screen and can react it right away. She was a child of Japan Yakuza who came to do business in Thailand and fell for this girl who's in loan shark gang. The Gang Boss didn't impress with this affair and wanted it to end. Japan Yakuza flied back to Japan while the gang girl raised her child alone. But since she's autistic, mom has to contact the dad to let him know, in case something happen to her.
Zen grew up but Mom get sick with cancer. So Mangmum - the only friend of Zen - took Zen out to get some money on the black book of debts Mom's hiding.
I mean the storyline is better than before (for Pratchaya and Panna). Making the girl autistic and has the gift for fighting makes sense after I watched the movie. Zen doesn't afraid/aware of pain. That's why she fights so hard. And she got the moves from Bruce Lee (Ice Factory scene) and Tony Jaa (Warehouse scene). The first 30 minutes shows you the character and the background. After that, action scenes one after another. The final fight scene will leave you breathless. Just watching this scene in theater makes you feel exhausted.
Jeeja doesn't pack with super strength or the brutality of Tony Jaa. But she got agility and flexibility. It's quite different from what Tony Jaa do. But impressive nonetheless.
There's no sling (except for safety sling), no effects. Jeeja fights in those scenes by herself and I gotta admit that she looks like a doll, so adorable. But she kicks serious ass...
BTW, the movie is called 'Chocolate' because Zen loves Chocolate. She eats chocolate while watching Martial Arts movies furiously.
Don't know when it will come to USA. Just keep your eyes out for this one.
Cheers,
If you use this, call me HUBBAMAN!
