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Chocolate

BAFICI 2009
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Info
Year:

2008
Original Title:

Chocolate
País:

Tailandia 
Director:

Prachya Pinkaew

Color:

Color
Format:

35 mm
Duration:

90 min
Cast:
  • Jija Yanin, Hiroshi Abe, Pongpat Wachirabanjong
Production:
  • GUIÓN: Nepallee, Chookiat Sakveerakul
  • FOTOGRAFÍA: Deecha Srimanta
  • MONTAJE: Rachan Limtrakul, Pop Surasakuwat
  • PRODUCCIÓN: Prachya Pinkaew

Synopsis

Film and videogames have changed a lot over the past 30 years, but Pinkaew and choreographer Panna Rittikrai feel really comfortable in their old schools, those who have Bruce Lee –or the first Jackie Chan, the one who turned up any mise en scene in an unforeseen arsenal– and Kung-fu Master as deans. Implausible and generous action without stunts; a less than exhibitionist use of special effects and blind faith in the charisma and power of its protagonist (the lovely "Jija" Jenin Vismistananda) make up the holy trinity of Chocolate. The plot, as it should be, is elemental. An autistic girl, daughter of a former mobster with cancer, goes out in a muay-thai to collect mom’s old debts. The fighting search for the "money for the hospital" takes a while to start, but when it does it never ends: only the "top level" (a twenty-minute sequence that includes a multiplicity of blades, animation, a kind of break-dancer warrior from hell, and a chase between ledges and neon signs that looks like the ultra violent version of the surreal delirium of Harpo Marx in Love Happy) is enough to convince us to continue betting on the old and loved martial arts genre.