2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25
In this article we will talk about the famous actor, screenwriter, stuntman and Muay Thai master Tony Jah. The sensational action movie "Ong Bak", in which the child prodigy from Thailand played the main role, became his hallmark.
The beginning of an actor's career
Panom Yiram, better known around the world under the pseudonym Tony Jah, was born in 1976 in Thailand in a place called Surin. From childhood, the young man gravitated towards martial arts and acrobatics. For the first time on the screen, he appeared in the famous fantasy action movie "Mortal Kombat 2" - where he was an understudy for Robin Shaw. In 2003, Tony Jah became famous throughout the world for playing in the super action movie Ong Bak: the actor played the character of Tiang in the title role. In the film, Jah, without insurance and special devices, performed the most difficult acrobatic numbers and demonstrated the elegant technique of the ancient martial art of Muay Thai.
Film Summary
The story takes place in a small Thai village called Nong Pradu. Ordinary people live here and young warriors learn Thai boxing. Troublebegin with drug gangsters stealing the head of Ong Bak, the Buddha statue, the main shrine of the village. The inhabitants of the settlement are gripped by indescribable grief, and they all agree that the head must be returned, otherwise great troubles await the village. A young fighter Tiang dares to go in search.
"Ong Bak": the main actor and the character of his hero
The character of the central character Tiang is rather ordinary: he is a simple but fair village boy with the heart of a great warrior, ready to sacrifice everything, including his life, to bring the shrine back to the village. From an early age, he learned the art of Thai boxing from his teacher. At the end of the training, only one instruction Tiang received from him: "…forget everything I taught you, and never apply it in life …".
This oath at the beginning of the film fetters the young man in actions, since he does not have the right to fight. In street fights, he does not use deadly blows, but only throws opponents to the ground without causing significant damage to them. Even when a gang of villains attack him in a crowd, he does not fight them, but runs away, demonstrating incredible and dangerous acrobatic numbers along the way without stunt doubles. Another indisputable advantage of the film "Ong Bak": the actor, in addition to various types of somersaults, performs parkour jumps.
But further containment of the warrior instinct becomes impossible. The main bandit, whose henchman stole the shrine from the village of Tianga, is betting on his fighter againstyoung master, when he finds himself in a brothel where underground fights take place without rules. Tiang was forced to come here because the kidnapper of the Buddha's head was hanging around somewhere nearby. The hero Tony Jah refuses to enter the ring: he just wanders around the hall in search of a thief. Then the European fighter starts to provoke Tiang by beating the Thai boy and girl. Faced with the choice of either keeping his vow to his teacher or breaking his promise to protect the innocent, Tiang chooses the latter.
At this moment, the main fights in the film begin, in which Jah shows breathtaking acrobatic elements and exquisite Muay Thai skills. In staged fights, you can see how much the combat emphasis is on the knees and elbows - the hallmark of Thai boxing and the movie "Ong Bak". The actor also often performs beautiful kicks in the best traditions of Mortal Kombat 2.
Influence of Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee
The actor was inspired by the dangerous stunts performed in the movie "Ong Bak" after watching a lot of films with the participation of two action movie legends: Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee. As you know, these masters of kung fu and acrobatics performed all the tricks in their films on their own, which looked just great on the screen. Thus, the preparation for the film "Ong Bak" took Tony Jah about three years. Unlike his idols, Jha planned to use the technique of Thailand's native martial art in fights in order to promote this martial art and Thai culture in general.
"Ong Bak": actors and supporting roles
Petchtai Wongkamlao, who played the role of Hamle, is worth noting in the film. Hamle is the son of one of the villagers who moved to a big city to earn illegal money. Together with an accomplice, he participates in gambling and tricks him into winning the savings of his opponents. It's no wonder petty tricks are often exposed, and Hamle is constantly haunted by trouble and thugs he owes money to.
Sukhao Pongwilay played the main villain in Ong Bak. The actor plays the role of a disabled person paralyzed from the waist down who has problems with his vocal cords, which is why he is forced to use a special apparatus so that others can hear his speech. He is a selfish and narcissistic dealer in stolen shrines from Buddhist monasteries. In addition to this dirty business, he trades in bets on underground fights, where his fighters, two of whom were played by Eric Markus Schutz and Don Ferguson, smash competitors to smithereens, bringing fabulous money to their boss. It is these two pit bulls that at certain moments of the film meet with the hero Tony Jah, where he does not leave the villains a single chance to win.
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Tony Jah - actor, stuntman, director
Tony Jah in his films not only successfully demonstrates the ability to fight using martial arts, but also conveys to the viewer the ancient culture of Thailand. Maybe that's why you want to watch all the films with his participation again and again
