Fantastic Fest XX Review: In CHOCOLATE, A Vivid, Starmaking Extravaganza
2008 remains part of an interesting era of action cinema well into the new millenium. Tony Jaa broke ground and put Thailand on the map with 2003’s Ong Bak, effectively proliferating Sahamongkol Films into fruition along with the works of action stylist Panna Rittikrai, and filmmaker Prachya Pinkaew who had been making films for close to a decade prior. With Jaa’s stardom circulating worldwide among the pantheon of staples like Jackie Chan, Donnie Yen and the like, little did anyone away from the southeast know that Jaa’s potency would extend to another burgeoning talent in Tae Kwon Do wunderkind, Jeeja Yanin.
Having been passed up for a role on Rittikrai’s Born To Fight remake, the move led to something greater for Yanin, who would spend the next two years training under Rittikrai and alongside Jaa for what would ultimately become her debut lead role in Chocolate, a momentous endeavor in action cinema not only written with Yanin in mind, but which also continued Rittikrai’s brand of envelope-pushing action direction so glorified by heyday Hong Kong cinema. The result is nothing short of axiomatic here with stunt and fight sequences that aim to please, and a gag reel of all the obligatory receipts encompassing the spectacle.
Equally pertinent in the film’s shelf life is Yanin’s delivery in the role of Zen, the daughter of a Yakuza father named Masashi (Hiroshi Abe), and his rival Thai gangster’s enforcer named Zin (Zom Ammara). Their preambling history, chronicled well within the film’s first half, sets up amply Zen’s entry, growth and upbringing as an autistic child who learns to apply her own sensory sensitivity to things like catching random objects, to learning how to fight by watching neighboring Muay Thai students train, and by indulging in Bruce Lee (and Tony Jaa) movies.
Forced to live in seclusion under threats by her old employer, No. 8 (Pongpat Wachirabunjong), Zin also suffers from terminal lukemia. Zen and childhood friend Moom (Taphon Phopwandee) have been hard at work hustling to help earn a living for Zin’s treatments, a development not entirely unnoticed by No. 8’s squad of goons. A chance to beef up their earnings arises when Moom suddenly discovers a list of names and businesses indebted to Zin during her tenure as a badass before motherhood, ensuing a treacherous journey into the underworld that arouses Zen’s ferocious instincts as a fighter. As a bittersweet family reunion looms, No 8., incorrigible in his greed, gets word of Zen’s actions and kidnaps Moom, triggering an explosive showdown between an army of gangsters, and a young girl whose love for her mother dares to outnumber them all.
Indeed there was some criticism over how autism was depicted in Chocolate upon its screenings, and invariably those criticisms are worth listening to for posterity. It’s not often that action movie scripts are written with special needs protagonists in mind, and so with a film like Chocolate, I also appreciate the degree to which Yanin’s character was written that there is some subjectivity by which the filmmakers broached the subject, at least, in assuring that Zen’s best and most gleaming characteristics weren’t overwritten with any unintented stigmas in mind, in my view.
What we’re given is a round of good performance led by Yanin and the rest of the cast, a story firmly established by co-stars Abe and Ammara, and a bevy of thrilling action sequences incumbent of a star in the making, all with a director and crew riding a definitive wave of momentum. There’s a discernible change of pace in the action where Zen pivots away from the Bruce Lee mannerisms and into a more kinetic, well-timed and lithe display of choregraphy and coordination. It’s not explained or even really explainable, but whether or not an explaination is necessary by the is entirely up to the viewer, while Chocolate ushers you in full throttle through Zen’s tenacious journey.
Recapitulating with a bittersweet finish, the bright side of Chocolate is the reward of seeing Yanin’s career bloom with more work ahead. There are a few downsides to this end, with a 3D sequel announced at the Berlin markets in 2011 that was supposed to have reportedly begun filming that Spring only to never come to pass, along with some of the smaller roles in her career amid the 2010s. I’m like most of you when it comes to the answers to these mysteries, although it’s great to otherwise see Yanin’s name in the mix, with her latest turn on the big screen in Kenji Tanigaki’s directorial debut, The Furious, which just bowed in Toronto for its world premiere.
It’ll be interesting to see what happens next with Yanin. Barring her screen appearances in later films, her screen credits leading up to 2013’s Tom Yun Goong 2 remain a notable underpinning for Yanin in her progression; Her 2009 sophomore role in Rashane Limtrakul’s Raging Phoenix is my default favorite of any of Yanin’s leading roles, and for what it’s worth, I’m looking forward to seeing Yanin in another film that can hold a candle to it. In the meantime, keep Chocolate in mind when looking back on the last twenty-plus years of action on film, the current zenith, and the crop of stars who dared to keep it alive.
Chocolate enjoyed a 35mm presentation for the twentieth edition of Fantastic Fest. The film is currently available in the U.S. from Magnet Releasing.
