Bangkok Dangerous

Colour, 35mm
Tahiland, 2000, 105 min
Section: Another View

Synopsis

The young hired assassin Kong has been deaf and dumb since his childhood and his disinheritance has turned him into a callous brute: he carries out his murders with rigid professionalism, perfection and total disinterest. The emotional world of his former teacher and partner in crime Joe and his lover Aom is not something he understands. It is only when he meets the young pharmacist Fon that Kong’s feelings start to come alive. Kong’s awakened emotions may help him to understand love and develop his own self-awareness, however, he also finds himself planning suicidal revenge for the death of his only friends. . . . Twins Oxide and Danny Pang have produced a raw, bloody and exciting thriller with minimal dialogue in an original, stylised film vision about love and death. Their hero is the post-modern Leon, appearing behind his victims as if from nowhere, a Maugli of the metropolitan underworld who marvels at seeing his reflection in the water for the first time.

About the director

The twins Oxide and Danny Pang began their careers in Hong Kong. Oxide began working as a colourist for Centro Digital Pictures in 1985, after leaving for Bangkok in 1992 he became a senior colourist for Kantana Film; today he works in the same position for the Oriental Post Company. He directed the experimental film Who’s Running (Ta Fa Likit, 1997). Danny has worked on numerous films as an editor. Bangkok Dangerous is their first joint project and also their first feature.