Satree lek (2000)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Youngyooth Thongkonthun

Writers:

Visuttchai Boonyakarnjawa (writer)
Jira Maligool (writer)

Release Date:

15 March 2001 (Australia)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

Will they go all the way?

Plot:

The Iron Ladies tells the true story of a Thai male volleyball team that competes in the national championships...

Plot Keywords:

Transsexual | Volleyball | Transvestite | Coming Out | Gay Interest

Awards:

10 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Jesdaporn Pholdee	...	Chai
Sahaphap Tor	...	Mon
Ekachai Buranapanit	...	Wit
Giorgio Maiocchi	...	Nong
Chaicharn Nimpulsawasdi	...	Jung
Kokkorn Benjathikoon	...	Pia
Shiriohana Hongsopon	...	Coach
Phomsit Sitthijamroenkhun	...	April
Sutthipong Sitthijamroenkhun	...	May
Anucha Chatkaew	...	June

Also Known As:

The Iron Ladies (International: English title)

Runtime:

104 min

Country:

Thailand

Language:

Thai

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital EX

Certification:

Malaysia:U | South Korea:15 | Australia:M | Germany:6 | Hong Kong:IIB | Singapore:PG (cut)

Filming Locations:

Bangkok, Thailand

Company:

Tai Entertainment

Quotes:

Nong: Remember, girls, as soon as there's a break, bring me my foundation!

Movie Connections:

References Casablanca (1942)

Amusing enough but no different really from countless other outsider/underdog sports movies in regardless quality

When he fails to make the volleyball team Mon suspects it is because he is gay – a position not helped by the very loud presence of his drag queen boyfriend Jung. They sign up for the local state team and are good enough for new coach Bee to pick them alongside the usual tall, butch players. However captain Mann refuses to play with "fags" and quits the team – taking all the strongest players with him. Without a squad to draw from, Bee listens to Mon's suggestion that they rebuild the team from their friends – who mostly happen to be gay like them.

With the sort of plot that you don't associate with the Thailand market, I thought this was worth a look despite the fact that I prefer Thai films with minimal dialogue simply because I find it a rather grating language to have to listen to for any length of time. Regardless I quite enjoyed it although you should know that it is neither as original nor as funny as some of the other reviewers seem to think it is. The plot is the usual "underdogs" sports story with the twist of the gay characters – the latter being the main thrust of the film as there is actually quite few "big game" moments on the way to the climax. Part of the problem for me is that most of the characters never went beyond the level of caricature and it was only one or two scenes where I felt the film had something interesting to say or show me. For the rest of it the queen clichés are enjoyable enough but did occasionally grate on me. The "to thine own self be true" stuff is OK but hardly that clever or different – par for the genre course really, all this film has done is put makeup on it to make it appear a bit fresher.

In terms of laughs the film is amusing but rarely hilarious. This may be partly down to me not liking the queen stereotypes that much but I think it is mostly down to the material not being that strong. The cast are pretty good regardless and at least seem to be having fun but I think the lack of a "big game" moment might be something to do with the majority of them not actually being able to play. They help the comedy be consistent at least with their delivery and it is not their fault if the film rarely goes deeper than that.

So an amusing genre film then but not a great deal more than that. The story and characters are serviceable without the beauty or touching stuff that the genre delivered in pieces such as Babe. Different enough to be worth a look but just don't expect it to be any different from American "be yourself" and "sports underdog" genre/cliché films just because it comes from Thailand.