We have already presented here the trailer and the history of this oriental film, whose particularity, or point for which it stands out, is to applaud standing up and with an immense smile (between incredulous and amazed) because of what was seen.
In "Chocolate«, The young protagonist, Zen, played by Yasnin Vismistananda, has a really enviable physical dexterity. We are accustomed, when we see films of this genre, that the blows, the falls, and the dances in the good style of Street Fighter, are generated more by means of the montage cuts than by the quality and reality of the fights. Now, this film, which not only leaves the uniqueness of a genre, but also plays in a more than interesting hybridization, proposes fight scenes captured almost entirely by sequence shots. Hence, it is possible to see, without any cutHow she flies, jumps, stops, hits, while literally breaking someone's head, to regain her initial posture and strength with a quality and warmth that really makes you shed a tear.
Without wishing to ruin the end of the film for anyone, one of the last sequence shots, where the fall of «one of the bad guys» is captured, from a second floor of a building, to the ground, and colliding with luminous posters in between , I was more than amazed. Because the man really shut up! And these being the elements that motivated the Festival jury to Pinkaew, the director, appeared both with his film, and with his physical presence, is that it was also decided to project, as the titles passed, all behind the scenes, where you could clearly see how the fight scenes were made, and how many actually came out with more significant injuries than expected.
What did disappoint me a bit was Pinkaew's absence from the screening, since she had been engaged for a few days, but due to a destiny more powerful than any festival, she had to absent herself. Those in charge of presenting the film apologized for what happened, and I explain that there are things that truly exceed them, and the truth is that they were very good.
Now, and to conclude, I must say that the story is a beautiful hybrid of things, without leaving the karateka film formula. With elements of deep love, revenge, and enviable struggles, the plot does not leave much to amazement, nor does it leave much than expected. I think that what adds up to the film are the dramatic resources it uses to narrate itself, as well as the veracity in the struggles, which we are so little used to seeing. Outside of that, it is still just a film.