For those for whom a film cannot be crazy enough. A kind of Thai James Bond operates cheerfully and cross-dressed. Lots of mad dressing up, insane adventures and the necessary winks at the Thai genre film.

A film that is both an exuberant and hilarious satire on all kinds of things, but that also has a pretty complex background and style. The protagonist is the transvestite and secret agent Iron Pussy. A kind of Bond, but then wearing a dress and a specialist in Thai boxing. Like every dauntless hero, Pussy also has a sidekick/chauffeur in the form of Pew. The duo solves one crime after another, until Iron Pussy, working undercover as a chamber maid in a castle, falls in love with Tang, the son of the criminal female owner. But this story is only an excuse for the film makers to succumb to cheerful genre parodies on beloved Thai musicals and melodramas from their childhood. Weerasethakul and Shaowanasai are not average film lovers. Both have a background as artists. The film is partly based on short art videos that Shaowanasai previously made with the same character which he played himself then, and which he plays now, too. Weerasethakul started cooperating on the film when production on his famous Tropical Malady had temporarily halted. A playful escape from a difficult construction process that has left its mark on the result. The makers stress that this film is not only about lunacy. The position of homosexuals and transvestites is not without problems in Buddhist Thailand and they focus attention on it with this burlesque art film. –IFFR

Director

Apichatpong Weerasethakul

Apichatpong “Joe” Weerasethakul (Thai: อภิชาติพงศ์ วีระเศรษฐกุล; born July 16, 1970) is a Thai independent film director, screenwriter, and film producer. His feature films include Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, winner of the prestigious 2010 Cannes Film Festival Palme d’Or prize; Tropical Malady, which won a jury prize at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival; Blissfully Yours, which won the top prize in the Un Certain Regard program at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival; and Syndromes and a Century, which premiered at the 63rd Venice Film Festival and was the first Thai film to be entered in competition there.

Working outside the strict confines of the Thai film studio system, Weerasethakul has directed several features and dozens of short films. Themes reflected in his films (frequently discussed in interviews) include dreams, nature, sexuality (including his own homosexuality), and Western perceptions of Thailand and Asia, and his films… read more