Beautiful Boxer, the acclaimed debut of Thai director Ekachai Uekrongtham, brilliantly captures the intensity of an underdog sports saga and weaves it with the poignant, impassioned drama of finding one's identity in the telling true-life story of Parinya Charoenphol, a transgendered kickboxer whose winnings from fighting in the ring funded his sex-change operation. The film tracks Charoenphol, affectionately known as Nong Toom, from his childhood, where he first discovered his feminine side, to his youth in a monastery to an arduous training program and eventually his championship bouts, where he would don makeup and drag. Spectacularly choreographed kickboxing scenes are interspersed with the sometimes funny and always touching story of Toom in his quest to realize his dream of sexual reassignment. The New York Times said, "Its blazing emotional core is the real-life boxer Asanee Suwan's joyously physical performance," which won Suwan the Thai equivalent of Oscar's Best Actor. An unforgettable film that will inspire, delight and provoke.
