Another of my favorites from the festival, I've found out in the last couple days, now belongs to Magnet Releasing just like the one I consider the Best of Fantastic Fest (Let the Right One In), who has now acquired Chocolate for American release in 2009.
A Thai martial arts movie from Pracha Pinkaew, the director of the much-lauded Ong Bak from a few years ago, Chocolate tells the story of an autistic girl born to the former mistress of a crime boss who picks up a ludicrous amount of fighting skill from watching Tony Jaa and Bruce Lee movies. I appreciate the sentiment of Pinkaew dedicating the movie to special needs kids, as it'll honestly reach more people than...Dark Floors, which also featured an autistic young female lead I only caught a few minutes of at one point.
I'm actually especially impressed that unlike almost anyone else I've seen "play autistic," American, Finnish, or anything, Jeeja Viemistananda actually gets it right. Viemistananda also trained 5 years for the part and it shows. I can really get behind this movie a bit more than I would most generic martial arts actioners these days mostly due to the phenomenal fight sequences anchored by this virtuosa lead performer. Some of the "locations" I've seen multiple times before, but the mix of Lee and Jaa styled choreography really keeps the movie fresh the whole way through.
The thing the movie does really well is not overload you with on-screen movement such that you miss everything, at once also not overdoing the slow-mo to the point you get to checking your watch. Additionally, these days, it helps for there to be a palpable sense that someone got really badly injured making one of these movies where there is no evidence of mats or much (if any) protective gear. You an rest assured there is an "injury reel" once the credits roll, and there are a few "christ, how much do they pay these guys" or "did I just see that guy die?" moments.
A pal asked if it was as good as Ong Bak, and the simplest answer is that it's a different flavor of fighter movie, but just as good. Ong Bak is in the vein of Drunken Master "I must save my village and heritage" whereas Chocolate is the "I must save my mother/father/nephew who needs money for {medical condition}" so it plays differently.
For those of you who don't give a toss about story and plot in martial arts flicks and care only about the action (like my dad), it's fantastic and well worth a watch. See it theatrically for sure, since now I know you can in the US. Resist the import DVD temptation, it's worth it.