Blog Entry: 5

The movie that I chose for this entry is Ong- Bak: The Thai Warrior, a Movie which shows the capabilities of what a person with good knowledge of Muay Thai could do in real life. Like any other movies, this movie also follows the three basic patterns of Joseph Campbell’s monomyth; separation, adventure, and return.

Separation: As usual, the separation phase begins with some kinds of calls to a hero to act. In this movie, a guy named Don comes to a village called Ban Nong Pradu, and he steals Ong -Bak (Buddha’s head from a statue). Ban Nong Pradu is a poor village and Ong- Bak is their most valued ancient treasure. Now, some one from the village must do something to get back the stolen Ong- Bak from Don, who is believed to be in Bangkok. Ting, the main character of the movie (hero) volunteers to go to Bangkok to get the Ong -Bak back. Ting is an ordinary guy with good knowledge of Muay Thai. As usual he has a helper or a master: a Buddhist monk, from whom he learned all his Muay Thai skills. Ting leaves his village for Bangkok, an unknown and a certain world full of danger. Ting gets a sacred amulet (talisman) from his uncle before he leaves for Bangkok, which latter in the movie saves his life. So Ting (the hero) going from his village to Bangkok city shows the separation stage.

Adventure: Ting reaches Bangkok City, and he meets his cousin Humlae, (known as George) who initially doesn’t recognize him. Ting asks for Humlae’s help to locate Don and the stolen Ong- Bak, but Humlae seems reluctant to help, he is more interested in gambling and money making business. So Humlae steals Ting’s money, the money that he got from the villagers, and bets it into an illegal fight. Ting goes after Humlae to get his money back, but he gets drawn into the fight instead. This is his first test on his journey to recover Ong Bak, and he wins it. The main villain of the movie is Komtuan, who runs these illegal fight and he is also involved in illegal trading of the antiques. Don works for Komtuan, so Ong- Bak is under komtuan’s possession. Ting uses all his Muya Thai skills while trying to get back Ong- Bak from Komtuan.This time he also gets help from Humlae  and his sister Muay Lek. The journey isn’t easy, but Ting (the hero) and Humlae (the helper) never give up the hope and they finally succeed. Now Ting must return back safely to his village with Ong-Bak.

Return: Ong Bak is like an ultimate boon for Ting and he must return back to his village with it. He could stay in city and make a lot of money form street fights, but he is the hero so he returns back to his village successfully. His cousin Humlae also returns back to their village. The villagers celebrate the Ong-Bak’s return and Tign becomes the master of two worlds. This completes the cycle of Joseph Campbell’s monomyth.