The Adventure of Iron Pussy

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. (GjZ)