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In my opinion, this movie is about
how I present the arts...
"Khon," traditional Thai drama, Thai classical dance...
together with martial arts.
We also combined many kinds of martial arts in this movie
blending into one.
We integrated martial arts such as kung fu,
Thai boxing, sword fighting, baton fighting, and samurai
because I admire all kinds of martial arts.
For Ong Bak 2 especially this is a new concept
and a departure in its extravagant production values.
It's also a period movie,
a way to present the martial arts
and offer the audience more.
The movie features both boxing and weapon skills.
The story emphasizes the weapons.
In Ong Bak 1 and Tom Yum Koong, there was less weapon fighting.
In Ong Bak 2, there are samurai swords, Thai swords and Chinese swords.
Many different kinds of swordplay styles... Japanese,
Thai and Chinese to make it very interesting.
Tien's character has changed.
It's different from Ong Bak 1 and Tom Yum Koong.
I think it's called "dimension"...
he has something deep inside him... many things inside of him.
There's the darkness, there is brightness.
There is love.
There is toughness.
There is cruelty within him.
It's quite difficult to present these things.
Generally when I act in movies, the director would call "Action,"
and my face would be like this... keen... with a single expression.
But now, it's...
I had to express my inner feelings.
There are several actors, veteran actors who gave me advice.
Tau - Sarunyu would tell me if I was doing too much.
We would discuss it together.
Ek also had advice that made me think
about different perspectives,
and once considered into the character then I would present it progressively.
I think in every scene there is a lot of diversity.
Not only costume design
but also the location setting which related to my character.
There was a lot of detail.
It took me two hours to get dressed for scenes.
Each outfit has detail in it as well.
There's dark colors. One's covered with dust. One's dirty.
There's one that looks tough.
When I watch the movie,
I feel like no other movie has done this
especially action movies about martial arts.
We have steps... the action steps up like a graph
growing stronger and stronger.
It's also the highlight of each scene.
For example, in the slave trading scene we used Thai boxing style
and a sort of punch-drunk expression before the fight.
Several examples of Thai boxing and Chinese boxing are shown.
The most difficult scene which was also a high point,
was the final scene here in the raiders' village.
We used all the martial arts types in the scene...
Thai boxing, Chinese boxing, Thai weapons, Chinese weapons,
samurai swords... all together.
It was quite challenging, but this is what I wanted to present
because I like all kinds of martial arts.
I was thinking, what if I used a Chinese sword,
and if I swung nunchucks,
if I had a samurai sword, if I handled a Thai sword...
what if we combined all these,
what would happen?
I think it would reveal something new.
Switching from Thai boxing to kung fu, from kung fu to Thai boxing.
Though it's just one person, he could do so many things.
He could do and present many things.
There was one character,
played by Dan Chupong.
He and I studied at the same institute,
with the same teachers
so I thought there should be an opportunity to work together.
Therefore, a special character was created.
He was the Crow Ghost. A demon.
He had so many exceptional fighting techniques in this movie. Definitely.
When two people facing off, the results are devastating.
How devastating? You'll have to come and see.
In Ong Bak 2, I saw daring scenes.
Those scenes put our lives at risk.
Just one moment of miscalculation... for example, in the elephants' scene.
When I was running on the elephants' backs,
if I wasn't focused,
if enough precaution had not been taken,
or I didn't have enough practice, there could have been a big mistake.
To be able to complete that scene, means we were well prepared.
From what I feel, in my opinion
I gained a lot of experience from Ong Bak 1 and Tom Yum Koong.
Then, I was just an actor. Now I've become a director.
I was able to direct.
Professor Panna collaborated and Prachya is the producer.
Three people were reunited.
I especially wanted Thai people to see the movie.
It's displays the capability for Thai filmmaking
which will be a great showcase for our country.