Volleyball's 'Iron Ladies' strike box-office gold

The Nation, 14th March 2000

AFTER the enormous success of films about gangland rivalry and a female ghost who cannot let go of her husband, the Thai movie industry has come up with a new winner, and maybe a new genre, with an action comedy based on the true story of a team of transvestite volleyball players.

"Satree Lek" ("Iron Ladies") pulled in Bt60 million within 10 days of its release and appears to be on its way to becoming the second highest grossing Thai movie after "Nang Nak", which made celluloid history in Thailand last year.

The movie is also proving a success story for an advertising director who switched to movie directing. Last year Nonzee Nimibutr emerged from the advertisement world to direct "Nang Nak" and "2499 Anthaphan Khrong Mueang" ("Dang Bireley And The Young Gangsters"), the highest and second highest grossing Thai films.

"I am still excited over the huge success that has come to me," said "Satree Lek" director 33-year-old Yongyooth Thongkongthun, who works at the Hub Ho Hin advertising company.

The movie is an unexpected success for its producer, Visute Poolvoralaks, as well. He produced blockbusters "Nang Nak" and "2499", the former of which grossed Bt150 million, but was worried before the release of "Satree Lek" because many people around him predicted it would flop. The pessimism prompted him to use careful marketing strategy.

On opening day, two weeks ago, the film earned Bt6 million at the box office, and by Sunday it had earned Bt60 million.

"It is amazing to see many people returning to see the movie several times," the director says. Most of them try to pick up its dialogue and gay slang.

"People leave the theatre still laughing," said one fan. "They are still laughing days afterwards."

"Satree Lek" tells the story of the Lampang province male volleyball team, which caught the public's attention in 1996. The main five players in the team were katoeys who faced humiliation on and off the court. They had their own emotional battles as well.

Visute admits that the movie's heavy post-release promotion by the Milk Power advertising company, which he founded, may have played a key role in its success, as it did with "Nang Nak".

"At this moment, I think that the marketing strategy was very important," he said. "But I cannot say which played the biggest part in the movie's success, the film itself or the marketing.

"It's difficult to separate: both were important ingredients."

The movie's winning formula was a combination of three factors: a comedy based on a true story, a unique story line and an emphasis on characters.

"Each character has his own fans. And now people from all social levels are coming to see the movie. Why? I think because the audience can connect to each character when they can find it in their society," he said.