Gunman (film)
Encyclopedia
Gunman is a 1983 Thai
crime film
directed by Chatrichalerm Yukol
and starring Sorapong Chatree
as an amputee
assassin
.
at night. The man gets off the bike, walks into a coffee shop, shoots one of the patrons with a pistol
and then gets back on the motorcycle.
The scene then cuts to various bystanders being interviewed about what the man looked like. The descriptions vary wildly, except for one thing – the man walked with a limp.
The police are then on the lookout for anyone with a limp. They arrest one man walking down the street carrying a briefcase. In the struggle to apprehend the man, his briefcase comes open, spilling the contents – some sex toys – onto the sidewalk. Because such items are illegal in Thailand
, the man is arrested.
At a nearby newsstand, another man witnesses the arrest. He turns and walks away – with a limp. He is the gunman, and his name is Sergeant Sommai. After losing a leg fighting for the Thai Special Forces during the Secret War in Laos
, Sommai now works as a barber in a small shop in a canal community of suburban Bangkok
.
One day Sommai is cutting hair, when his young son is attacked on a nearby footbridge by some neighborhood boys. They are taunting the boy for having a one-legged father and no mother. Sommai must leave the shop, making a customer angry, to attend to the boy.
After the neighborhood bullies are chased away, Sommai's son collapses and starts having some sort of seizure. A local doctor is ill-equipped to treat the boy and recommends he be looked after at home. Sommai has a problem, being a single father, and needing to work, he must find someone else to look after the boy. He asks his vain, selfish ex-wife, who left Sommai after he lost his leg. She refuses. But Nid, the younger sister of his ex-wife, readily agrees. The two, with the boy, then bond as family unit.
Meanwhile, the Bangkok press is abuzz with a police hero, Special Branch Inspector Thanu, known as the Black Hand, for the trademark black leather glove he wears on his gun hand. He cultivated a fearsome reputation, even though the kills he claims credit for were often the work of his subordinates. Thanu also has difficulties at home, with a dissatisfied wife.
One of Thanu's subordinates, Officer Chalam, independently investigates the shooting by the one-legged gunman, and through methodical casework, he determines that the gunman is likely an ex-military man, which narrows the suspects down considerably. Chalam immediately suspects Sommai, however Thanu tries to divert attention to other cases.
It turns out that Thanu was Sommai's lieutenant in the Secret War, and it was through Thanu's cowardly actions that Sommai was left on the field with a leg blown off, to be captured by the Pathet Lao
while Thanu and the rest of platoon escape to safety on a helicopter. At all costs, Thanu would rather not confront his old sergeant again. Thanu goes as far as visiting Sommai at his barbershop, telling Sommai to go into hiding.
Sommai's son's illness is growing worse. Another doctor says the cause is a tumor at the base of the boy's brain, and that a specialist doctor in an overseas hospital can possibly save the boy. The pressure is now on Sommai to take more assassination
jobs. His wheelman is a mute motorcyclist named Khan, and the two plan more jobs.
Chalam has disobeyed orders by Thanu to stay away from Sommai, and has informants following Sommai's every move. After one shooting is narrowly averted, leaving the intended target only injured, Thanu can no longer ignore Sommai.
Thanu is then given the job of watching over an important government minister. Sommai has taken on the job of killing the minister, and succeeds. His mute motorcyclist friend Khan betrays him, but Sommai is able to free himself from Khan and kill him. He then visits his handler, just as his handler and another man are plotting Sommai's demise, obtains the payment, and then kills the two men.
Sommai then goes to the hospital to retrieve his son. Thanu's team is waiting for him, but Sommai takes Thanu hostage. Holding an automatic pistol to Thanu's head, he and is able to obtain a promise from the prime minister that Nid and the boy will be allowed to leave the country. After Nid arrives at the airport and assures Sommai via two-way radio that she will be okay, Sommai surrenders, and hands his pistol to Thanu, who takes it and aims at Sommai's back, but then puts the gun down. However, Chalam raises his pistol, and against the orders of Thanu, who shouts "No!", fires, most likely killing Sommai.
himself, who used a hand-held camera
while riding on the back of a motorcycle. The shot was done in three take
s, with the third take being used. "After the third one I wouldn't do it again. It was pretty risky. You're practically blind, when you get off the bike you have to walk into the coffee shop shoot the man and walk back, back on the motorbike with your eyes on the viewfinder, you have to do all the focus-pulling
yourself, it was pretty painful. But that was still an easy shot", he told interviewer Thomas Richardson in 1993.
Another scene involving the helicopter
sequence in the Secret War flashback scene has mistakenly thought to be copied from Oliver Stone
's Platoon
, which in fact was made in 1986, three years after the release of Gunman. The shot focused on Sommai on the ground as the helicopter rose into the air. "Pretty painful shot, I think. We have a lot of painful shots in that film", Chatrichalerm said in the 1993 interview. "It's difficult because you have to center him the whole time, zoom out at the right time, pull the focus".
, which was also entitled Gunman 2 . However, aside from the presence of Sorapong Chatree
, who stars in Salween as a tough, veteran police sergeant, as well as Ron Rittichai, who portrays a SLORC
colonel, the stories and characters of the two films have no relation, so Salween is a sequel to Gunman in name only.
Cinema of Thailand
The cinema of Thailand dates back to the early days of filmmaking, when King Chulalongkorn's 1897 visit to Bern, Switzerland was recorded by Francois-Henri Lavancy-Clarke. The film was then brought to Bangkok, where it was exhibited...
crime film
Crime film
Crime films are films which focus on the lives of criminals. The stylistic approach to a crime film varies from realistic portrayals of real-life criminal figures, to the far-fetched evil doings of imaginary arch-villains. Criminal acts are almost always glorified in these movies.- Plays and films...
directed by Chatrichalerm Yukol
Chatrichalerm Yukol
His Serene Highness Prince Chatrichalerm Yukol is a Thai film director, screenwriter and film producer. A prolific director since the 1970s, among his films is the 2001 historical epic, The Legend of Suriyothai. A member of the Thai royal family, his official royal title is Mom Chao, or M.C., the...
and starring Sorapong Chatree
Sorapong Chatree
Sorapong Chatree is a Thai film actor. He has frequently starred in the films of Prince Chatrichalerm Yukol, as well as in Cherd Songsri's classic romance, Plae Kao....
as an amputee
Amputation
Amputation is the removal of a body extremity by trauma, prolonged constriction, or surgery. As a surgical measure, it is used to control pain or a disease process in the affected limb, such as malignancy or gangrene. In some cases, it is carried out on individuals as a preventative surgery for...
assassin
Assassination
To carry out an assassination is "to murder by a sudden and/or secret attack, often for political reasons." Alternatively, assassination may be defined as "the act of deliberately killing someone, especially a public figure, usually for hire or for political reasons."An assassination may be...
.
Plot
As the opening credits roll, the scene is from the point of a man on a motorcycleMotorcycle
A motorcycle is a single-track, two-wheeled motor vehicle. Motorcycles vary considerably depending on the task for which they are designed, such as long distance travel, navigating congested urban traffic, cruising, sport and racing, or off-road conditions.Motorcycles are one of the most...
at night. The man gets off the bike, walks into a coffee shop, shoots one of the patrons with a pistol
Pistol
When distinguished as a subset of handguns, a pistol is a handgun with a chamber that is integral with the barrel, as opposed to a revolver, wherein the chamber is separate from the barrel as a revolving cylinder. Typically, pistols have an effective range of about 100 feet.-History:The pistol...
and then gets back on the motorcycle.
The scene then cuts to various bystanders being interviewed about what the man looked like. The descriptions vary wildly, except for one thing – the man walked with a limp.
The police are then on the lookout for anyone with a limp. They arrest one man walking down the street carrying a briefcase. In the struggle to apprehend the man, his briefcase comes open, spilling the contents – some sex toys – onto the sidewalk. Because such items are illegal in Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
, the man is arrested.
At a nearby newsstand, another man witnesses the arrest. He turns and walks away – with a limp. He is the gunman, and his name is Sergeant Sommai. After losing a leg fighting for the Thai Special Forces during the Secret War in Laos
Laos
Laos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...
, Sommai now works as a barber in a small shop in a canal community of suburban Bangkok
Bangkok
Bangkok is the capital and largest urban area city in Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or simply Krung Thep , meaning "city of angels." The full name of Bangkok is Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom...
.
One day Sommai is cutting hair, when his young son is attacked on a nearby footbridge by some neighborhood boys. They are taunting the boy for having a one-legged father and no mother. Sommai must leave the shop, making a customer angry, to attend to the boy.
After the neighborhood bullies are chased away, Sommai's son collapses and starts having some sort of seizure. A local doctor is ill-equipped to treat the boy and recommends he be looked after at home. Sommai has a problem, being a single father, and needing to work, he must find someone else to look after the boy. He asks his vain, selfish ex-wife, who left Sommai after he lost his leg. She refuses. But Nid, the younger sister of his ex-wife, readily agrees. The two, with the boy, then bond as family unit.
Meanwhile, the Bangkok press is abuzz with a police hero, Special Branch Inspector Thanu, known as the Black Hand, for the trademark black leather glove he wears on his gun hand. He cultivated a fearsome reputation, even though the kills he claims credit for were often the work of his subordinates. Thanu also has difficulties at home, with a dissatisfied wife.
One of Thanu's subordinates, Officer Chalam, independently investigates the shooting by the one-legged gunman, and through methodical casework, he determines that the gunman is likely an ex-military man, which narrows the suspects down considerably. Chalam immediately suspects Sommai, however Thanu tries to divert attention to other cases.
It turns out that Thanu was Sommai's lieutenant in the Secret War, and it was through Thanu's cowardly actions that Sommai was left on the field with a leg blown off, to be captured by the Pathet Lao
Pathet Lao
The Pathet Lao was a communist political movement and organization in Laos, formed in the mid-20th century. The group was ultimately successful in assuming political power after the Laotian Civil War. The Pathet Lao were always closely associated with Vietnamese communists...
while Thanu and the rest of platoon escape to safety on a helicopter. At all costs, Thanu would rather not confront his old sergeant again. Thanu goes as far as visiting Sommai at his barbershop, telling Sommai to go into hiding.
Sommai's son's illness is growing worse. Another doctor says the cause is a tumor at the base of the boy's brain, and that a specialist doctor in an overseas hospital can possibly save the boy. The pressure is now on Sommai to take more assassination
Assassination
To carry out an assassination is "to murder by a sudden and/or secret attack, often for political reasons." Alternatively, assassination may be defined as "the act of deliberately killing someone, especially a public figure, usually for hire or for political reasons."An assassination may be...
jobs. His wheelman is a mute motorcyclist named Khan, and the two plan more jobs.
Chalam has disobeyed orders by Thanu to stay away from Sommai, and has informants following Sommai's every move. After one shooting is narrowly averted, leaving the intended target only injured, Thanu can no longer ignore Sommai.
Thanu is then given the job of watching over an important government minister. Sommai has taken on the job of killing the minister, and succeeds. His mute motorcyclist friend Khan betrays him, but Sommai is able to free himself from Khan and kill him. He then visits his handler, just as his handler and another man are plotting Sommai's demise, obtains the payment, and then kills the two men.
Sommai then goes to the hospital to retrieve his son. Thanu's team is waiting for him, but Sommai takes Thanu hostage. Holding an automatic pistol to Thanu's head, he and is able to obtain a promise from the prime minister that Nid and the boy will be allowed to leave the country. After Nid arrives at the airport and assures Sommai via two-way radio that she will be okay, Sommai surrenders, and hands his pistol to Thanu, who takes it and aims at Sommai's back, but then puts the gun down. However, Chalam raises his pistol, and against the orders of Thanu, who shouts "No!", fires, most likely killing Sommai.
Cast
- Sorapong ChatreeSorapong ChatreeSorapong Chatree is a Thai film actor. He has frequently starred in the films of Prince Chatrichalerm Yukol, as well as in Cherd Songsri's classic romance, Plae Kao....
as Sergeant Sommai Moungthup - Ron Rittichai as Inspector Thanu Adharn
Production
The opening shot was filmed by Chatrichalerm YukolChatrichalerm Yukol
His Serene Highness Prince Chatrichalerm Yukol is a Thai film director, screenwriter and film producer. A prolific director since the 1970s, among his films is the 2001 historical epic, The Legend of Suriyothai. A member of the Thai royal family, his official royal title is Mom Chao, or M.C., the...
himself, who used a hand-held camera
Hand-held camera
Hand-held camera or hand-held shooting is a filmmaking and video production technique in which a camera is held in the camera operator's hands as opposed to being mounted on a tripod or other base. Hand-held cameras are used because they are conveniently sized for travel and because they allow...
while riding on the back of a motorcycle. The shot was done in three take
Take
A take is a single continuous recorded performance. The term is used in film and music to denote and track the stages of production.-Film:In cinematography, a take refers to each filmed "version" of a particular shot or "setup"...
s, with the third take being used. "After the third one I wouldn't do it again. It was pretty risky. You're practically blind, when you get off the bike you have to walk into the coffee shop shoot the man and walk back, back on the motorbike with your eyes on the viewfinder, you have to do all the focus-pulling
Focus puller
A focus puller, or 1st assistant cameraman, is a member of a film crew’s camera department whose primary responsibility is to maintain image sharpness on whatever subject or action is being filmed....
yourself, it was pretty painful. But that was still an easy shot", he told interviewer Thomas Richardson in 1993.
Another scene involving the helicopter
Helicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...
sequence in the Secret War flashback scene has mistakenly thought to be copied from Oliver Stone
Oliver Stone
William Oliver Stone is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. Stone became well known in the late 1980s and the early 1990s for directing a series of films about the Vietnam War, for which he had previously participated as an infantry soldier. His work frequently focuses on...
's Platoon
Platoon (film)
Platoon is a 1986 American war film written and directed by Oliver Stone and stars Tom Berenger, Willem Dafoe and Charlie Sheen. It is the first of Stone's Vietnam War trilogy, followed by 1989's Born on the Fourth of July and 1993's Heaven & Earth....
, which in fact was made in 1986, three years after the release of Gunman. The shot focused on Sommai on the ground as the helicopter rose into the air. "Pretty painful shot, I think. We have a lot of painful shots in that film", Chatrichalerm said in the 1993 interview. "It's difficult because you have to center him the whole time, zoom out at the right time, pull the focus".
Gunman series
Gunman was followed in 1994 by SalweenSalween (film)
Salween is a 1994 Thai action-drama film directed by Chatrichalerm Yukol and starring Sorapong Chatree and Chatchai Plengpanich. Sombat Metanee's son, Siricoup Metanee, also stars as a young police lieutenant, newly arrived at a rough-and-tumble post in a Thai-Myanmar border town on the Salween...
, which was also entitled Gunman 2 . However, aside from the presence of Sorapong Chatree
Sorapong Chatree
Sorapong Chatree is a Thai film actor. He has frequently starred in the films of Prince Chatrichalerm Yukol, as well as in Cherd Songsri's classic romance, Plae Kao....
, who stars in Salween as a tough, veteran police sergeant, as well as Ron Rittichai, who portrays a SLORC
State Peace and Development Council
The State Peace and Development Council was the official name of the military regime of Burma , which seized power in 1988. On 30 March 2011, Senior General Than Shwe signed a decree to officially dissolve the Council....
colonel, the stories and characters of the two films have no relation, so Salween is a sequel to Gunman in name only.