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★★★½☆
19 June 2018
A movie review of A PRAYER BEFORE DAWN. |
“Let me fight. Let me show you,” Billy Moore (Joe Cole)
If not based on a true story, you would think A PRAYER BEFORE DAWN was a B-movie story with A-movie craft. Something that Jean-Claude Van Damme might have starred in, in the 1980s (though did those have such levels of quality?). A Brit, Billy Moore, is caught up in drugs in Thailand and sent to jail. Anyone who watched mini-series BANGKOK HILTON (1989) as a youngster will know that such an establishment is no spa retreat. Grim, over-crowded, under-funded conditions, amid sexual violence, are upsetting.
If not based on a true story, you would think A PRAYER BEFORE DAWN was a B-movie story with A-movie craft. Something that Jean-Claude Van Damme might have starred in, in the 1980s (though did those have such levels of quality?). A Brit, Billy Moore, is caught up in drugs in Thailand and sent to jail. Anyone who watched mini-series BANGKOK HILTON (1989) as a youngster will know that such an establishment is no spa retreat. Grim, over-crowded, under-funded conditions, amid sexual violence, are upsetting.
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A PRAYER BEFORE DAWN sets out the peril immediately. A fellow inmate is gang raped and hangs himself over night. Billy stands out as the only Caucasian, and he does not speak the native tongue. One wonders if there is an automatic target on his back? What saves him is his combat abilities. Warden, Officer Preecha (Vithaya Pansringarm – ONLY GOD FORGIVES) recruits Billy into the prison Muay Thai team, to fight inter-jail tournaments.
Being a foreigner has novelty value for the spectators. Billy’s skill proves to be his salvation. Not only better treatment and respect in the institution, but also a means of his redemption as he faces his demons. A concomitant question raises its head: Had Billy Moore not been a boxer, how long would he have stayed alive?
So much of the story and character-work are left tantalisingly unarticulated. What is Billy doing in Thailand? Why is he a drug addict? How did he eventually get released? Instead of contextualisation, A PRAYER BEFORE DAWN is a non-judgmental, minimalist biopic. It makes you want to read the source autobiography, ‘A Prayer Before Dawn: A Nightmare in Thailand’ to see if there is more information. Hunger for more material is a double-edged sword: The audience should not be spoon-fed, yet extra substance would have been welcome.
Director Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire (JOHNNY MAD DOG) and his creative crew deliver intensely constructed fight sequences. They are that rare occurrence they feel different. The brawls have the crunch of WARRIOR without the annoying fast edits. The contestants’ tussles are claustrophobic, and fast and furious. The film is an assault on the senses.
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