05-10-2009, 04:03 PM
You know, I'm tempted to not say anything about this and just recommend it.
But I suppose I should say something.
This is a documentary about a village in northern Thailand where people fight snakes.
The most popular and feared opponent is the king cobra. The king cobra is revered
in the area, and anyone caught defanging or devenoming one is cast out. They also
do not eat king cobras, not even if they die of natural causes.
If you like snakes like I do, this is a refreshing movie -- because good god do they treat
their snakes well. They love them! They have young women and girls and boys dancing
around with snakes, putting them down their pants or dresses, but these are not poisonous
and just for show.
Then come the masters, the ones who climb on stage and get down and dirty with a king cobra. They essentially do the mongoose. One of the masters relates that he used to be a Thai boxer when younger. You can see his rootedness when he fights the king cobra.
Even the masters sometimes make a mistake. Then the king cobra scores a knockout. That's when things turn ghastly.
But I'll say no more, except that it's well worth watching.
--cranefly
But I suppose I should say something.
This is a documentary about a village in northern Thailand where people fight snakes.
The most popular and feared opponent is the king cobra. The king cobra is revered
in the area, and anyone caught defanging or devenoming one is cast out. They also
do not eat king cobras, not even if they die of natural causes.
If you like snakes like I do, this is a refreshing movie -- because good god do they treat
their snakes well. They love them! They have young women and girls and boys dancing
around with snakes, putting them down their pants or dresses, but these are not poisonous
and just for show.
Then come the masters, the ones who climb on stage and get down and dirty with a king cobra. They essentially do the mongoose. One of the masters relates that he used to be a Thai boxer when younger. You can see his rootedness when he fights the king cobra.
Even the masters sometimes make a mistake. Then the king cobra scores a knockout. That's when things turn ghastly.
But I'll say no more, except that it's well worth watching.
--cranefly