The Adventure of Iron Pussy

Pretty tacky, as art objects go, this is a feature-length expansion of a concept first developed by Thai-American multi-media artist Shaowanasai in a series of three video shorts. The concept in question is drag at its most kitschy: Shaowanasai plays his own statuesque alter ego Iron Pussy (essentially, Modesty Blaise by Madame Tussauds), a 'voluptuous secret agent' who goes undercover as a housemaid to bust a drugs ring and exposes the treachery and sexual depravity of the ruling class along the way. His best idea, almost his only good idea, was to ask his friend Apichatpong to co-direct: Thailand's leading independent film-maker pitches it close to Tears of the Black Tiger, turning the whole thing into an elaborate homage to a vanished era of Thai popular culture, with a torrent of musical, religious and action clichés. You'll wish it was funnier.