“Fight or Flight” Review by Matt Lucas

We’ve all heard the story before, white boy goes to the east to learn bad ass martial art as a way of dealing with his shit. The films, and stories are so banal that they’re only worth watching for the kick ass action scenes. “Fight or Flight,” while set within the same plot takes a more realistic look at that journey. The movie is a biography of a white dude from Ireland who goes to Thailand to learn about Muay Thai and to fight. The film is shot mainly by the protagonist, Peter McCarthy. The low budget indy flick follows McCarthy as he travels from Lanna Muay Thai in Chang Mai, to the Bangplee Fairtex, to Lamai gym in Koh Samaui, to KRS gym in Isaan. En route he attempts to deal with his problems regarding conflict.

All of his life McCarthy avoided conflict, and after getting jumped one night while strolling the streets of Ireland he took it upon himself to do something about it. While dealing with his problems with conflict via training, others chime in about the nature of violence. The manager of Lanna Muay Thai, Andy Thomson comments on the differences between violence within the ring and without while a Thai monk attempts to reveal the origins of violence of modern times. The background pontifications attempt to add depth to McCarthy’s inner journey with only a little success.

A few things really struck me about this movie. First was a simple comment by McCarthy. “Fighting is more about getting hit than about hitting. Its more about taking the punches and being able to give them back then it is about punching.” This line was a clear echo of a line from Joyce Carol Oates’ “On Boxing.” “For, contrary to stereotyped notions, boxing is primarily about being, and not giving, hurt.” Fighting is about pain, and mainly the pain that the participant feels. You can never really feel the pain of your opponent, you can only feel the pain that you receive not only during the fight but in the training. It can be argued that most of training is about being able to deal with pain, to pass through pain. Thus every successful boxer is a bit of a masochist, a masochist who seeks to overcome their pain to become something more.As an extension of that there is a pain in dealing with conflict, but by dealing with problems directly we can gain something more (at least Western culture tells us that).

I also really enjoyed the cinematography of the movie. The movie is simply shot, with some annoying cuts, and flashes but mainly McCarthy shows with cheap film, Thailand. The hue of the film really made Thailand come to life for me. The color of the movie brought out the richness of local life. I particularly enjoyed the background shots of the passing landscape, and the short scenes in the market place. McCarthy lived in Thailand for about two years and that shows not only in the way the movie is filmed but also in some of his annoyances. He complains at one point about the barking street dogs that prevent him from sleeping. Anyone who has spent any time in Bangkok has surely been unable to slumber due to the erratic chorus of barking soi dogs.

What I liked most about this movie was the realism of it, what McCarthy ends up discovering about himself in his process. In the end McCarthy comes to a conclusion that is not originally what he sought out, but it is a conclusion none the less. It is the type of ending that our everyday lives have.