The Pang Brothers

 

Twin brothers, Danny and Oxide Pang began their careers in film making in Hong Kong, China.  Born in 1965, the pair grew up in Hong Kong. Oxide moved to Bangkok and worked as a telecine colorist at Kantana Group’s film labs.  In 1997, he created his first feature film, an experimental thriller called, Who Is Running?  (Ta Fa Likit).  In 1998, the film served as Thailand’s entry for Academy Award for the Best Foreign Film at the 71st Academy Awards. Danny started his career as an editor working on numerous Hong Kong films such as The Storm Riders and the Infernal Affairs series. 

 

The Pang brothers first combined their talents to write and direct the popular 1999 Thai film, Bangkok Dangerous, the story of a deaf gunman. At the 2000 Toronto International Film Festival the film won the FIPRESCI Award and was also nominated for best film editing and best film at the Thailand National Film Association Awards.  The success of Bangkok Dangerous fueled Danny and Oxide Pang to continue working together in the future. As a duo, their films have a signature style of being moody, atmospheric thrillers. 

 

The two separated briefly to direct their own Thai crime films in a very similar style to Bangkok Dangerous. Oxide wrote, directed, produced, and edited his film Som and Bank: Bangkok for Sale ( also known as One Take Only) released in 2001.  Danny wrote and directed Neung Buak Neung Pen Soon (also known as 1+1=0 or Nothing To Lose) released in 2002. These two films combined with Bangkok Dangerous create the Bangkok trilogy.   

 

Their next film as a pair, The Eye was released in 2002 and became an instant Asian hit. This is the film that launched the Pangs into more of the mainstream with a wider range of critical acclaim. The film’s protagonist, Mun (played by Angelica Lee) is a blind girl who receives a cornea transplant and has to adjust to her new capabilities of sight. As she begins to see visions of dead people, Mun goes to a psychiatrist, Dr. Wah (Lawrence Chou), to find answers. The story unfolds a chilling tale as the two manage to track the identity of the eye donor.

 

The Eye is by far the most popular film created by the Pang brothers. The film snagged them a nomination for Best Film in 2002 at the Sitges - Catalonian International Film Festival. Then in 2003 at the Málaga International Week of Fantastic Cinema, The Eye won the Audience Award for Best Feature Film. That same year it was also nominated for Best Film Editing at the Hong Kong Film Awards.   

 

2003 marked the release of Omen which was written and edited by the Pang brothers. Omen is a suspense story starring Kwee Tanjararak, Arpichet Kittikorncharoen, and Worrawech Danuwong who were all members of a popular Thai boy band. The film chronicles the strange happenings between three friends.  Each come in contact with three strange females. None of the them realize that there is an important connection between themselves and the three females with regard to their destinies. Soon it becomes evident that one of them is going to die but they must figure who and why. 

 

In 2004, Oxide and Danny Pang released The Eye 2, the first sequel to The Eye.  This film is based on the story of Joey (Jesdaporn Pholdee), a girl who attempts suicide because she believes her boyfriend Sam is rejecting her. After recovering, she finds out that she is pregnant and is faced with thoughts of having an abortion.  She can not reach Sam, the man she knows is the baby’s father. Joey becomes delusional and is frightened by a mysterious female ghost. Believing that this ghost wants to hurt her child, Joey soon discovers that the woman is awaiting the baby’s birth so she can be reincarnated within it. After finding out who the woman once was, Joey feels she would rather die and kill her unborn baby than let the ghost become her child.   

 

The second sequel to the Pang brother’s film The Eye was released in 2005 and is entitled The Eye 10. This time we are introduced to five teenage characters who read from a book called The Ten Encounters that teaches ten methods that can help one see the dead. The first two methods are: a corneal transplant from a donor who is psychic (The Eye) and attempting to commit suicide while pregnant (The Eye 2).

 

Their 2006 film, Re-Cycle is a horror movie starring the actress, Angelica Lee who also starred in The Eye. The film tells the story of Ting-yin, a novelist whose next book is about the supernatural. After beginning the book and then deleting the first chapter, strange things begin occurring that resemble the exact events outlined in the novel.  

 

The last film directed by the Pang brothers is the 2007 film, The Messengers. It was filmed in Saskatchewan, Canada and stars Kristen Stewart, Graham Bell, John Corbett, William B. Davis, Dylan McDermott and Penelope Ann Miller. This film is about the Solomon family, the owners of a mysterious sunflower farm in North Dakota. 

 

The twins are currently working on production for a remake of their 1999 debut film, Bangkok Dangerous. This time around, the film is starring Nicolas Cage and its working titles are Big Hit in Bangkok and Time to Kill. The story has changed quite a bit.  Oxide Pang told the International Herald Tribune, "We'd like to keep him the same, but we understand that from a marketing point of view Nic needs to have some lines, so what we’re going to do is transform his girlfriend instead into a deaf-mute. This switch will maintain the drama of communication between the two main characters."

 

An American remake of The Eye is also in the works. Tom Cruise and Paula Wagner will be producing the film with Jessica Alba as the starring role. 

 

The Pang brothers’ birth names are Oxide Pang Chun and Danny Pang Fat. Danny is the younger of the two by fifteen minutes. Oxide is engaged to the actress Angelica Lee. 

 

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