film digestion - korean edition, vol. 2

Here is my next batch of Korean film reviews, this time I'm taking on THE CHASER by Na Hong-jin and MOTHER by Bong Joon-ho. I saw both of these movies through online streaming via Netflix, which has an amazing assortment of modern Korean films currently available, so I will try to get through as many of those as possible in the coming months. 



MOTHER, *** 1/2 (2009)
A distraught mother, upon finding that her mentally retarded son has been accused of murder, goes all out and attempts to uncover the facts behind the accusations. While the premise of this film seems to initially promise a lot more than what it eventually delivers, it is a solid effort that really shines mostly due to the amazing acting of Kim Hye-ja, who plays the titular character. Her range is truly magnificent, running the gamut as she expresses genuine sadness, comedic relief, and relentless conviction with an ease of effort that seems inexplicable.  Sadly, this is also where the movie falters, as it never really seems to make up its mind about what kind of film it is actually trying to be in the long run.  Initially, the film is almost a comedy as you learn of the strange relationship between the mother and the son (as well as his no-good but street smart "best friend"). In the middle, it becomes a fairly standard mystery movie, while the ending turns into a drama with tragic consequences. Even though it is uneven, there is a graceful beauty to the entire film's rather low-key presentation, not to mention a strange bittersweet optimism that ultimately tries to prevail over the rest of the film's utterly depressing subject matter. 

THE CHASER, ***** (2008)
In its own rights, this film is amazing, but as a debut movie, it is simply staggering. Considering the bevy of commercial filmmakers around the globe who have been in the game for years and still  have yet to create something that is as powerful and dynamic, this movie has now become my personal litmus test for debunking any up and coming "hype-proof" film debuts. The set up is something like a classic 70s thriller: an ex-cop turned pimp (Kim Yoon-seok) begins to notice that his girls are coming up missing and he begins his own investigation to uncover the truth.   He is oddly compelling as a total asshole with almost no redeeming qualities who inadvertently becomes the only person that seems to actually understand what is going on while everyone else around him is too busy being caught up in petty media scandals, red tape and bumbling police bureaucracy. While the film attempts to resolve itself within the first half hour, we quickly realize that the means required to justify the ends are anything but easily obtained and the movie steadily falls into a nightmarish Kafkaesque scenario that becomes increasingly frantic and horrific as it races towards its harrowing conclusion. 

film digestion - korean edition, vol. 1

Instead of writing long-winded and meticulously researched opinion pieces about certain movies, I'm going to try and write some quick and "to the point" type reviews with a 5 star scale that can be gulped down in a single bite ...hence 'film digestion.' The inaugural post will involve some recent korean movies that I just watched recently.. 


 I SAW THE DEVIL,   ** 1/2  (2010)
Overall, a very brutal and exceptionally long-winded thriller about a secret agent who seeks revenge on the serial killer responsible for killing his wife. While the violence is horrific and the action sequences exceptionally well choreographed, it falls apart into severe implausibility as the film drags on and on into an endlessly repetitive and hopeless cycle of violence and degradation. Although Choi Min-sik is completely amazing as a cunning and heartless killer, his performance isn't enough to save the film from its lumbering length, utterly inept writing, and pretentiously nihilistic dialogue. 



THIRST,  ****  1/2 (2009)
Park Chan-wook's film about a priest who turns into a vampire after a failed medical experiment is the kind of movie that Twilight fans need to see instead of the watered down pap that does nothing but convince millions of impressionable minds that "vampire movies" are apparently PG-13 rated cosmetic commercials for glittering goth kids who like to play baseball in the rain. THIRST properly examines the blissfully sexual and occasionally bloody escapades that can occur if you find yourself transformed into a creature of the night, complete with amazing cinematography, smart writing, and a sexy performance from Kim Ok-bin as the object of the priest's newly found affections. Instead of relying on age old tropes to convey the complex moral, religious, and sexual issues that can compound the mind of any newly formed vampire, the film brilliantly avoids any such predictable shortcomings by simultaneously being a romantic comedy, a horror movie,  and an art house flick without any of the normal pitfalls of each respective genre.