FadedBlue_net

Title: I’m A Cyborg, But That’s OK
Director: Park Chan-Wook
Year: 2006
Genre: Comedy
Format Reviewed: Blu-ray

Ahh, Park Chan-wook.  One of my three favorite directors from Korea.  The other two being Kim Ki-duk and the upcoming Joon-ho Bong.  You probably already know the stuff he’s done, so I’ll skip over his history.  He’s never let me down; every film has been superb, as far back as J.S.A.  But how does he hold up in comedy, a very different direction from his past?  Very well.

Actually the comedy in his other “violent” movies is a little more clever than I’m A Cyborg.  Maybe their punchlines are just more unexpected, but Cyborg is different in that is has a sense of humor more akin to other Korean comedies.  I would classify I’m A Cyborg’s humor as intelligent silliness.  It’s not quite slap-stick, though a lot of it is very oddball in a childish way.  This fits the setting, as the entire movie takes place in (or very nearby) an insane asylum.  Rolling around on the floor and hiding in a clock mantle provide up-front gags, but the real laughs are in word puns (at least in the English subs) and in small comments and imitations of the characters.

The cast mostly consists of your destined-to-be-paired two inmates.  One of which has come to the conclusion that she must be a cyborg.  The guy, who is acted by the apparently famous singer Rain, has a special power that he can transfer other inmates quirks and abilities to himself, in effect stealing their problems.  So, in order to relieve the cyborg of her human elements (like sympathy) which is holding her back from her goals, the thief will steal them away.  The supporting actors probably come out with the best gags, while the main characters move ahead the story, which is probably a good way to divide these elements up in a comedy.

Along the way, there are many silly or childish plot turns; ideas that you kind of just have to go along with.  This is no problem, though.  I mean, going into a Korean comedy you generally have to just forget about your age and laugh at everything shoved in your face.  There are several visual sequences which really elaborate on the inner thoughts or ambitions of our femme cyborg.  They keep the same tone of the rest of the film, though I felt that they bring you out of the movie a little too much.  Still… finger cannons are pretty sweet. The last scene where the thief has to teach the cyborg how to eat rice is absolutely hillarious.  The entire movie is worth watching for this one scene.

While I wouldn’t beg Park Chan-wook to make another comedy (more so because his serious stuff is so good), the movie is good and definitely worth watching.   Fans of his won’t necessarily like the movie just for good directing. Although it is done well, you should decide to watch this based on whether you like Korean humor in general.  If you don’t know, here’s a great place to start.

Rating – 4 /5

Ok.. so it’s not a dedicated website twitter account, but I’m the only one writing for my site here.  Feel free to follow me on Twitter, because apparently the internet is catching on to this trend and it’s cooler to track websites via twitter rather than RSS (which I never really got into).  You will, however, have to put up with my random thoughts on a day-to-day basis.  If anyone really wants to track the site updates ONLY, then I could consider a separate account for the site.  Just let me know in the comments.

Also, I’ve added a ‘Links to Me’ section, which includes a link to my other blog on video games.  I actually write in that one more regularly.  This one tends to be a little sporadic.

I’m thinking of doing a Best of ’08 list as well, though it would have to be mostly American film, since it takes me a little while to get recent asian DVDs and watch them.  I did recently receive my bluray copy of Swing Girls.  I’ve seen the movie once already, but will plan to review it as well.

Reviews watched movies I hope to do soon: I’m a Cyborg, But That’s OK; Slumdog Millionaire

Title: Early Spring (aka Soshun)
Director: Yasujiro Ozu
Year: 1956
Genre: Drama
Format Reviewed: Criterion Eclipse DVD

Title: Tokyo Twilight (aka Tokyo Boshoku)
Director: Yasujiro Ozu
Year: 1957
Genre: Drama
Format Reviewed: Criterion Eclipse DVD

I recently bought the Eclipse Series 3 box set, and have gotten through the first two movies.  Early Spring and Tokyo Twilight are the two B&W films of the set and are quite a bit different in plot.  Early Spring follows a salaryman who becomes involved with a co-worker, while his marriage is on the rocks for reasons related and unrelated.  It is a study of interaction between people who have known each other for a long time.  Tokyo Twilight‘s main plot revolves around a much younger protagonist, who unknowingly meets her mother, who ran away with another man after giving birth, leaving the girl to be raised by a single father.  Tokyo Twilight actually feels much slower paced and has a good amount of angst.  I suppose some things in youth are universal.

Early Spring is the better feeling film, though enjoyment from an Ozu film has more to do with whether you can grow into the characters.  There is a bittersweet ending and it can be touching, as the characters are quite likable.  In contrast, Tokyo Twilight seems more distant and unrelatable, although purposefully.  It’s an interesting comparison to look into.  For Early Spring, one can understand that the love between a couple can go through hard times and yet still feel close.  As for the relation between the daughter in Tokyo Twilight and her mother, they have never met before, and although they share a mother-daughter bond, it seems that fate will always keep them separated because their love was never given time to mature.  Though there is also a meditation on the limits to what the bond the single father can have with his daughter.
Of course, if you’ve seen an Ozu film before, you know the style of film and deliberately paced family drama that you are getting into.  There are few times where you laugh, cry, get depressed, etc.  It’s the test given to a good drama.   Ozu is obviously a master of this genre, and neither of these two film disappoint fans of his.  Early Spring is interesting enough to be accessible to a newcomer to older Japanese cinema, and I would chose it over Tokyo Twilight.  It may even be a better choice to start here with Ozu rather than Tokyo Story, because it is a little less depressing and more relatable, though certainly not as moving.

The Eclipse transfer is pretty good, though I can’t compare to a film copy.  I didn’t notice any significant lack of details in dark spots.  Running through the mono-theater simulation on my receiver, they both sounded very good.

Ratings:
Early Spring – 5 /5
Tokyo Twilight – 4 /5