It's wonderful in pretty much every way.
I think with this film, Chan-wook Park explores his full potential in the realm of levity. To me it feels like a near polar opposite to Oldboy, the director's most famous and beloved film, in its tone. There is such a bouncy and unbridled energy to it, especially in the first half, which strikes me as a far cry from the moodier and more contemplative moments in Oldboy. Watching this film however, it didn't take long to feel that Park channeled the same directing expertise into it which made films like Oldboy and The Handmaiden such masterpieces.
For starters, the execution of this film is absolutely mesmerizing. Like his other films, Park's camera seems to adopt more of a role as a spectator than as a mere tool for framing the story. The simpler way of putting it is that it's a sort of fly-on-the-wall feel. The camera glides around scenes effortlessly and takes on a life of its own, like a ghost which haunts the very space of the film. That space by the way, is given the same dream like quality as its peers, with exaggerated saturated colors and lighting which gives the settings a sense of being more fantasy than reality.
Of course it's only too fitting that this film should look like a fantasy, because in many ways that is the nature of the story. Because the story centers on a cast of characters which are nearly all delusional, the way that the audience perceives the reality of the film is a reflection of that delusion. What we witness is the experience of these characters, so when they take flight, reduce in size, fire bullets out of their finger tips, and so on, while we understand that it's merely a fantasy, we also understand that for the people in the film it is very much a reality.
That I think is ultimately the purpose of this film. While it is ostensibly a quirky comedy about a bunch of crazy people and their wacky adventures, at its core its an empathetic look at delusional people. The juxtaposition of the way the doctors of the mental institution relate to them and the way they relate to each other I think demonstrates the lessons that the film wishes to impart onto its audience. You can't expect to understand the people around you, healthy or sick, if you're not willing to put yourself in their shoes and experience the world in the way that they experience it.
Check it out. It's nice.
I think with this film, Chan-wook Park explores his full potential in the realm of levity. To me it feels like a near polar opposite to Oldboy, the director's most famous and beloved film, in its tone. There is such a bouncy and unbridled energy to it, especially in the first half, which strikes me as a far cry from the moodier and more contemplative moments in Oldboy. Watching this film however, it didn't take long to feel that Park channeled the same directing expertise into it which made films like Oldboy and The Handmaiden such masterpieces.
For starters, the execution of this film is absolutely mesmerizing. Like his other films, Park's camera seems to adopt more of a role as a spectator than as a mere tool for framing the story. The simpler way of putting it is that it's a sort of fly-on-the-wall feel. The camera glides around scenes effortlessly and takes on a life of its own, like a ghost which haunts the very space of the film. That space by the way, is given the same dream like quality as its peers, with exaggerated saturated colors and lighting which gives the settings a sense of being more fantasy than reality.
Of course it's only too fitting that this film should look like a fantasy, because in many ways that is the nature of the story. Because the story centers on a cast of characters which are nearly all delusional, the way that the audience perceives the reality of the film is a reflection of that delusion. What we witness is the experience of these characters, so when they take flight, reduce in size, fire bullets out of their finger tips, and so on, while we understand that it's merely a fantasy, we also understand that for the people in the film it is very much a reality.
That I think is ultimately the purpose of this film. While it is ostensibly a quirky comedy about a bunch of crazy people and their wacky adventures, at its core its an empathetic look at delusional people. The juxtaposition of the way the doctors of the mental institution relate to them and the way they relate to each other I think demonstrates the lessons that the film wishes to impart onto its audience. You can't expect to understand the people around you, healthy or sick, if you're not willing to put yourself in their shoes and experience the world in the way that they experience it.
Check it out. It's nice.