NYKFF ’15: Wonderful Nightmare

You would think Heaven would have the best clerical help available, but it is apparently hard to find officious bureaucrats with good hearts. Just like they did in Here Comes Mr. Jordan and Heaven Can Wait, the celestial paper pushers have summoned a soul before its time. In this case, high-powered super attorney Yeon-woo still has a perfectly good body resting in a coma. If she merely takes the place of a woman whisked away one month early, she can be transferred back to her regular body and the life that goes with it. Of course, that will be plenty of time for her to forge emotional attachments in Kang Hyo-jin’s Wonderful Nightmare (trailer here), which closes the 2015 New York Korean Film Festival.

Yeon-woo grew up as an orphan when her sailor father was lost at sea and her mother died prematurely of a broken heart. She learned to rely only on herself. She now thrives as a cutthroat power lawyer, but concrete traffic barriers are just as solid for her as they are for the rest of us. Nevertheless, she was supposed to walk away from her accident—and she still will, once she has done a solid for Mr. Lee, the manager of Heaven’s processing center.

Yeon-woo’s instructions are clear. She is not to make any consequential changes to her host body’s life. Of course, the highbrow attorney chafes at their lower middle class lifestyle. She is also freaked out at the prospect of having a teenaged daughter and a son in kindergarten. At least her husband Sung-hwan is handsome, but his work as a civil service salaryman hardly impresses her. Eventually, you know exactly what starts to happen, despite Yeon-woo’s initially standoffish, nervous breakdown-like behavior. That means tough choices and sacrifices are inevitable.

Nightmare was a huge hit domestically, so you know you’re going to need a hanky. However, screenwriter Kim Je-yeong cranks up the sentimentality in rather clever ways. It is manipulative as all outdoors, but at least it calls back and closes loops in ways that enrich the narrative. We’re going to get played by Kang and Kim, but played well.

Uhm Jung-hwa is game enough in the ostensibly anti-diva diva role. In the 1990s, she was sort of like the Julia Roberts of Korea, but she is still at the top of her game. Obviously, you do not maintain that kind of clout by phoning it in. She also develops some appealingly easy-going chemistry with Song Seung-heon as her husband for the month. Rubber faced character actor Kim Sang-ho mostly keeps the shtick in check as Kim from above. However, the film’s real discovery is the charismatic Seo Shin-ae, who is perfectly cynical and sarcastic in a teen kind of way as her daughter Ha-neul.

You had better believe there are lessons to be learned in Nightmare. There is also a good deal of body-switching comedy that is more worthy of groans than laughs. Nevertheless, when the film throws down the melodramatic hammer, it somehow gets it all together and brings it home. In all truth, The Beauty Inside (screening today at NYKFF) is an even more emotionally satisfying romantic fantasy, but Kang closes strong. Recommended for fans of feel good, slightly supernatural rom-coms, Wonderful Nightmare screens this coming Wednesday (11/11) at the Museum of the Moving Image, as part of the 2015 NYKFF.

NYKFF ’15: Trap

“Waxing the cat” is a publishing expression for the pretexts writers invent to do anything but finish the manuscripts they are expected to deliver imminently. Outside the business, it might sound like a euphemism for something else. Either use of the term would probably apply to screenwriter Jeong-min. He checked into a rustic mountain guesthouse to complete the screenplay he didn’t want to write, but quickly becomes obsessed with the owner’s Lolita-ish daughter in “Playboy” Bong Man-dae’s Trap (trailer here), which screens during the 2015 New York Korean Film Festival.

Jeong-min has just had a confidence-bruising break-up and an embarrassing career setback. Despite his bitterness at the way his angst-ridden screenplay was bastardized into something crassly commercial by a hipster director, he accepts an assignment to do something quite similar to a literary novel. His heart was not in it to begin with. Then he met Yu-mi, if that is indeed her name. It seems to depend when he asks. That is what she goes by at night, when she is infinitely more flirtatious. In contrast, she is mostly cold shouldersville during the day.

On his first night as a guest, Jeong-min immediately starts peeping on Yu-mi while she takes her bath. That always gets him hot and bothered. Before long, Yu-mi starts coming to his room for some heavy foreplay. However, they always stop short of full consummation and she never acknowledges their passion the next morning. Eventually, Jeong-min starts to wonder if he is having difficulty distinguishing dreams from reality or if Yu-mi is just toying with him—or both.

As you might deduce from his nickname, “Playboy” Bong has a reputation for sexually charged fare. Yet, Trap is not as creepy as it sounds, despite Jeong-min’s kinship with Humbert Humbert. Bong’s hothouse vibe is appropriately seductive and unsettling, but his pacing is surprisingly slow and deliberate. Frankly, the dawdling first act needs much tighter focus. Still, it is hard to get bored once the sexual obsession kicks in.

Han Je-in displays amazing range as Yu-mi, playing a spirited, no-nonsense persona by day and a scenery chewing femme fatale at night. Yoo Ha-joon is convincingly awkward as Jeong-min, but his passive presence leaves the film feeling rudderless at times. Bong’s big twist is not exactly shocking either, but at least he chronicles some engaging gamesmanship along the way.

As an eroticized thriller, Trap is better realizing the former rather than the latter. Regardless, it is a useful reminder how dangerous getting away from it all can be. It is certainly diverting but not nearly as entertaining as the adrenaline-infused period action thriller Assassination also screening tomorrow (11/7) at this year’s NYKFF. Nevertheless, Trap is not the sort of Korean film that gets picked up for American distribution, so intrigued viewers should make a point of seeing it when it screens at MoMI.

NYKFF ’15: Madonna

There is a horrific organ harvesting scheme afoot in this swanky hospital, but the vibe is more Theodore Dreiser than Robin Cook. Everyone more-or-less knows the ruthless son of the hospital chairman will have the heart literally ripped out of a pregnant comatose street walker, killing both mother and child in the process. Sadly, this is just another injustice to befall the young woman, as a recently hired nurse’s aide learns during the course of her case history research in Shin Su-won’s Madonna (trailer here), which screens during the 2015 New York Korean Film Festival.

Moon Hye-rim is in desperate financial straits, but there is no shortage of money around her while she is on the job. She works in the exclusive VIP ward of an elite, well-funded hospital. Chairman Kim Cheol-oh is by far their most important patient. Clearly, his ventilator dependent body has had enough of life, but his son Kim Sang-woo will go to any length to prolong his miserable existence, primarily for financial reasons. Once the chairman dies, his fortune will be donated to charity, leaving virtually nothing for the entitled son. However, the junior Kim also seems to take sadistic satisfaction from his father’s miserable state.

Having exhausted their Chinese suppliers, Kim intends to plunder the heart of Jang Mi-na, a very pregnant young prostitute, nick-named Madonna because of her full figure. Frankly, it is questionable just how brain dead she truly is. However, everyone understands perfectly well the donation procedure will kill the baby. Moon agrees to track down a next of kin to sign Kim’s dubious consent forms, but in the process, she learns the magnitude of the tribulations endured by Jang.

Madonna is probably the most thoroughly and unremittingly heartbreaking film since Tetsuya Nakashima’s utterly draining Memories of Matsuko. Both films completely pummel the audience from start to finish, giving only us the leanest, subtlest payoffs imaginable. Yet, both are profoundly moral films. Yes, on a surface level, Madonna is a scathing indictment of class privilege and unchecked male sexual predation. Yet, it cuts far deeper, addressing basic human issues of empathy and exploitation.

In her feature debut, Kwon So-hyun is absolutely extraordinary as poor Jang. It is a harrowing performance, forcing her to endure all manner of physical and verbal abuse, but she is utterly convincing every step of the way. She never resorts to cheap histrionics, earning tears fair and square. Indeed, if she does not have you at least a little choked-up before it is all said and done, than you’re pretty suspect as a human being.

Although it initially appears to be the lead role, the ultra-reserved Moon is actually a rather thankless part. However, Seo Young-hee still quite compellingly portrays the slow awakening of her conscience. In contrast, the large supporting cast of exploiters and indifferent bystanders are credible enough, but largely pedestrian compared to the remarkable Kwon.

Shin will totally put you through the wringer, but it is worth it to witness the arrival an enormous young talent. Madonna should absolutely be the start of something big for Kwon So-hyun. Highly recommended for those who appreciate socially charged drama with a pinch of a noir thriller thrown in for garnish, Madonna screens this Sunday (11/8) at the Museum of the Moving Image, as part of the 2015 NYKFF.

NYKFF ’15: Confession

There are not a lot of 1980s style video arcades left in the world. Unfortunately, one of the few remaining in Seoul is about to go up in smoke. What starts as a dodgy scheme quickly turns tragic in Lee Do-yun’s Confession (trailer here), which screens during the 2015 New York Korean Film Festival.

While playing hooky from their middle school graduation, In-chul, Hyun-tae, and Min-soo nearly died during a mishap in the mountains. In-chul was able to return with help just in the nick of time, but for a while it looked like he had abandoned his chums. As grown-ups, the trio are still inseparable. Although Hyun-tae has married, the slick In-chul and slow-witted Min-soo treat his lovely deaf wife Mi-ran and loving daughter Yu-ri like family.

Oddly, In-chul is closer to Hyun-tae’s mother than her own son. Although the details are vague, Hyun-tae, the squeaky clean fire-fighter resents her dubious dealings, whereas In-chul can relate only too well. Naturally, when she hatches a plan to torch the subterranean arcade for the insurance money, In-chul is the one she calls. After much browbeating, Min-soo agrees to help his sleazy pal. Inevitably, things go spectacularly sour, leading to the accidental death of Hyun-tae’s mother (fire in a basement dive is just an awfully bad idea). Soon, Hyun-tae is hunting the perpetrators, utterly oblivious to his friends’ involvement, while a humorless insurance investigator suspects all three amigos.

As noir morality plays go, Confession makes A Simple Plan look upbeat and whimsical. Accidentally killing your pal’s mom is pretty darned Biblical stuff. In fact, screenwriter-director Lee gives the deceit and betrayals genuinely tragic heft. The way he calls back to their boyhood misadventure is particularly heavy, almost Shakespearean.

Those elegiac highs help smooth over some of the rough patches, including Hyun-tae’s profound lack of intuition. That the only sympathetic grown woman in the film never has any spoken dialogue is also slightly problematic. Nevertheless, Lee is devilishly adroit at dropping one darned thing after another on In-chul. Ju Ji-hoon plays the increasingly desperate In-chul to the hilt, with just a touch of Nic Cage mania, but not too excessively much. Ji Sung is perfectly fine as the ploddingly righteous Hyun-tae. However, the dignity and reserve of Lee Kwang-soo’s work as the potentially offensive Min-soo really saves the film’s bacon.

Confession never breaks any new cinematic ground, but it sure closes strong. If you enjoy noirs served with grit and angst than you will find it to be a rich feast. Recommended for thriller fans, Confession screens this Saturday (11/7) at the Museum of the Moving Image, as part of the 2015 NYKFF.

NYKFF ’15: The Shameless

It is hard for a femme fatale to age gracefully. Kim Hye-kyung might look like she is, but the hostess is having a particularly tough time of it, due to the constant harassment of loan sharks and mobbed-up businessmen. She fell for the wrong guy and never stopped falling. Undercover Detective Jung Jae-gon is probably an even more wrong guy, but he manages to insinuate himself into Kim’s life just the same in Oh Seung-uk’s The Shameless (trailer here), which screens during the 2015 New York Korean Film Festival.

Once, Kim was the kept woman of a high-ranking VP at Jay Investments. Unfortunately, there were some betrayals and a number of bad investments. The upshot is Kim now owes hundreds of thousands to her creditors, including Jay Investments, but has little hope of paying off her debt through her toil in a hostess bar. To make matters worse, whenever Park Joon-kil comes calling, he usually takes on more debt in her name. Yet, she can never deny him.

Det. Jung is technically a cop, but his division is about as rogue as it gets. He still takes orders from his mentor, even though the senior officer was forced to resign by a corruption probe. Jung’s latest assignment is to find Park and cripple him in retribution for killing a rival mob associate. Knowing Park always returns to sponge off Kim, Jung tries to get close to her, posing as her lover’s former cellmate. Despite their frosty initial meeting, Kim soon hires Jung to be the club’s muscle. As they spend time together, some major sexual tension develops. There might even be some emotional substance to it, deep down somewhere in their malfunctioning psyches.

You can call Shameless a noir or a melodrama, but either way, Jeon Do-yeon’s performance as Kim is absolutely staggering. To get a sense of the impact of her work, try breaking ten boards with your head. They both sting like Hell, but the results will amaze you. This is the kind of meaty, complicated role Hollywood actresses over thirty-five would commit blue murder to land. Jeon nails it with a perfectly modulated, harrowingly realistic feat of screen acting.

Even the gruffly charismatic Park Sung-woong’s Park Joon-ki is swimming in Jeon’s wake. Nevertheless, Kim Nam-gil deserves credit for keeping up to any extent as the icily reserved, borderline sociopathic Det. Jung. However, Kim Min-jae makes a memorably odious villain in the person of Min Young-ki, who apparently works as Jay Investment’s chief liaison to gangsters and crooked coppers.

Jeon took best actress honors at Cannes for Lee Chang-dong’s Secret Sunshine, which was also pretty impressive, but her work as Kim Hye-kyung truly deserves a standing ovation. Even though it has been fifteen years since he last helmed a feature, Oh also definitely holds his end up. His striking sense of visual composition and blighted urban backdrops further elevate Shameless above and beyond the realm of conventional gangster melodrama. Highly recommended, The Shameless screens this Saturday (11/7) at the Museum of the Moving Image, as part of the 2015 NYKFF.

NYKFF ’15: Office

There is no reason a place of business should have to be a zone of self-esteem coddling currently termed a “safe place.” After all, grown-ups are working there. However, the Cheil Corporation is a whole different matter. There is nothing safe about this corporate headquarters, as proved by the rising body count. One hard-working but unpopular intern is at the center of the lethal mystery in Hong Won-chan’s Office (trailer here), which screens as the opening night selection of the 2015 New York Korean Film Festival.

One fateful night, Kim Byeong-gook came home, bludgeoned his family to death with a hammer and then returned to the office, where he apparently disappeared. CCTV has him entering but not exiting, so presumably he is haunting the building, like a salaryman Phantom of the Opera. This rather unnerves his superiors at Cheil, who treated him like dirt. Frankly, Lee Mi-rae was the only employee he was on friendly terms with, except she is not really an employee. She is still an intern, desperate to be hired full-time.

Unfortunately, being an earnest plugger like Kim, she just does not fit in with Cheil’s cutthroat corporate culture. Still, they ought to be a little nicer, considering the embarrassing information they are counting on her to keep secret from the investigating detective, Choi Jung-hoon. The subsequent dubious suicide of the office suck-up tipped for promotion will also presumably leave them greatly short-staffed. However, the sales director, Kim Sang-gyu seems to think he can make up ground through threats and emotional abuse.

At times, it is unclear whether Office (absolutely not to be confused with the Johnnie To musical of the same title) is meant to be a straight-up murder-mystery thriller or an unusually subtle horror film, but that ambiguity is actually pretty cool. The Jones & Sunn firm of To’s film might be problematic in some ways, but it has nothing on Chiel. Frankly, it makes both Office sitcoms and Mike Judge’s Office Space looks like lyric odes to cubicle life.

Probably best known to American audiences for her youthful turn in The Host and her adult breakout work in Snowpiercer, Ko Ah-sung is pretty darn incredible as the socially awkward Lee. We feel for her deeply, even as we suspect there is something funny about her. Likewise, Bae Sung-woo humanizes the ostensibly monstrous Kim Byeong-gook, just like Erik the Phantom. Ryoo Hyoun-kyoung also loses her composure rather spectacularly as shrewish but increasingly rattled Assistant Manager Hong Ji-sun, while the always reliable Park Sung-woong rock-solidly anchors the film as the hardnosed Det. Choi.

Whether you see it coming or not, Office is still a slick and gripping dark thriller. Hong and cinematographer Park Yong-soo capture the ominous look of florescent lighting and the cold, severe ambience of bullpen style cubes. Yet, with its one central setting and assortment of multiple suspects and potential victims, it is also refreshingly old school in its approach, like a white collar Deathtrap. Highly recommended for fans of suspense-related genres, Office screens this Friday (11/6) at the Museum of the Moving Image, as part of the 2015 NYKFF.