It
is not called work because it is easy. Three protagonists will struggle with
their vocations, whether they properly chose them or not, in three of the
selections programmed for the New York Asian Film Festival’s annual Korean
Short Film Madness, which screens this year at the Asia Society.
Being
a filmmaker should be a cool job, but Kim is struggling mightily with his
thesis film in Han Jun-hee’s Understanding
Movies. With his cast and crew growing increasingly annoyed with his dithering,
the mysterious arrival of Louis Giannetti, author of the widely adopted cinema
textbook Understanding Movies seems
to be a godsend to Kim. Unfortunately, the fictionalized version of the real
life academic clearly has a very different aesthetic sensibility. In a way, Han’s
Understanding Movies is sort of like
the Marshall McLuhan gag in Annie Hall,
except McLuhan won’t shut up. It is all quite droll and viewers might even pick
up some cinema studies insights here and there.
Of
the three selected films under consideration, Kim Jin-tae’s Long Inside Angle Shot is by far the
least mad. Ne’er-do-well Tae-bong would like to squander his money on his
shallow mercenary girl friend, but unfortunately his billiards obsessed mother
has drained his savings to buy a billiard hall. It was not her idea. The
Buddhist monks who come to her in visions recommended this investment. Not
really trying to make a go of it, Tae-bong challenges Mother Felsen to a
winner-take-all match. How do you think that turns out? Frankly, Angle is pleasant enough, but it feels
under-developed, even for a short.
Kim
Hyeon-cheol’s Trunk is also something
of a mixed bag, but what it does well, it does really really well. Harried
Kyeong-min was supposed to pick her overbearing boss up at the airport, but she
is running so late her career is in jeopardy. Nonetheless, she tries to close
the trunk of her neighbor’s car when she notices the open hatch. When the darn
thing just won’t close, she calls said neighbor, who does not seem very neighborly.
She asks if Kyeong-min looked inside, but that does not seem like a very good
idea. Marsellus Wallace’s soul might be in there.
Although
it only runs an economical thirteen minutes, Trunk’s set-up and general execution are massively creepy. Kim
Hyeon-cheol’s lead actress is always believable even and especially as she
becomes progressively freaked out. It also features an unusually sinister
voice-over performance. However, the pay-off is an over-the-top head scratcher.
Still, horror movie endings are often disappointing. An intriguing premise and
loads of atmosphere are a good deal more than we usually get.