I’m a Cyborg but that’s ok: The 7th film by Park Chan Wook
iView Author: Shiv (Mumbai, India)
Email: Kunwarshivsingh [at]gmail[dot]com
Content : I’m a Cyborg but that’s ok: The 7th film by Park Chan Wook
Boy meets girl, they fall in love. Shit happens, shit hits the fan, shit is cleaned up. Boy and girl are back together. That pretty much sums up what happens in most romantic comedies. It is arguably the most prolific genre in mainstream cinema, and henceforth the most prone to clichés. The best writers, Woody Allen, Billy Wilder, Hrishikesh Mukherjee amongst others, though have managed to work under these rom-com parameters and yet have managed to break through the clichés that permeate through the largely mediocre glut that is churned out of Hollywood and our very own Bollywood, year after year.
At first glance Park Chan Wook might seem the most unlikely candidate in the world to direct a romantic comedy. There are very few directors in the world who can make violence look as beautiful as him. A philosophy major and former art critic, his film career took off with Joint Security Area, a thriller set on the Korean border. I’m not condoning plagiarism, but if Sanjay Gupta really wanted to remake a Korean film, he should have remade JSA and not Oldboy. It is better suited to Bollywood palates. After JSA, Park directed his famous vengeance trilogy: Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Oldboy, and Sympathy for Lady Vengeance. Three superb films from a film maker at the height of his powers. While most people know about Oldboy (courtesy a certain film called Zinda, and its Grand Jury Prize at Cannes), the other two are equally good. It’s hard to choose a favorite but I’ll go with Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance.
His next film took him into new territory. Titled I’m a Cyborg but that’s ok, the film stars the Korean pop star Rain (seen last in Speed Racer). It is about a love affair that blooms in a mental institution between two mentally disturbed patients. The girl, played by Im Su-Jeong, believes that she is a cyborg (a humanoid robot) while Rain’s character is a schizophrenic. It’s a film that’s as whacky as its characters. Some of the endearing misfits in the mental institution include a man who walks backwards and who believes every mishap in the world is his fault. Another is a compulsive liar whose memories are erased every time she gets shock therapy and therefore she comes up with fascinating stories to bridge the gaps in her memory, and of course our two main protagonists. It’s a bit like One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest…on acid.
The major part of the film belongs to Im Su-Jeong who plays Young-goon. Because of certain incidents in her childhood which have left her indelibly scarred, she believes that she is a cyborg. As a result she stops eating preferring to either lick batteries or recharge herself using live electrical wires. The scene in the beginning of the film is especially gory, but the director takes care to inject humor in to the scene which makes it less disturbing. Because of her unique gastronomic preferences, Young- Goon is severely malnourished and on the verge of death. She refuses to eat because she believes traditional types of food will damage her circuits. Enter Park Il-Sun (Rain), the star of the asylum. A schizophrenic, he is considered a master thief, and is the top dog in the institution. He has stolen from the inmates, among other things, their ping pong serves, their sympathies, a pair of dentures and the day Thursday. He realizes Young Goon’s predicament and strives to solve her problems using his peculiar but highly ingenious methods.
I wont go into specific details, but its suffices to say that his methods are highly effective and so impossibly charming that only a nut would ever come up with them. In fact the tone of the entire film reflects a nutty charm. Using vibrant colors, his trademark slick camera work and a mixture of Western Classical (Park loves Bach and Vivaldi) and bubble gum pop background score, the director injects this film with a mad energy which elevates this film from the mediocricity that burdens the rom com genre throughout the world. Another special note has to be given to the VFX team. Park is one of the few directors in the world to creatively use VFX in the telling of his story. David Fincher is another. There is no overkill here, just what is necessary to tell the story. The first kiss in the film is an example of the synergy between the writers of the screenplay and the VFX team, perfectly exploited by the director. It has got to be one of the best film kisses ever. Another scene is near the end of the film, where Young Goon tries to eat a bowl of rice. Using great writing, VFX and a superb mise en scene Park literally creates more tension in this food eating scene than many thrillers which literally obliterate entire cities in their quest for cinematic tension.
Roger Ebert, the famous American film critic, has an annual film festival called Ebertfest (formerly called Overlooked Film Festival)…a screening of good films which have been ignored for various reasons. I’m a Cyborg but that’s OK, would be a good candidate for Ebertfest. It released in 2006 to a largely lukewarm response in Korea and was a disappointment when compared to his previous blockbusters. I guess people expected more violence. Though it did win the Alfred Bauer Prize at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2007, and I guess that counts for something. Park, however, decided to work on more familiar territory for his next outing. It’s a film called Thirst. It’s about a priest who’s in love with his friend’s wife. The only problem is that he’s slowly turning into a vampire…now is that cool or what!
Tags: Alfred Bauer Prize, Ebertfest, I’m a Cyborg but that’s ok, Park Chan Wook, Roger Ebert, Sympathy for Lady Vengeance, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Thirst, World Cinema
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Thanks..will surely check it out.
If someone comes to me and asks me that which country’s cinema do i enjoy most, i would abruptly say Korean cinema.
The first movie that i watched from Korea was “My Sassy girl”, a movie that has been my all time favorite since the day i saw it. Park Chan-Wook is one such director whom i always look forward to, right from JSA (joint security area) to his vengeance trilogy(mentioned in the article) and also the three extremes(compilation of work of three great directors Fruit Chan(Hong Kong), Takashi Milke(Japan) and of course, Park Chan-Wook(South Korea)). He is one such directors who has the ability to really explore the psychology of his characters to a level where we start to identify them as apart of ourselves, though a dark side of it. I think Koreans excel in making the best psychological horror-violent-comedy movies, just like mexicans excel in anthological movies. The only guy from some other country that i place any close to the style of Korean film making is Tarantino, whom I consider an institute in himself, though i rate Park Chan-Wook higher than him.
I was actually looking for this movie from such a long time but couldn’t find enough time to go through it. The article now made me more eager than i was to finish this movie as soon as possible. Good article. Thanks
I do like his films, but Chan-Wook didn’t quite do it for me with this one.
Really looked forward to it, but left the cinema dissapointed.
Failed to keep me involved.
Probably one of his weaker films.
But, still looking forward to his next.