Park's zany cyborg romantic comedy scores in Berlin
02/10/07 - 10:35 AM
By Andrew McCathie, Dpa
Berlin (dpa) - South Korean director Park Chan-wook admits that his film I'm a cyborg, but that's Ok (Sai bo gu ji man gwen chan a), which had its international premiere at the Berlin Film Festival is unlikely to make him a lot of money.
Set in a psychiatric hospital, it is an off-the-wall romantic comedy which tells the story of Park Il-soon and Cha Young-goon, who thinks she is a human robot or cyborg.
In the film, Park Chan-wook said he increasingly digressed from reality and into the surreal and non-reality.
He wanted his film to have "a different take on humanity."
But the zany humour and unconventional if not baffling storyline have so far not helped to make I'm a cyborg, but that's Ok a resounding success in Park's home country.
Speaking at a press conference following a screening of the film, the director confessed that even his young son was a little unsure of what to make of I'm a cyborg, but that's Ok.
However Park's film has already scored well with many film critics attending this year's Berlinale, which likes to celebrate movies that are edgy and pull back from the mainstream.
But Park's Cyborg with its carefree music score and host of colourful characters is by no means a Korean-style take on the American seventies film classic One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.
For one in Park's film, the inmates appear to enjoy a relatively relaxed relationship with those who are charged with their welfare, including battling it out in ping-pong matches.
Featuring Korean pop star Rain (Jung Ji-hoon) as the kooky Park Il-soon, the story of cyborg is told against the backdrop of a carefree musical score and an extraordinary set of visuals.
It also represents a dramatic change from the more intense movies that Park has directed in recent years.
Traumatized after her much-beloved grandmother (who spends her days eating radishes and feeding mice) Young-goon is dispatched to the funny farm.
Convinced she is a cyborg, Young-goon also ends up in a clinic with Park Il, who has a penchant for wearing masks and is accused of stealing other people's characteristics, including developing the art of yodelling.
Instead of eating, Young-goon tries to recharge what she things are her inner batteries. Aided by her grandmother's dentures, which she uses to communicate with lights and vending machines, Young-goon embarks on a journey to discover the purpose of her existence.
Along the way, she displays the darker side of her character by hallucinating about taking revenge on those who have taken her grandmother away.
It was not easy playing Young-goon said Lim Soo-Jung. She said she did not have a real outline of the character. "It was a blank sheet of paper I had to fill in," she said.
But whatever the audiences might think about Park's cyborg, it represents a triumph for Jung Ji-hoon, which is his first feature film.
Indeed, cyborg appears to be have been a successful vehicle for Jung's transformation from Asian pop sensation Rain to serious movie star, with the 24-year-old pop star-turned-actor bringing a freshness to his role.
"Many people were surprised that I took on the character because he was a bit loony," said Jung.
"But it is a transitional phase for me, because I could move away from the image I have and become a real actor," he said. "I wanted to be reborn."
However, as is the case with Park's other movies there are political messages behind his cyborg film.
Coming of age during the 1980's, Park believes that Seoul's political clampdown on student critics was a major force in shaping his work and to develop an interest in violence which even emerges in cyborg.
The state or the system is always in the background of his movies, he said. "The force of the individual is overwhelmed by this."
But Park also wants to convey another message about the role of machinery and technology in modern life.
Park insists he not necessarily critical of the rapid development of technology.
"I am constantly pointing at technology and the overwhelming application in our lives," said Park.
"The machines have a clear purpose in their lives," he said, which is why the Young-goon character is so attracted to machines.
They have a set of instructions on how we are to live out lives, explained Park.
source: portal.tds.net/news.php?story=23007
credits to tyty6 7 of Bi's thread in soompi
By Andrew McCathie, Dpa
Berlin (dpa) - South Korean director Park Chan-wook admits that his film I'm a cyborg, but that's Ok (Sai bo gu ji man gwen chan a), which had its international premiere at the Berlin Film Festival is unlikely to make him a lot of money.
Set in a psychiatric hospital, it is an off-the-wall romantic comedy which tells the story of Park Il-soon and Cha Young-goon, who thinks she is a human robot or cyborg.
In the film, Park Chan-wook said he increasingly digressed from reality and into the surreal and non-reality.
He wanted his film to have "a different take on humanity."
But the zany humour and unconventional if not baffling storyline have so far not helped to make I'm a cyborg, but that's Ok a resounding success in Park's home country.
Speaking at a press conference following a screening of the film, the director confessed that even his young son was a little unsure of what to make of I'm a cyborg, but that's Ok.
However Park's film has already scored well with many film critics attending this year's Berlinale, which likes to celebrate movies that are edgy and pull back from the mainstream.
But Park's Cyborg with its carefree music score and host of colourful characters is by no means a Korean-style take on the American seventies film classic One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.
For one in Park's film, the inmates appear to enjoy a relatively relaxed relationship with those who are charged with their welfare, including battling it out in ping-pong matches.
Featuring Korean pop star Rain (Jung Ji-hoon) as the kooky Park Il-soon, the story of cyborg is told against the backdrop of a carefree musical score and an extraordinary set of visuals.
It also represents a dramatic change from the more intense movies that Park has directed in recent years.
Traumatized after her much-beloved grandmother (who spends her days eating radishes and feeding mice) Young-goon is dispatched to the funny farm.
Convinced she is a cyborg, Young-goon also ends up in a clinic with Park Il, who has a penchant for wearing masks and is accused of stealing other people's characteristics, including developing the art of yodelling.
Instead of eating, Young-goon tries to recharge what she things are her inner batteries. Aided by her grandmother's dentures, which she uses to communicate with lights and vending machines, Young-goon embarks on a journey to discover the purpose of her existence.
Along the way, she displays the darker side of her character by hallucinating about taking revenge on those who have taken her grandmother away.
It was not easy playing Young-goon said Lim Soo-Jung. She said she did not have a real outline of the character. "It was a blank sheet of paper I had to fill in," she said.
But whatever the audiences might think about Park's cyborg, it represents a triumph for Jung Ji-hoon, which is his first feature film.
Indeed, cyborg appears to be have been a successful vehicle for Jung's transformation from Asian pop sensation Rain to serious movie star, with the 24-year-old pop star-turned-actor bringing a freshness to his role.
"Many people were surprised that I took on the character because he was a bit loony," said Jung.
"But it is a transitional phase for me, because I could move away from the image I have and become a real actor," he said. "I wanted to be reborn."
However, as is the case with Park's other movies there are political messages behind his cyborg film.
Coming of age during the 1980's, Park believes that Seoul's political clampdown on student critics was a major force in shaping his work and to develop an interest in violence which even emerges in cyborg.
The state or the system is always in the background of his movies, he said. "The force of the individual is overwhelmed by this."
But Park also wants to convey another message about the role of machinery and technology in modern life.
Park insists he not necessarily critical of the rapid development of technology.
"I am constantly pointing at technology and the overwhelming application in our lives," said Park.
"The machines have a clear purpose in their lives," he said, which is why the Young-goon character is so attracted to machines.
They have a set of instructions on how we are to live out lives, explained Park.
source: portal.tds.net/news.php?story=23007
credits to tyty6 7 of Bi's thread in soompi
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