It's always nice to watch a film that truly feels like the filmmakers are actually having fun and making a good film. Courtesy of 5 Points Pictures, we can now see this gem here in the States. Doh Wan-Deuk is a man who lives a life that most would not wish to have upon themselves; poor and out of luck. His father danced for a living but his dance studio was closed down and now they have to go out in the streets and make money dancing for complete strangers with Wan-Deuk's uncle. His life seems to be even more down and out with his teacher, who lives across from him, always torturing him and making his life miserable. One day, he tells him that his mother is Filipino and that she wants to see him but Wan-Deuk feels like he should have nothing to do with her but later on bond over through similar mishaps in life.
The film as a whole feels more like you are seeing a glimpse of someone's life than an actual film so the style of the film has a slice of life feel to it. The balance between the film being serious and funny is well intentioned and feels real. The film has laugh out loud moments especially with the next door neighbor complaining about how loud it is at night. His foul-mouthed antics are very funny.
The main focus though with this film is the relationship between Doh Wan-Deuk and Dong-Ju and how they learn to cope with each other. Because Wan-Deuk hates him, he prays to God to kill him but he feels that God is ignoring his prayers and then learns later that maybe Dong-Ju's belief in God is much stronger. It's an interesting relationship because when Wan-Deuk's father and Uncle leave to make money, Dong-Ju becomes his guardian. It's a nice growth of how these two balance each other out and that Dong-Ju is really trying to help Wan-Deuk with him meeting his mother.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCzdeZcIGhA
There is also the aspect of Doh-Wan-Deuk being emotionally unstable and getting himself into trouble by getting into fights so he decides to join a kickboxing group as a way of releasing his anger in a controlled environment. The action scenes during the boxing matches are a mixed bag for me. There are times when the camera is stagnant and doesn't move at all and then there are times when the camera is WAY too close to the action and you can't see a darn thing. I don't want to give too much away but I felt happy with the overall results of the film. Everything felt balanced and while some of the characters feel to be just there for the sake of creating an ensemble cast, I wasn't bothered by any of the film's faults. Overall, this is a great film and one of the better Korean films I've seen in a long time.
Aucun commentaire:
Enregistrer un commentaire