I’m looking forward to the Empty Man take as well. Pieces of it are brilliant to almost-brilliant, but it doesn’t quite land as a whole. Having said that, there’s enough there that I’m certain I’ll watch it again. It needs the film version of Lebowski’s rug.
THE EMPTY MAN is one of the few films I've recommended to multiple friends and recieved responses ranging from wildly positive to "the dumbest fucking movie I've ever seen in my life"
I "rented" this via Netflix DVD (soon-to-be-RIP) about a year ago, and I was blown away by it - I'm a big, big fan. Also, very tense and scary; I couldn't get my wife to watch it with me but I watched it late at night and I was jumping at random noises for days.
I rewatched this recently and came away thinking the coda was the key to one of the film’s subtler themes. South Korea is a country with mandatory military service that encourages and profits from male violence. I took the little girl’s description of the killer as “ordinary” to mean that it really could have been *any* man, because it could have been.
That’s an interesting bit of context I hadn’t considered. There are no allusions to service that I can recall, but perhaps it’s something that Korean viewers might take in the way you suggest.
There are more direct references to draw from the text too, I think: the fact that the one cop handing them leads that they ignore is a woman, the boyish violence of detective Park (which you discuss in the piece). And the fact that SK, like many places, has a pervasively sexist culture in other ways. I’m definitely going off a few assumptions but I don’t think it’s a *huge* stretch to think that Korean audiences (and progressive artists like Bong) would be dialled into that.
It's great that the film is finally more available. For years the only disc I could find was the Korean release, which fortunately had English subtitles. It's nice to finally have a local version, and know that more people are able to see this fantastic film.
A completely brilliant film I'm not sure I could ever watch again because how hopeless I felt afterwards. Very few films have really gotten in me the way this one did.
I didn't get to see this until the Criterion release, but I was surprised at how much I loved it. Bong's ability to make what is essentially a despairing shaggy dog story into something so engaging and unexpected warm and incredibly funny--well, given that I've seen most of the rest of his films, I knew what to expect, but this is just so damn _watchable_. Like, I may throw the disc on tonight, just to hang out in that world, as unsettling as it is. Great write-up.
Real curious to read your thoughts on The Empty Man. I dug it a lot.
Incredible film, and still my favorite of Bong’s (though I think Mother is his best). Some of the funniest, saddest, and most chilling scenes I’ve seen in any movie, and all in the same one. What a fucking balancing act, I still don’t understand how he made it work.
I’ve only seen this film once, about a decade ago, but moments from it have stuck with me. The same goes for Bong’s Mother, which I saw before it.
I’ll be curious to read your take on The Empty Man because I found that one wanting. I know it has its adherents. It just failed to adhere to me.
I’m looking forward to the Empty Man take as well. Pieces of it are brilliant to almost-brilliant, but it doesn’t quite land as a whole. Having said that, there’s enough there that I’m certain I’ll watch it again. It needs the film version of Lebowski’s rug.
THE EMPTY MAN is one of the few films I've recommended to multiple friends and recieved responses ranging from wildly positive to "the dumbest fucking movie I've ever seen in my life"
A true cult classic in the making.
I "rented" this via Netflix DVD (soon-to-be-RIP) about a year ago, and I was blown away by it - I'm a big, big fan. Also, very tense and scary; I couldn't get my wife to watch it with me but I watched it late at night and I was jumping at random noises for days.
I rewatched this recently and came away thinking the coda was the key to one of the film’s subtler themes. South Korea is a country with mandatory military service that encourages and profits from male violence. I took the little girl’s description of the killer as “ordinary” to mean that it really could have been *any* man, because it could have been.
That’s an interesting bit of context I hadn’t considered. There are no allusions to service that I can recall, but perhaps it’s something that Korean viewers might take in the way you suggest.
There are more direct references to draw from the text too, I think: the fact that the one cop handing them leads that they ignore is a woman, the boyish violence of detective Park (which you discuss in the piece). And the fact that SK, like many places, has a pervasively sexist culture in other ways. I’m definitely going off a few assumptions but I don’t think it’s a *huge* stretch to think that Korean audiences (and progressive artists like Bong) would be dialled into that.
It's great that the film is finally more available. For years the only disc I could find was the Korean release, which fortunately had English subtitles. It's nice to finally have a local version, and know that more people are able to see this fantastic film.
A completely brilliant film I'm not sure I could ever watch again because how hopeless I felt afterwards. Very few films have really gotten in me the way this one did.
I didn't get to see this until the Criterion release, but I was surprised at how much I loved it. Bong's ability to make what is essentially a despairing shaggy dog story into something so engaging and unexpected warm and incredibly funny--well, given that I've seen most of the rest of his films, I knew what to expect, but this is just so damn _watchable_. Like, I may throw the disc on tonight, just to hang out in that world, as unsettling as it is. Great write-up.
Real curious to read your thoughts on The Empty Man. I dug it a lot.
Incredible film, and still my favorite of Bong’s (though I think Mother is his best). Some of the funniest, saddest, and most chilling scenes I’ve seen in any movie, and all in the same one. What a fucking balancing act, I still don’t understand how he made it work.
Managed to finally catch this one last year. Haunting yet a melange of elements.
Well written, Scott!
Hype Williams’ BELLY would be a fun one for this feature