I watched a Korean film called Old Boy last night. From the beginning to the end, I was sucked up in a screen.
Quite strange, surreal, violent, a bit of gore, grits and huge shock but I think every single detail was necessary, no deliberate mere shock value. All served purposes. It was such a mad film, so mad that I'm not sure if I could have watched it in a big screen. The film ends quite ambiguously which I really love. It really got my head thinking and imagining what actually happened. If you haven't watched it, DON'T read Wikipedia or film review online, it will ruin the experience!!
Plus I loved the degree or a style of surrealism in the film. I like surrealism in general but not a huge fun of works by Salvador Dali. I consider Dali one of the most successful artists but his works depict aspects that I really don't feel comfortable looking...I'm not quite sure why that is. I like artist like Renee Magritte. Or even Shaun Tan's illustration. I'm not sure how to put it, I guess it's almost like everyday-surrealism... Although the film is nothing like those artists' work, I loved the subtle surrealism, mystery or narrative that pop up in your head in daily life. I really want my works to have that kind of quality.
The other film I watched was a Japanese film by Takeshi Kitano, called Takeshis'.
Really crazy stuff, got me to another planet. In the interview, he said he called this film UFO film. Ha! That's quite true. Hard to categorise this. It's kind of like an autobiography, mocking celebrity culture, being consumed by own success/art and time/space in life... Well, it could be about so many different things but that's how I saw it. Humorous but not quite laughable, violent gang film but not quite right. I think if I watched it again, it will be different.. and if I watch it again, it will be, again, different. He is famous as a director but in my memory, he's a comedian and even though I know how multi-talented he is, he's always a comedian!
Well, I didn't know Eric Bana was a comedian until my Eric told me so he will always be a serious actor to me...
1 comment:
I watched Old Boy in the cinema in edinburgh years ago. I thought it was really good too.
I know what you mean about some surrealism. I'm not the biggest fan of Dali either, although I do respect his works and his intelligence. When I was little I would be scared of surreal cartoons. They made me feel insecure about the solidity of real life around me! Mighty Mouse was just too weird!
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