Shi (Poetry)

Chang-Dong Lee - 2010
I can't get too excited about this, for all the nice things in it. The camera is long takes, pretty mobile camera, no tripods but not too much shaking. Formally, there doesn't seem a huge amount to write home about. Except, that is, for some foregrounding of the narration, our relationship, as it seems to turn documentary at one point, and then the camerman seemingly kickes a ball back that rolls towards us.
Thematically, it is compassionate and curious. A discussion of memory, the fading woman as the only one who can remember. It tackles a subject open to pretension, but is capable of undercutting moments when everything is getting a bit too nice. It menaders along pretty glacially, and is a mite predictable, but is, at the very least, a meaty slab of realism, with that edge of the violent.

Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter... and Spring

2003 movie, from Ki-duk Kim; very poor
direction is far too fast for the subject, randomnly jittering about
master shots just randomly changed angle, no sense of duration
minimal camera movement makes it visually dull,
as does the grey lighting, the lack of shadow and pictoral interest
such an opportunity as well; a few glimpses of bright leaves, lovely fog, all wasted
its not a bad idea, and does create some interesting correspondences and mood changes
but this is so philosophically inert, really pretty nasty
negative view of some putative 'human nature', with some fridge magnet style evocation of a deeply conservative superior world
better to read it as a deeply unpleasant old man....
also nastily mysognistic when the female comes; simply not acceptable, director lacks brain
a certainly stupid film, not a bad idea, but terribly executed

Sympathy For Mr Vengeance

This 2002 movie is known as the first part of an incredibly popular cross-over trilogy, the next part being 'Oldboy'. It's a good film, good looking, but too difficult to get too excited by.
We couldn't help but being constantly reminded of 'Mother', which is a better film, with more psychoanalytic depth, and more of a slant on things. The visuals are similar, with the vibrant, clear colours, especially light greens and a very bright white sunshine. The use of the city, the cross of the still quite brazen shanty-towns, also takes us back to 'Mother'. As do the kinds of characters that are portrayed. The very clear off beatness, here occassionally falling into 'quirky'.
The basic tenet of this film is, outside of the all the trappings, actually quite simple. It is all about the extents to which people fit in to society, with those who rebel against the symbolic order moving against it, and those who thought they were safe, ideology-less, finding their worlds falling apart. Everyone though is trapped in a kind of self-centredness, that makes the violence completely inevitable.
There are some interesting images here which adds to this. The reverse 'Antigone' of the burial outside the order, and the general fall of the unthinking capitalist, are well done. The political allusions are underdeveloped, but there's something there.
This film though doesn't really offer solutions, and does find itself going around in circles, running out of themes a bit. It turns into a bloodbath which can, frankly, become a little dull.
This film has interesting themes and a decent enough visual style, but as art and politically (the same) it is a bit of closed circle. It would be silly to say this film isn't quite good, but a stretch to say a lot more.

Mother

This South Korean thriller, arthouse movie, family and psychoanalytic horror, comes from Bong Joon-Ho.
It is a terrific film in some respects, if a little disjointed and very, very peripatetic. It starts off rather lazily, a bit unfocussed in its narrative stance but with some arresting images (golf course, wheat field, threshing) and a nice line in deadpan camerawork. The appreciation of inanimate objects, the takes of camera movement rather than cutting, and some long shots of characters framed against a wall all give it a very art house feel.
The film never drags though as it suddenly turns itself into a thriller, a complex plot led one, which still finds time for some lovely visual touches but does rather let them take a backseat to the plot. At times the tone of this section reminded us of the (better film, though that is no criticism of 'Mother') 'Hana-bi', the hard violence, almost comic book, mixed with a certain grittiness. This section is good, but as it unwinds towards the end the film settles back into more of a formalist piece, with the wonderful long ending shot capping it off.
Thematically, this is a smart film. It is probably a cynical one to, taking in its wierdness, violence, the hiding and discovery of blood, a negative view of what can happen in the process of motherhood.
This is a film to relish, endlessly layered thematically and formally fascinating in parts. It meanders along a bit, with some nice pointlessness showing a certain sense of humour, and is the kind of film that will be appreciated more as it flowers in the caverns of our memories. Terrific stuff.