The Day a Pig Fell Into the Well (Daijiga umule pajinnal)

 

Release Year: 1996

Director: Hong Sangsoo

Review: "What did I just watch?".  Those were my thoughts immediately after watching Hong Sangsoo's debut feature film.  The film follows the lives of four different people. A struggling writer, the woman he is in love with, her salesman husband and the writer's young girlfriend.  Its a bitter love triangle and one that offers no pleasure for anyone involved.

This is a very challenging film to watch.  Hong uses a very disorienting method of telling the story, focusing on one character at a time, in sequence.  This is a directing style in which it is almost impossible to gain any sort of orientation.  It wasn't until the movie was nearly over that I had any idea what was going on, or even a basic understanding of the plot.  I had no connection with any of the characters, and kept wondering why the protagonist kept changing.  I was never sure if I was supposed to care about a character, or if they were simply a throwaway.

Needless to say, I was extremely frustrated after the film ended.  I felt cheated.  I know how high this film was praised by Korean critics, and I got absolutely nothing out of it.  I had no idea what exactly I had just watched.  Determined, I immediately started watching it again.  This time around, having gotten to know all the characters and had some reference points, things started falling into place and I could appreciate that there was actually a story unfolding.  They just unwind in such a bizarre manner it wasn't possible to put anything together on the first viewing.  I can't see how this was a wise directing choice for Hong.  There is no excuse for making a film that needs to be watched twice just to understand it.

Perhaps I could have forgiven the odd story structure if the movie was enjoyable from moment to moment.  It wasn't.  Partially at fault is the horrendous English subtitle translation, but more than that it was the entirely ugly film making that makes this an oppressively dull, uncomfortable film.  There are shots that are absolutely inconsequential.  Even after the second viewing, they had nothing at all to do with anything in the movie, and were in no way interesting.  It baffles me why they were included.  It would have been excusable if this was only a couple scenes, but it seemed it was more like every other scene.  On top of this, the movie was just completely plain visually.  There were no shots which were visually interesting, and the cinematography made me want to take a nap.

Now, after viewing it a second time I did get something out of the story.  There was some interesting character analysis, particularly the young girl who was in love with the writer despite how bad he treated her. I was actually getting pretty engaged, by the complicated love mess, only to be disappointed with a disjointed ending. I wish this story wasn't clouded by the clunky, chaotic directing style of Hong.  If you watch this film, you must watch it twice, and I really can't say its worth it even if you do.

 Rating: 2/5

Bottle Rocket

Release Year: 1996

Director: Wes Anderson

Review: Digman is a man with a plan.  Owen Wilson's brilliantly imagined character is an odd sort of person.  He is an absolutely insane, and yet completely harmless, guy who has no direction, too much time on his hands and who has seen too many caper films for his own good.  I focus on this character because this film is all about the characters.  Digman has drawn out a map of life for the next 75 years for himself and his friends, Anthony (Luke Wilson), and Bob(Robert Musgrave).  The modus operandi in that plan is the profession of burglar.  

This is not a heist movie.  At least not in the traditional sense.  The characters certainly don't put too much passion into it. It may play a part in the movie, and drives the plot, but its certainly not what the film is about. It is fitting that this is Wes Anderson's first film, as its a perfect map for his future projects.  He doesn't delve deep into any one subject, completely satisfying any one theme, but as a whole it is completely enjoyable.  The enjoyment is extracted from the character interactions and a general mood which is exuded throughout.  Each character is interesting enough to be enjoyable even if they don't do anything all that incredible.  It may not be the perfect film, but the mood projected is stimulating, making it a memorable watch.
Rating: 3.5/5

The Birdcage

Release Year: 1996

Director: Mike Nichols

Review: With Robin Williams in a movie about a functionally dysfunctional gay family who owns a cross-dressing night club, there is bound to be entertainment to be had.  The performances by Nathan Lane and Hank Azaria steal the show however.  Just watching them perform, unbridled and hamming it up, was worth the watch alone.  Ultimately I feel the story was lacking.  They wanted to shove a very unconventional movie into a painfully conventional story arch and unfortunately things just didn't seem to fit.  It could have been a much better film had they explored the real issues of the film without trying to paint over it with standard comedy paint.  And was I the only one not buying Calista Flockhart as a twenty year old college conservative?  She completely blocked comedic rhythm every time she was given screen time.  Despite these pitfalls the performances saved it, and it was still a fun movie.
Rating: 3.5/5

Festival (Chukje)

Release Year: 1996
Review: Korean director Im Kwon-taek's film about the funeral of grandmother who is the family head to a large, and a bit dysfunctional, family. The woman's eldest son, a popular writer, is responsible for organizing the traditional funeral festival. The funeral doesn't go off without a hitch, and there are plenty of distractions, fights and family gossip. More than anything, this is about a family coming together and putting their differences aside and just being there for one another. The problem is this just isn't a very rich film. It is too tedious, drawn out and long winded for not saying all that much. This would have made an excellent short, but as a full length film it was too slow. Part of the problem may be cultural. Kown-taek has stated that this film is very much about ancestry, which is something I don't hold as close to me as people do in Korean culture. This is a film steeped in tradition and culture, a culture that I'm not a part of. I can appreciate it as an interesting look into their culture, but much of the meaning is lost on me.

The best part of the film was a continuing intercut story pulled from a children's book that the main character has written about a young girl and her aging grandmother. This sub-story is far more moving, beautiful and emotional than the main plot line and was a welcome reprieve every time a part of it was shown. The main plot had too many dangling plot lines that never went anywhere, and the ultimate closure didn't seem earned. It's not that this is a terrible movie, it was an interesting look into the funeral process, but it certainly wasn't enthralling cinema.
Rating: 2/5

Trainspotting

Release Year: 1996
Review: A twisted, stylized, yet austere examination of heroin addiction, life and friendship. I'm not a fan the gritty drug haze type of movie, but this film does bring another layer to the depressing and dark reality of heroin addiction, letting us exam the struggle for meaning in life and who is important to us. I wish I had turned on subtitles prior to starting the film, since the heavy Scottish accents render entire scenes of dialog unintelligible. Definitely worth a watch and should be required viewing for all teenagers out there, as this is one of the strongest anti-drug experiences going, even if it wasn't meant as such.
Rating: 4/5