Kim In-sik's sophomore slump

One of the most daring and unique Korean films in recent years was 2002's Road Movie. Kim In-sik's gritty piece of neo-realism is one of the few South Korean films to have openly gay lead characters (not to mention fairly explicit sex scenes), and an unflinching, unsentimental portrait of the homeless in Seoul. Yet it's not the taboo theme alone that makes the film notable -- it also happens to be an excellent entry in the road movie genre (Filmbrain was at times reminded of Wim Wenders' Im Lauf der Zeit), as well as an impressive first feature. 2004 found Kim returning to the big screen with a bigger budget and slick production values, but with sadly an empty shell of film that takes itself way too seriously. It's almost hard to imagine that Hypnotized (aka, Faceless Beauty) was helmed by the same person that gave us Road Movie, for this film is almost the antipode of the other. Hypnotized falls somewhere between Zalman King and Adrian Lyne -- the kind of film you find on Cinemax late Saturday night. Without question, part of the film's success was due to the first-ever nude appearance of the well-endowed Kim Hye-su, a popular actress who has been making films (clothed) for over fifteen years. What begins as a potentially interesting domestic drama quickly turns into a heavy-handed psycho-sexual-thriller. Min-seok is a Forex trader who lives with his unstable wife Ji-su (the aforementioned Kim Hye-su), who suffers a nervous breakdown as the film begins. Sent to a mental hospital, she meets Seok-won (Kim Tae-woo), a psychiatrist whose interest in her extends beyond the professional. Sharing their respective dark pasts with each other, the two soon wind up in a relationship that....well, without giving anything away, just look at the film's title, and imagine. The story continues to grow more and more convoluted, and has an ending that is desperate for you to go "wow!" Unfortunately, "oh" is more like it. Filmbrain's first problem with the film was the actors -- Kim Tae-woo, so wonderful in Hong Sang-soo's Woman is the Future of Man, here seems as if he is searching for guidance from the director. His character's decline is handled with subtlety (until the end that is), but it's as if Kim didn't know how best to utilize him. Big hair fans won't want to miss Kim Hye-su, who is decent in the role, but Filmbrain couldn't help think how she's no Moon So-ri (Oasis, A Good Lawyer's Wife). Though the relationship between the two is far from normal, there still wasn't much in the way of chemistry between the two actors. Characters live and work in rooms out of the pages of Architectural Digest -- beautifully designed, full of interesting gadgets that are all about form over function, but utterly lifeless. (Such a stark contrast from the rough edges of Road Movie.) Add to this a sleazy down-tempo soundtrack, painfully obvious visual metaphors, and an expository-laden script, and you end up with a film that might appear to have some depth to it (many are referring to it as an "art" film), but is really just a by-the-numbers erotic thriller. Filmbrain hopes that Kim In-sik has exorcised his big-budget demons, and that future films will return to the promise he showed in his debut.

Comments

[bluebeardnz]

Like you, I loved ROAD MOVIE - it's frank depiction of homosexuality can't really be praised enough, especially when you live in Korea and see how much of a social taboo it remains (I have university students who are smart and clever who automatically suggest that gays belong in the mental institution whenever the topic is broached in conversation classes), and the director has such a firm hand on the characters, even the supporting ones....it's a intimate little cross-country trek about big themes.

I watched the first 10 minutes of HYPNOTISED (not realising the director involved) and couldn't get much further......I still can't believe the films come from the same guy.

[Adam]

I have yet to see this film, but 2004 does appear to be a disappointing year for Korean cinema. The only amazing film for me was Hong Sangsoo's WOMAN IS THE FUTURE OF MAN. Otherwise, Ryu Jang-ha's SPRINGTIME is a nice film, but I wonder if it would be as good w/o Choi Min-shik as the lead. The only other film I saw that's worth mentioning is MR. GAM'S VICTORY, but it's only a entertaining mainstream film, nothing to write accolades about.

[borheen]

I'm a Korean gay man living in Korea and my friends and I were invited to the first screening for ROAD MOVIE... we thought it was a completely unrealistic portrayal of homosexuality. It just smacked of straight people's fantasies about gay people... the toilet scene, come on, like he would really be that forward about it. And the stockbroker succumbing in the end... also completely unrealistic (all straight men should be as compliant, alas).

Mind you it was a beautifully, beautifully shot movie. It was like looking at a series of high contrast, soulful photographs. But most gay people of my acquaintance found it "not really gay." We have our own culture, and there is zero reference to it, zero. Good cinematography, bad research.

[Dora]

This film (Hypnotized) is perfect. I can't really imagine how people can live without any empathy so they can't feel the deep meaning, drama and reality of the story. The portayal of BPD is very authentic, all the details are are true, and acting is superb. 1% of the human population suffers from skizophrenia and even more are borderliners so people should know such characters in real. Though.. in real, most people don't even know themselves, so what to expect..
Great soundtrack, beautiful cinematography and captivating atmosphere, a lot of symbols and plot twists. Still the story is not so hard to follow with a normal IQ. It's not really mistery, nor thriller and far away from the horror genre - simply a drama.
And it's not a movie for "common people". They should watch Spiderman instead.