A Web Of One's Own Making

Filmbrain has said it before, but it bears repeating -- Korean filmmakers are damn good at genre films. Though working within the "normal" constructs of the genre, they (more often than not) add that little something extra that allows it to transcend the ordinary. Call them rule breakers or risk takers -- the results are films that are not only entertaining, but pack an emotional wallop you'd never expect from a [insert favorite genre here]. Take the case of Song Il-gon's Spider Forest -- a psychological horror film that also happens to be tremendously moving. It's a mix you rarely find (or that rarely succeeds), and as Filmbrain watched it for the second time he couldn't help but imagine a Hollywood studio executive going apoplectic as he hears of a film that begins and ends with a gruesome bloodbath that also makes you cry. It's best to know as little as possible about Spider Forest, so little will be revealed here, plot-wise. After a somewhat shocking (but fairly standard for the genre) opening, the film quickly settles into an elegiac mode that builds at a slow, deliberate pace all the way up to a satisfying conclusion. A meditation on love and loss (and loss....and more loss), its very structure is much like a spider's web -- with many different strands to unravel, but all part of a cohesive whole. Gam Woo-sung plays Kang Min -- a TV producer who has known his fair share of tragedy, and who seems almost karmically doomed to repeat it. The film traces his attempts to free himself from the web that he has created -- a journey that will lead him down many dark paths, and deep into the recesses of his mind. Filmbrain has seen three of Song Il-gon's films in the past few months, and he certainly is a director to watch. Though Spider Forest (which is sandwiched between 2001's Flower Island and 2004's Git (Feather)), is the only horror film on the director's resume, all three share a certain somnambulistic quality to them -- he's a director who firmly believes in the less-is-more approach. His storytelling, which often unfolds like a fairytale, relies heavily on symbolism, and Spider Forest is rife with Freudian allusions to sexual temptation (apples are everywhere) and birth, both literal and spiritual (one scene finds Kang-min walking down a long dark tunnel to the light at the end that will bring him into the world, as it were). There is a twist in Spider Forest, but unlike the films of M. Night Shyamalan, there is so much more at play here than simply getting us to the reveal. Kang-min's journey is both tragic and moving, and the twist serves as a satisfying closure to his story, rather than as a gimmick to dazzle the audience. Spider Forest is a haunting, disturbing film that seamlessly blends psychological horror with tragic drama, and its story will resonate with anybody who has ever loved and lost. At the moment there are no distribution plans for the US, which is a shame. Tartan should have picked this one up instead of the lackluster, Ring-inspired Phone. [Update: As NKW points out in a comment below, Tartan has indeed picked this one up for distribution, though he's not sure if it will be theatrical, or DVD only. Try and catch it tonight at the NYKFF if you can!]