The New Film Isn't Likely to Be Stranger Than the Science Fiction Psychological Drama It's Inspired By
Greek surrealist filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos is known for distinctly odd movies. His unique screenplays veer into the bizarre, like The Lobster, in which single people must partner up or face transformed into creatures. Whenever he interprets existing material, he often selects original works that’s rather eccentric also — more bizarre, possibly, than his cinematic take. Such was the situation regarding the recent Poor Things, a film version of the novel by Alasdair Gray gloriously perverse novel, a pro-female, sex-positive take on Frankenstein. The director's adaptation is effective, but partially, his particular flavor of eccentricity and Gray’s neutralize one another.
His New Adaptation
Lanthimos’ next pick to interpret similarly emerged from the fringes. The basis for Bugonia, his latest team-up with star Emma Stone, was 2004’s Save the Green Planet!, a perplexing Korean mix of styles of science fiction, dark humor, terror, irony, dark psychodrama, and cop drama. It's an unusual piece not primarily due to what it’s about — although that's highly unconventional — but for the frenzied excess of its tone and storytelling style. The film is a rollercoaster.
A Korean Cinema Explosion
It seems there was something in the air in South Korea at the start of the millennium. Save the Green Planet!, the work of Jang Joon-hwan, belonged to a surge of daringly creative, groundbreaking movies from a new generation of filmmakers such as Bong Joon Ho and Park Chan-wook. It was released concurrently with the director's Memories of Murder and Park’s Oldboy. Save the Green Planet! doesn't quite match up as those celebrated works, but it’s got a lot in common with them: extreme violence, morbid humor, pointed observations, and defying expectations.
The Story Develops
Save the Green Planet! focuses on an unhinged individual who captures a business tycoon, convinced he is an extraterrestrial from the planet Andromeda, plotting an attack. Initially, the premise is presented as slapstick humor, and the lead, Lee Byeong-gu (the performer from Park’s Joint Security Area and Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance), comes across as a lovably deluded fool. Alongside his innocent entertainer girlfriend Su-ni (the star) sport black PVC ponchos and bizarre masks fitted with mental shields, and use ointment for defense. Yet they accomplish in seizing intoxicated executive Kang Man-shik (actor Baek) and bringing him to a secluded location, a ramshackle house/lab constructed at a mining site amid the hills, home to his apiary.
Shifting Tones
Hereafter, the story shifts abruptly into increasingly disturbing. Byeong-gu straps Kang into a makeshift device and subjects him to harm while spouting absurd conspiracy theories, ultimately forcing his kind girlfriend away. However, Kang isn't helpless; driven solely by the belief of his elevated status, he can and will to undergo awful experiences in hopes of breaking free and exert power over the disturbed younger man. Meanwhile, a comically inadequate police hunt for the abductor gets underway. The detectives' foolishness and incompetence is reminiscent of Memories of Murder, even if it may not be as deliberate in a film with plotting that seems slapdash and unrehearsed.
A Frenetic Journey
Save the Green Planet! plunges forward relentlessly, fueled by its own crazed energy, defying conventions along the way, even when you might expect it to either settle down or run out of steam. Sometimes it seems as a character study about mental health and excessive drug use; sometimes it’s a metaphorical narrative on the cruelty of capitalism; in turns it's a claustrophobic thriller or a bumbling detective tale. The filmmaker maintains a consistent degree of feverish dedication to every bit, and the lead actor shines, while Lee Byeong-gu continuously shifts from savant prophet, endearing eccentric, and dangerous lunatic as required by the narrative's fluidity in mood, viewpoint, and story. One could argue this is intentional, not a bug, but it might feel pretty disorienting.
Designed to Confuse
It's plausible Jang aimed to confuse viewers, mind. In line with various Korean films from that era, Save the Green Planet! draws energy from an exuberant rejection for genre limits partly, and a genuine outrage about human cruelty additionally. It stands as a loud proclamation of a culture gaining worldwide recognition during emerging financial and artistic liberties. One can look forward to observe Lanthimos' perspective on the original plot from a current U.S. standpoint — arguably, a contrasting viewpoint.
Save the Green Planet! can be viewed online at no cost.
