Yesterday

If you fully understand the complexities of the plot of `Yesterday,' a new Korean sci-fi action movie, you deserve some sort of medal.

I'll try my best, though. There is a serial killer on the loose killing scientists. This leads to an investigation led by Seok (Seung-woo Kim), who accidentally shoots his kidnapped son, who was trying to escape the clutches of the killer. Later, the chief of police is kidnapped, and her daughter joins in the investigation. She is well trained and ambitious, like Clarice Starling without the emotion.

That is only the film's set up. Later (or earlier. or somewhere along the line) we are introduced to the concept of cloning, and the rights of the clones. This concept, as well as the visual appearance of the futuristic city that the film takes place in, is inspired, to say the least, by `Blade Runner,' which had androids instead of clones.

The film is directed by Yun-Su Jeon, a man with a good eye for visuals; the film looks fine. The problem with the film, it seems, is it tries to do to much; there is a lot of action, shooting and explosions, sometimes during battles where I was not even entirely sure who was fighting whom, and why they were bothering, and there is also a look at cloning in the future, as well as a sort of study into the personalities of the main characters. While I admire films that mix intelligence and ideas with action (`Minority Report,' the best film of last year, is a fine example), I think I need to have some time to breathe, and I also need to be able to know exactly what is going on. Keeping up with the plot is even more exhausting than keeping up with the action.

`Yesterday' is set mainly in 2020, in a unified Korea. It begins though, in 1990, where the scientists who are later to be killed off are picked for a special project, and some children disappear. The film starts off with a fight scene that made me think of the madness of `Black Hawk Down.' The confusion was part of the point of `Black Hawk Down,' here it is a distraction that takes much of the thrill (and all of the suspense) from the action scenes.

`Yesterday' requires a lot of attention and thought to follow the story, but it isn't really worth it. Yun Su-Jeon, I'm sure, has good films in him; what he needs to do now is find a story that he can explore more fully, without losing the audience. The film has split audiences in Korea. I do not hate it, but I did not particularly enjoy the experience of watching it; I ended up admiring aspects of it rather than enjoying it. I was looking at it rather than watching it.

While I think there could be a perfectly good character study about clones set in the future, or a perfectly good action films set in a world with clones and complex characters, the film tries to be both, never quite choosing what its main ambition is. Is it just trying to tell a story in its own way? Maybe, and maybe you'll enjoy its story, if you can keep up. I tried my best to, but didn't find the experience particularly rewarding.

** (out of 5)

Asian cinema has progressed in many ways. Nowadays the production values of for instance South Korean films are almost as high as for standard Hollywood-fare. But still there is some way to go before the quality in all aspects rise up to what we've become accustomed to.

"Yesterday" is basically your standard Asian techno-thriller. Flashy visuals, nice special effects and flawless technical quality throughout. But like many other Asian movies i feel the script would have needed another run-through. The story of missing children being used for experimental research, and the connections to modern-day homicides, is just too messy. I never got a feel for the characters, never got a feel for the story. Also the actors feel a bit low on expressions, which doesn't really contribute when i already had trouble feeling anything at all about the movie. Simply put, this is not engaging enough.

And another problem that is also tied to the script is the fact that the movie is overly long. At just over two hours it stretches the script very thin. Since there are a few really nice action scenes, and a lot of promise in the visuals and general stylish look of the movie, i would like to see a more compressed story. Maybe twenty minutes shorter and some of the slower less meaningful scenes could have been cut out. In general i think both pace and story would have benefited from that.

In the end this movie failed to excite me. While it looked nice (and sounded nice) it didn't have much to offer in the way of plot or character development. And in the end nice visuals and a hefty budget is not enough to keep me entertained for over two hours. With a better script and less drawn-out filling scenes this could have been good. Now it's hardly mediocre. I rate it 4/10.

If you go to see Yesterday expecting a Hollywood style science-fiction blockbuster you're bound to be disappointed. This film has a slow and morbid pace and tension and comparisons to Minority Report are misguided. A better comparison is Se7en, although it's considerably less gory.

The version I saw was sub-titled and was clearly translated by someone for whom English wasn't their first language. There are a number of lines in the film that simply don't make sense. At one point the detective asks for a "posterior analysis" to be made, which brought a smile to my face. During the credits sequence at the beginning the dialogue translations are mixed with the credits causing considerable confusion. These faults don't generally impede enjoyment of the film but they don't help.

It's certainly worth watching this film if you enjoy more intelligent science-fiction, but I can't see it making a wider impact.

I just rented the movie and I hadn't heard about it before. It's nice to see some quite realistic yet action-packed shootout. Notice that you can actually see the bullets making holes in walls (you don't even see that in most Hollywood movies since they seem to think bullets will just bounce off brick-walls...). Some quite good acting and a complex yet sense-making plot (if you can't understand it, watch it again or wait until you've finished high-school..).

You see a quite capable SWAT-team slowly getting decimated all the while hunting a psychotic killer who seems to be constantly hiring new thugs for support too. Most of the background story unfolds only in the end but it makes sense and the tension generated stays fresh throughout. Good work.

YESTERDAY is a South Korean movie, so right away you know that despite the flashy visuals and the high production values that most of the characters, especially the lead villain and the lead female, will walk around and talk like they just came from a funeral. I mean, this IS South Korea cinema, folks. If the entire industry is known for one thing, it's their drama, which because of its inherently understate and amazingly low-energy, most WEsterners mistake for subtlety. It's NOT subtlety, it's just WHO THEY ARE.

Which is why YESTERDAY isn't any better than just good. Despite the BLADE RUNNER-esque background and high octane action, the movie is so lacking in energy, that you wonder why they bother with these type of "HOllywood blockbuster" movies in the first place. I mean, can't these actors muster up SOME energy for the role? If you compare YESTERDAY to, say, MINORITY REPORT, it's like comparing a funeral (YESTERDAY) to MINORITY REPORT (roller coaster ride). Do you see the difference? And both movies are pretty much great to look at!

So there you go. If you want a thrill ride actioner, go with Hollywood. If you want a slow, "it's real because everyone looks like they're about to commit suicide" drama, then watch a South Korean movie. But a South Korean sci-fi Actioner? Forget about it!