Land of Scarecrows

saw this tonight at MOMA's New Korean Film Fest---i'm not entirely sure if i liked it or not.

Plot unfolds very slowly--but deliberately---the director is very confident that he'll grab your interest---and some of the visuals are very interesting (its as if he's trying to find the most disgusting thing he can find in the frame and focus on it for a couple of seconds before moving on to something else...at one point you get a closeup of 2 mutated dogs stuck together as one) Film follows 2 plot lines simultaneously---one involves this trangendered person (its a woman living as a man in this case) who finds himself (or herself i guess) with a wife when he runs into a bunch of mail order brides sent to Korea against their will (i think) he/she takes pity and kindness upon one of the mail order brides whom he happens to cross paths with and soon enough they end up getting married---meanwhile he/she is depressed about living in the small town he/she lives in and frequents a strip club/bar that has a dancer (who takes kindness upon him/her offering advice along the lines of Find Happiness or something close to that.) The 2nd plot line has to do with this teenage boy who is trying to locate his step-father who has abandoned him and his mom---and naturally it tuns out that the step-father turns out to be the transgendered person we've been following in the main plot line. (note the step-father---i'm still not sure if the teenager ever knew that his father was actually a woman posing as a man--even at the end its still not clear to me if the teenager is aware of his father's true identity.) The 2 plot lines eventually intersect of course--and meanwhile you're treated to a lot of long lingering shots of the characters walking along many roads and taking in the scenery (which include a lot of signs and advertisements for these mail order brides) Film i believe is meant as some sort of indictment or possibly just a show and tell of the poor living conditions of the rural areas where the Korean farmers and peasants occupy---away from the big city--where the economy is dying, and violence is everywhere---there's a sub subplot about how pollution in the small town has mutated the main character into the transgendered person you see (but really its just all in his mind) and as the film goes on you see many of the local townspeople struggling to make ends meet and keep their various local traditions alive in the face of modernization (which is ruining everyone's life apparently) Film has a very strong visual sense---there are some very well established imagery running throughout--but i never felt the main plot line was as important as i'm assuming the director would've liked it to have been. (its all right but i guess after figuring out the set up i suppose i was expecting there to be more to the story) I'm not entirely sure what the main character's transgendered status has to do with the plight of the poor rural farmers in today's modern Korea--but it was an interesting watch nonetheless (if not a bit sluggish at times)

While I do like weird, this one didn't strike the right nerve with me. At the end it's too experimental, has too many "gaps". By that I mean, that there are quite a few moments in the story, where you just would wish that it would move along quicker. The pacing is a problem then (for me that is), plus the missing interaction.

While it nicely shot/photographed and framed and has a nice subtle score, it could've been edited a bit differently. Many things just seem too momentous for their own good. Still the simple story and the actors are worth watching. Plus it's certain, that you won't find a story quite like this anywhere else. Points for that then :)