Incoherence

One of Bong Joon Ho's first works (along with "White Man" and "Memories in My Frame" all released in 1994), "Incoherence" presents many of his future trademarks and elements along with a social commentary on society with unusual and fun dosis of humor and satire.

Three different segments with three unusual characters who'll gather up for a final fourth segment. 1) a teacher obsessed with pornographic magazines who fantasizes with one of his female students; 2) a jogger who steals milk from his neighbors while doing his morning exercises and the blame for such falls on a poor paper boy; and 3) a lost drunk man who needs to urinate in public spaces but he's constantly interrupted.

With the exception of the first segment, which is hilarious but far too quick if compared with the other ones, the whole of "Incoherence" conquers viewers more on the style and structure than the stories, which are mostly enigmatic at some parts. I don't consider much of what happens as petty crimes, it's just some acts of incongruity (except the milk stealing) that aren't accepted by society or perceived as problematic. And the humor comes fully when those three meet a TV program to debate the rise in criminality and social disturbances in Korea and each of them try to defend their own points of view on the matter defending their acts. Sadly, the movie doesn't stay too long with that, it'd be interesting to see a heated debate so we could form a higher opinion about their actions, compare it with more harmful way and find ways to criticise them or maybe support them.

As said, the structure and the style makes it a quite appealing film to be visualized. The sequence with the jogger being chased by the paper boy through the many streets and its curves all filmed through the other man's perspective in a long take is a masterful visual moment where you'll feel breathless just as the jogger; or the whole scheme from the teacher to go back to his office and hide his dirty magazine, is also priceless. Ho was very meticulous with his artistic choices, composition of shots and the editing as well. You simply don't blink at whatever he's doing in "Incoherence". 9/10.

Bong Joonho's first and best film.

Bong Joonho's first and best film.

Bong Joonho's first and best film.

Bong Joonho's first and best film.

Bong Joon Ho's student film 'Incoherence (1994)' presents three seemingly unconnected stories of middle-aged men behaving badly, then brings things together in an epilogue which solidifies the feature's underlying social commentary. The three shorts vary in terms of length, tone and success, tied together by a seemingly threadbare concept that eventually reveals itself to be much sturdier when the piece puts all its cards on the table. The most enjoyable segment is probably the first, which feels like one of those bizarre adverts you'd see on a 'Banned 90s ads' YouTube video. The other two shorts are longer, but for no real reason; they're less concise, but that doesn't make their punchlines any more potent. Still, all three stories are enjoyable enough to keep you watching for their relatively brisk durations. They aren't much more than mildly diverting, but they're well-made and engaging. The ending brings things together quite nicely, even though it doesn't have as much impact as it perhaps should, and the overall effort feels relatively coherent because of it. It isn't great, but you can see the seed of what would go on to make Bong Joon Ho such a great filmmaker and storyteller. It's a solid effort overall.