Film review: Save The Green Planet! (2003)

 

The Criterion Channel has a collection of "New Korean Cinema" (presumably to ensnare those intrigued by Parasite), and I have to say it's rather a dark and grim assortment.  So I picked this one as looking light and fluffy and comedic.  Hm.  While there are some definite Kung Fu Hustle (yes I know that's from Hong Kong) moments, the underlying plot is about a man who has endured nothing but tragedy and abuse his whole life apparently descending into madness and taking it out on those he identifies as most responsible for his misery.  The film starts with him (Lee Byeong-gu) showing his seemingly slightly-simple ex-circus-tightrope-walker girlfriend a film he has put together explaining how aliens have infiltrated humanity and one in particular (who has "royal DNA") must be stopped from communicating with the "prince" of the aliens.  This one turns out to be the CEO of a chemical company, which, coincidentally Lee and his mother used to work for, until she fell into a coma.  We see him (Kang Man-shik) being dropped off home after a drunken night out and stiffing the cab driver, and in general demonstrating that he is an obnoxious asshole.  He is then violently (well, perhaps it's his fault for resisting) kidnapped by Lee and Sun-ni (the girlfriend, who calls Lee "Honey") dressed in giant plastic bags and fantastic headgear with electronics to shield from the alien telepathy.  

He is then taken to Lee's mountain (well, steep hill) top compound and strapped in a chair in the basement, his head shaved (because his hair is how he telepathically communicates with the prince) and menthol rubbed into his feet (one of the alien weak spots, along with the eyes and genitals).  

Lee proceeds to question Kang about alien activity to his apparent bemusement, while the lunar eclipse (a deadline of some sort, I can't quite remember why) approaches.  Kang surprises Lee by (a) being surprisingly tough and defiant, and (b) recognizing him and remembering that his mother is in a coma, and his previous girlfriend was beaten in a protest (presumably against the chemical firm).  Meanwhile two groups are trying to find Kang: one the main group of cops led by a fatuously self-satisfied, very short chief, and the other (much more competent) consisting of an ex-detective who was fired in some kind of scandal, and the young hotshot who's supposed to be part of the former team but knows full-well that the ex-cop is the true professional.  

MEANWHILE, while Lee is out getting more menthol (and is bullied by an old tormentor, on whom he will get clever revenge before the film is out) Kang gets into Sun-ni's head and convinces her to run off back to the circus.  With just him and Kang, Lee seems to get even more unhinged, which is not good news for Kang, although he almost escapes, and inflicts some violence of his own on Lee.  Meanwhile the ex-cop finds Lee's compound, but is almost convinced by Lee that he's harmless, when he finds human bones in Lee's dog's kennel, and is trying to call in support when Lee catches up with him and sics his bees (yes, bees) on him.  There are several twists and turns after that, including Kang reading Lee's diary and crying over his awful life (before he lost his mother, he lost his father in a mining accident - this film doesn't have much faith in corporations' concern for their workers and the public at large), not that it stops him trying to kill him later - and the return of Sun-ni.  And then a final twist that perhaps you might see coming.  Am I glad we watched it?  I guess I am: it wasn't what I was hoping for, but it was utterly engrossing, and very stylishly made.  There's the weird tonal shifts familiar from a lot of Asian films, from mawkish sentiment to slapstick to extreme violence.  And other than "a lot of people are shitty" and "unchecked capitalism is shitty", I'm not sure what the message is.  Watch it and tell me.