|
|
|
|
  ROAD MOVIE South Korea, 2002 Talk about beginners' luck. Billed as the first Korean "gay film", and the first feature by writer-director Kim In-Sik, Road Movie is one of the most moving and memorable gay-related films made anywhere in the world, in years. As an independent, non-commercial film of any genre, it's also outstanding. Visually eccentric without being annoying, sympathetic to its gay main character without being sentimental or polemic, and critical of its home culture without being overly political, Road Movie is a passionate and intelligent film.
Kim In-Sik has created a fairly simple story and enlivened it with electric characters and an almost decadent visual and aural style. Suk-Won (Jeong Chan) loses it all on the Korean stock exchange, probably around the time of the Korean market crash. Rejected by his wife and colleagues, he soon careens off the rails and ends up sleeping with the homeless in a Seoul subway. There, he's befriended by Dae-Shik (Hwang Jeong-Min), a deep-running guru of the slums, who had originally stolen Suk-Won's jacket and mobile phone, but who rapidly assumes the role of carer, handfeeding his suicidal charge, and rescuing him at every turn. Drifting around odd-jobs and sleeping where they fall, the pair encounter shrill and streetwise hooker/waitress Il-Joo (Seo Lin), who joins them as they embark on a cross-country journey. Il-Joo hits on the broodingly sexy Dae-Shik, but it turns out he's got eyes only for the declining Suk-Won, who in turn wants to win back his wife's affection, and who humiliates Dae-Shik for being gay. The trio spend the second act together but ultimately break apart, when the uneasy chemistry between Dae-Shik and Suk-Won begins to dominate. Hwang Jeong-Min's performance is darkly emotional one, full of longing and desire. It's a complicated and obtuse role, and luckily the writer-director hasn't given Jeong-Min many clues, so he feels his way around Dae-Shik's identity with compelling confusion. This fairly new actor (this is his third major film role) is an amazing talent. Dae-Shik's aggressive sexuality makes for two of the most amazing sex scenes which are far more explicit than what we've seen in most gay films so far. These scenes aren't operatic, or lined with emotion. What we get is serious (and apparently condom-free) butt fucking with all its cries, moans and role plays, all held in mid-shot, so there's no way of misconstruing what's happening on screen. Kim In-Sik’s material is tragic and his treatment of it is bleak. He has shot long takes in natural light, adding light effects in post production. As a result, we get to stare long and hard at the actors, who forge their way through extended scenes that are sometimes documentary-like, and always unforgiving. Flouro-lit subway tunnels, empty concrete dams and shale-grey stone mine walls are typical backdrops. Semi-sane pregnant street girls going screaming into labour, and soulless money men throwing hookers money in dance rooms form a lurid supporting cast. All In-Sik's characters are losers: none succeed in anything. But they do give each other some temporary friendship, and, undeliberately, the memories and the feelings of a lifetime. Washed out colours and scratched up film add atmosphere, but the real heart of the film is its melancholy romance. Review by Mark Adnum
 Film Reviews - Interviews - Features - Film Festival - About - Contact |
Finalist, Outrate Online Short Fim Festival 2007: The Gaspar Show
TheDailyStud.com: All the beef that fits. (NSFW) |
