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Save the Green Planet (2003)

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From Time Out Film Guide

Jang's debut feature is a dark comedy which takes pain and madness seriously and asks the viewer to empathise with a psychotic loner who's kept going by uppers and seems gripped by paranoid fantasies. Not a hit on first release in Korea, but the DVD sold out overnight and the film has been collecting festival prizes around the world. Abetted by a tightrope dancer who adores him, Byung-Gu (Shin, brilliant) kidnaps the industrialist Kang in the belief that he's an alien, paving the way for an invasion from Andromeda. While Kang is tortured for information, assorted mutually antagonistic cops get on the case, soon fingering Byung-Gu as a serial killer acting on long standing grudges. Jang creates a fantasy space in which the revisionist evolutionary theories of 2001 co-exist with the history of labour activism and anti-fascist protest in Korea; the film also oscillates between wild humour, suspense, horror and pathos, sometimes all in one shot. It's quite something.

Author: TR

Time Out Film Guide

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User reviews of this film

Louise said...

Posted on Jun 11 2009 12:37 In the audio commentary the director said he wanted to make a movie like Misery but where the audience can empathise with the lead character. For the most part Jang has succeeded. I found the character of Byung-Gu is easy to pity but not relate to. "Save the Green Planet" will manage to keep you guessing throughout as to whether the aliens are all in Byung-Gu's deranged mind or if they are going to destroy the Earth. Ha-Kyun Shin's portrayal of Byung-Gu was truly excellent as he can easily provide the right kind of intensity necessary for this kid of role. , He was able to show a wide range of emotions, at one moment tender and another menacing. Unusually for the genre, this movie manages to evoke a wide range of emotions. In my opinion this is one of the best Korean movies but some people will find it too bizarre or be unsettled by the movie's refusal to stay in one genre. Like all excellent movies, there is more to find with each repeat viewing,

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