Sunday, April 23, 2006

The President's Last Bang

(Geuddae geusaramdeul)
Im Sang-soo, South Korea, 2005
3 out of 4 stars

It didn’t bowl me over, but it was certainly something I’d never seen before and it was very expertly done. This film details the assassination of one of the Republic of Korea’s old authoritarian “presidents,” giving us a good look at all the players involved (although I had trouble figuring out who was who, especially in the beginning). It especially comes alive when the deed is done, and even moreso during the aftermath, when the plot seems to really get going. And to some extent, I must concede that the somewhat elliptical nature of the plotting did help draw me in. I suppose I would’ve liked more clarity as to what the ideological motivations were, but I suspect that the director’s point (and political statement) is that petty, interpersonal strife was ultimately more important and all the ideology involved was shallow at best. Most of all, having studied modern Korean history as an undergrad and then having of course forgotten it all afterwards, it was interesting to get such a good look at the bad-old pre-democracy days, at least for it was (or might have been) at the top level.

Source: Kino DVD
23 April, 10:30 AM

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