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“Let's
just read. In such a rotten world only books will save us.”
This line of dialogue, which is spoken early in Oki’s Movie and follows shortly after the
statement “Film as an art is dead,” might lower audience expectations if it
weren’t delivered with such devastating irony. With its goofy directness it thoroughly
disarms, and so has the
opposite effect: we feel drawn to a film that pokes fun not only at filmmaking
but at all our personal and cultural aspirations for the medium. Let’s start by
acknowledging that “the movies” are a sham, writer-director Hong Sang-soo seems
to be saying – only then can we hope to redeem them, and ourselves, in even the
smallest way.
In this sense, Hong continues
to play with the metafilmic approach he’s been using for a while; just check
out 2005’s Tale of Cinema, which,
like this 2010 film that’s only now getting a U.S. release, announces its cinema-centrism
in its very title. Oki’s Movie is structured
as a kind of theme-and-variations piece via four mini-movies, each of which is drolly
introduced with a modest credit sequence rendered grandiose by the addition of Elgar’s
“Pomp and Circumstance.” At the center of it all is Lee Seon-gyoon, who plays
both a burnt-out yet arrogant director and, later,
the same character as a lovelorn student filmmaker. Similarly, Moon Seong-geun plays
a trusted mentor, a shady professor, and a romantic rival who actually turns
out to be surprisingly sympathetic.
As Oki, the engaging Jeong Yu-mi seems to get less screen time than the
two men in her life yet that fits her slightly enigmatic status. So although
the movie that she’s made is presented only in the final 16 minutes, it’s a
quiet tour de force that brings together all that came before.
With its shifting perspectives
and gently fractured narrative, Oki’s
Movie might give the impression of being just another overly cerebral arthouse
exercise. But such an assessment would
be off the mark for one simple reason:
it’s consistently, jaw-droppingly hilarious. No, the humor isn’t broad,
and in fact it’s so deadpan that it may prompt a double-take or two – wait, was that supposed to be funny? While in some of Hong’s other films there’s more ambiguity as to his
seriousness at any given moment, Oki’s
Movie never lets up in its satire of academia, indie filmmaking, romance,
and the manners associated with all three. In short, if audiences can’t tell that
the film is funny, and fully intends to be, then they probably won’t know what
to make of it. Sure, some of the laughs derive from the “humor of the
uncomfortable” school, and there’s an Oscar Wilde-like gravity lurking behind
the wit. Hong not only winks at us, but winks at us regarding his winks. Finally, although lead Lee Seon-gyoon
has been in some comedies, it might not be obvious at first that here he’s
playing perfectly against his screen persona as a handsome-and-capable leading
man (Paju had been released just the
previous year, in 2009) by, basically, portraying an intellectual jackass.
Yet for an
intellectual jackass he says some pretty insightful things – insightful as to
Hong’s own artistic credo, that is. For example, here’s Lee’s character holding
forth at a typical Q&A with a public audience in a screening room:
"My film is similar to the process of meeting people. You
meet someone and get an impression, and make a judgment with that. But tomorrow
you might discover different things. I hope my film can be similar in
complexity to a living thing."
He continues by pointing out how filmmakers have incorrectly
been taught to value theme above all else. "Starting with a theme will
make it all veer to one point," he explains, and suddenly we grasp part of
Hong’s strategy in this and in his other films.
The problem is, Oki’s Movie definitely does
have a theme, albeit one that surfaces gradually and which Hong almost always presents
with a light touch. It concerns the way that passion, for better or worse, can
break through all that is false about modern life: alienation, regimentation,
even our own pretenses. But to realize that passion on a consistent
basis – either in terms of romance or filmmaking (which is a stand-in for art and
creativity generally) – some form of power seems to be required, whether it’s
money, professional credentials, or personal reputation. And that’s where the
trouble starts, as a disproportionate concern for such things can also come to
undermine our ability to feel passion with any authenticity.
In conclusion, I
don’t want to sound too over-the-top but I’m very grateful that someone like
Hong Sang-soo is in his creative prime these days, and that cinephiles have a
chance to catch his work on the big screen even if it’s somewhat belatedly. In
fact, if you’re lucky enough to live in or near New York, I’d advise seeing Oki and the equally wonderful The Day He Arrives in as close to a back-to-back fashion as you can. If you do, afterwards
you’ll likely find yourself walking about in a kind of waking dream – disoriented
but strangely elated at the same time.
Oki's Movie will be having a special one week in engagement in New York at the Maysles Theatre from 04/16-04/22. It will presented as part of the bi-monthly series, 'Documentary in Bloom: New Films Presented by Livia Bloom.'
Peter Gutiérrez, a U.S. correspondent for MKC, writes for
Twitch and blogs on pop culture for School Library Journal.
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