Korea gives us another cute looking indie film

[loverboy.livejournal.com]

In "Bandhobi", director Sin Dong-il translates to screen "uncomfortable" issues of illegal immigration, racism and social toadyism through the universal languages of ticklish humor, teenage angst and priceless friendship.

It's a story about growing pains and the meeting point of different cultures _ the title "Bandohbi" roughly means "female friend" in Bengali. It's an indie flick that, while comfortably feigning mainstream superficiality, is inlaid with some gem-like scenes that show why Shim was dubbed "the Korean Woody Allen" (Berlin International Film Festival, "Host and Guest", 2005).


Teenage actress Bae Jin-hee portrays the cheeky 17-year-old Min-seo with sure-fire articulation. One of the thousands of girls who took part in political candlelit vigils, Min-seo relentlessly speaks her mind at home _ "you're just my mom's sex partner", she shouts at her single mother's incompetent boyfriend (Here, the film could have made the man despicable and turned it into something more noir, but he truly wants to get a job and become part of the family).

But she isn't entirely the hardball rebel she pretends be. Not wanting to be a burden, she even takes up an illicit part-time job to raise money for English lessons.

One day, she decides to treat herself to the spoils of a misplaced wallet, but is caught by the owner, a migrant worker from Bangladesh. Mahbub Alam Pollob, a migrant worker-turned-documentary filmmaker who played a minor part in Sin's "My Friend and His Wife", shows off his fluent Korean to play the 29-year-old intellectual struggling to support his family back home.

Min-seo tries to dissuade Karim from reporting her to the police by offering to grant him a favor, and reluctantly agrees to help track down his former boss that owes one year's pay. As the unlikely pair pose as loan sharks, they find themselves transforming each other's worlds in unexpected ways but Karim's visa will not last forever.

The sometimes-shaky handheld camera keeps a rather ironic distance from the characters; for Min-seo, the world is a piece of cake while for Karim it is a cruel battlefield. They slowly form a mutual understanding, with the girl asking indiscreet questions and the gentleman preaching about problems in Korean society. Yet the most affecting scenes do not involve words, but rather the simple act of crying, listening and eating.

The blatant mockery of traditionally right-wing institutions including the President Lee Myung-bak administration and the daily Chosun Ilbo are actually funny, but at times are not limited to character portrayal as they ought to, and are rather vulgarly laid into the mise en scene. Another questionable aspect of the film, which aims to highlight the foreign community in Korea, is that the American teacher was not convincing as the occasional rotten apple he was supposed to represent, let alone his "atypical" American English accent.

The crude political satire will throw some into fits of laughter while offending others, and contrived narrative elements are bound to irritate picky viewers. But just as the film's hero Karim says, "open your mind", and discover the film's redeeming _ and inspiring _ qualities.

It is unfortunate that the film, which could nevertheless reach out to teenagers, was rated 19 and over for some candid depictions of a girl's sexual awakening. In theaters June 25. Distributed by Indiestory.






source: here and here

Comments

[olabusayo.livejournal.com]

aww I wanna see this...sounds really interesting..

[tinyknots.livejournal.com]

this looks good squeee

and i'm not really a fan of movies either.

[-ochre.livejournal.com]

Sounds very interesting. Korea definitely needs more of these.

[waiyza.livejournal.com]

ahhh this looks good! As a South Asian I'm even more excited for this. hehe.

[merlinspants.livejournal.com]

me too!

[waiyza.livejournal.com]

Icon = ♥

[girlinkage.livejournal.com]

Another South Asian and Bat For Lashes fan on here! :D

[waiyza.livejournal.com]

yay!! I'm happy to know there are others like me out there! lol, that sounds weird. oh well.

[honeydewkist.livejournal.com]

Looks cute!

[magic-jungle.livejournal.com]

Looks good! what are the chances of it being shown in UK cinemas though?! *sigh*

[shanny-w.livejournal.com]

Whoa, I thought that was im soo jung at first.

[shanny-w.livejournal.com]

Since we are talking about offbeat movies did anyone see that documentary about a old korean farmer and his cow (he's had it for 40 years) called old partner? I read the reviews and it sounded so touching. It got a lot of positive feedback at sundance. I want to see it.

http://festival.sundance.org/2009/film_events/films/old_partner

[magic-jungle.livejournal.com]

wow, thank you for sharing. you've made me want to watch it too!

[cinis.livejournal.com]

Thank you for this! I'm really intrigued, however it will likely make me cry if I get to watch it lol..

[essyllus.livejournal.com]

!! I've been trying to remember this movie. I heard about it but I forgot the name. Thanks for posting this.

NGL, I cried during this preview. T T

[hp-groupie.livejournal.com]

AW GAWD...I did too.

[shanny-w.livejournal.com]

You're welcome :')

[hp-groupie.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I really want to see it now.

[jia-zhang.livejournal.com]

Oh wow, thanks for this. I love interesting new films to check out, and this seems promising. And a tear jerker.

[paperlet.livejournal.com]

this is awesome since i'm bengali and i love korean culture. sounds like the PERFECT movie for me =D

[dalpaengee.livejournal.com]

at first glance on the first picture, i though it was moon geunyoung looking cute and normal sized again :(

[essyllus.livejournal.com]

Sounds like an awesome movie. Hopefully there will be subs available online? :x

[hp-groupie.livejournal.com]

Looks interesting!

[ruginthesky.livejournal.com]

This sounds interesting. The second I read Indie film I wanted to check it out.

[xradiostatic.livejournal.com]

this sounds really interesting. hopefully i can watch it with english subs when it's released.

[oldwillow-brook.livejournal.com]

Wow. This is going to be touching. You can just read the summary and feel its power.

I'm glad that Korea or well some of Korea is realizing the shit that they do towards other races. Not saying that other races aren't at fault either just that, Korea (in this context) seems to have the biggest amount of nationalism, and it affects the way other people see the Koreans, this hopefully will bring light to those who misunderstand and those who want to change.

[cityscripts.livejournal.com]

Oh, this sounds interesting. I love indie movies.

[dreamerbri.livejournal.com]

it sounds pretty interesting.

[shonen-key.livejournal.com]

I love the theme :D Can't wait!

[jia-zhang.livejournal.com]

Oh...I like this idea. Totally interested in seeing this now. ^^

[thirddyfrk.livejournal.com]

ohhh-I need to see this mvie-hopefully it will release here at a film festival so I can see it.

[girlinkage.livejournal.com]

I'd love to see this! It seems both entertaining and informative. It'll give everyone some insight into the difficult life of a migrant worker, regardless of where they live.