Save The Green Planet! (2003)

I have been meaning to see Save The Green Planet since it was first released over 20 years ago. It was one of those titles that became available during the wave of J-horror and South Korean films that contained some real modern classics, encouraging movie fans to keep exploring more and more films from those territories. It just kept being pushed down my list of priorities though, and was only brought back to my attention when I realised that Bugonia (which I am also yet to see) is a remake of it.

Was it worth the wait? Sort of. I think I would have been more disappointed if I'd watched this back in the early 2000s, perhaps with the hope that it would have many more moments designed to unnerve or disturb viewers. It's actually a strangely melancholic film, one that could be viewed as a study of someone with mental health issues acting in a way that eventually endangers everyone around them.

Shin Ha-kyun is our lead character, a man who becomes obsessed with the idea that a well-known pharmaceutical executive (played by Baek Yoon-sik) is actually an alien. It's very soon time for a kidnapping, and then some torture to get the alien scumbag to drop the human disguise and admit the truth. Which is only a solid plan if the alien kidnapee is actually an alien.

Written and directed by Jang Joon-hwan, who apparently wanted to present a film about kidnapping that would allow viewers to have some sympathy for the kidnapper, Save The Green Planet! is a bit of a muddled mess. A lot of individual moments work, and the last third is particularly good, but it struggles to stay focused and engrossing throughout the first hour, especially when showing us the work being done by a couple of detectives on the case.

The leads both do good work, and Hwang Jeong-min is enjoyable in the role of Su-ni (an accomplice/girlfriend who also seems to be viewing the unfolding events without really comprehending the dangerous reality of what is happening), but this is a film that struggles to keep the humanity front and centre. It's a strong idea, one that is carried along to an intriguing conclusion, but not quite strong enough to justify the 118-minute runtime.

It's impressive to watch a movie that constantly pushes against whatever you think it may be, and that's what works for Save The Green Planet! Unfortunately, it also works against it. Jang Joon-hwan is so busy ensuring that the film is strange and unpredictable that he keeps viewers slightly distanced from all that is happening, when it's clear from the chosen POV that he wanted to bring everyone right into the world and the headspace depicted.

I wouldn't call this an interesting failure though. It has enough scenes that work as intended. I'd call it a testing journey that asks for patience from viewers before rewarding them with some powerful moments and highlights delivered in the third act. 

7/10

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Mubi Monday: Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance (2002)

Despite this not being his first film, and despite Joint Security Area getting a fair amount of appreciation when it was released, Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance is essentially where it all began for Park Chan-wook. Or rather, to be fair, this film helped to establish his reputation, and it was then one that a lot of people revisited after being stunned by the brilliance of Oldboy.

The first part of his Vengeance Trilogy (this, Oldboy, and Lady Vengeance), Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance is the least bombastic of the three films, a quiet start to what would become an essential touchstone for fans of South Korean cinema.

Ryu (Shin Ha-kyun) is the main character, a deaf-mute factory worker trying to make enough money to pay for a kidney transplant that his sister desperately needs. Ryu ends up convinced by his anarchist girlfriend, Cha Yeong-mi (Bae Doona), that their problems can be solved by a kidnapping. Unlike other kidnappers, they will look after the child and hand her back, unharmed and happy, once they have received their money. There's already a child picked, young Yu-sun (Im Ji-eun), the daughter of Park Dong-jin (Song Kang-ho), a man who is connected to the employers who so recently laid off Ryu. Things inevitably don't go to plan.

It's probably the cool thing nowadays to cite this as your favourite of the Vengeance Trilogy, to claim it's the best one before Chan-wook got distracted by cinematic tricks and stylistic flourishes. It certainly remains an impressively unique and small-scale crime drama, showing someone engaged in a crime who isn't really a bad person. Not really. In a sequence of events you could easily describe as neo-noirish, Ryu is led into this plan by a "femme fatale", finds himself quickly out of his depth, and has no one he can turn to as he tries to tidy things up, leading to a third act full of danger and death.

Chan-wook knows the genre elements well enough, and allows them to feel fresh thanks to the central characters. Ryu is the sort of selfless and caring figure that will actually give up one of his own organs to help a loved one, except his blood type doesn't match, so it's quite heartbreaking to see things unravel in a way that we know is unlikely to end well for anyone involved.

Ha-kyun is great in the lead role, authentic and sweet without overplaying anything. Doona works well alongside him. They're mismatched, but also believable. Youn Ji-eun is very sweet as the girl who ends up kidnapped, and Kang-ho is a strong and menacing presence once he starts making moves to find the kidnappers in the second half of the film.

Although I still think that the next two movies supercede this one, Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance is a cracking film that deserves your time. It's different from so many others you will see in this genre, and the ending lands some powerful blows, all effectively painful because of the connection you get with the main characters.

8/10

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