Reviews

Brilliant, heartfelt, emotional throughout

Monster is a movie that sticks with you permanently after watching it. It dives into perspectives filled with guilt, regret, confusion, love and purpose.
Genuinely, this was one of the most emotional films I've ever watched in my life. The storytelling relates to so many aspects of being a queer child who is confused, lost, but seeks redemption just because the world doesn't want to be kind to you, and you don't know why. The way in which they weaved through the different perspectives to the very last was a brilliant capture for the why, how, and what.
The cinematography is beautiful and has such a nostalgic atmosphere to it that I can't describe. Basically, if there were no phones-esque feeling. The characters are complex; every single one, void of any one-dimensionality. I felt myself immersed in their environment/s because it was that intimate being in the spectator's seat of everyone's individualities. Of course, the characters couldn't have been brought to life without the incredible acting. I was profoundly amazed at the main child actors' performances. I am glad to see that the cast and crew took very good care of them throughout the filming process, as this is an especially difficult terrain for children to act in. The music was beautiful, and I so wish there was more in some scenes because it put me in awe how delicate and tender the melodies played a role to further enhance the scene. Though I understand and respect the director's decisions; I'm by no means a professional, this is just my personal opinion.
I for sure have an urge to rewatch this movie because I feel like you can't pick up on all the intricacies in just one go, so this is a definite rewatch. Monster is a beautiful movie with a beautiful and very important story to tell. Give it a watch, you will not be disappointed.

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Yojimbo made by Kitano

This is very nearly a perfect film.

It is what Yojimbo would be if it was made by Kitano.

- artsy
- gorgeous male lead
- who doesn't say much
- but does stuff
- which you can watch him do
- for 2+ hours straight
- asmr
- stripped down storytelling
- quiet
- tender
- found family
- japanese
- female gaze
- style plus substance
- slow moving
- hypnotic
- visual
- gorgeous score

Tired of "slow" used as pejorative, qualified with a "but".
Chang Chen doesn't need dialog, in fact he is better without.

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Heavy stuff plus silliness

Don't care for the romance and the comedy elements are too silly to be paired up with such a heavy topic.

Certain old-school values the film promotes are at least questionable to me. People need a partner, really? Also: One partner, they never stray? Maybe this is taking it too far but unrealistic values promoted by movies might be among the reasons people feel inadequate and guilt-ridden over how fragmented their real life is when this is the case for most people, in most circumstances.

What an incredible cast though.

I love the Cho Jin Woong neglecting women's advances cinematic universe.

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A game that unravels fast

If you like 'Who's afraid of Virginia Woolf', 'The Boys in the Band' or 'Scenes from a Marriage' this should be for you.

Like the aforementioned films Intimate Strangers has a lot on its plate but manages to deal with it in a very careful, mature and profound way.

Some people say despite the one-room-setting it never gets boring. This kind of verbose play-like house-thriller setting is one of my favorite film settings and I have never seen a boring movie come out of it. Human relationships and conflicts, communication and psychology are almost indefinitely interesting themes if done right.

One of the many questions I ask myself is why Ye Jin, a psychiatrist, even suggests playing that game when she know she has something to conceal. Maybe she wants to be found out and provoke a crisis in her marriage because she is in an emotional crisis herself. Too bad for her, because I am pretty sure Suk Ho deliberately ignores what he instinctively knows about his wife. Maybe this is the way these two miscommunicate, between stoking conflict and shying away from it.

There are other moments when characters prevent something from being outed, maybe because they subconsciously know there is something going on, maybe because they don't want to know. In another instance someone ends an embarassing moment for the group that could potentially disrupt the evening and the friendship.

The whole scenario is like a social psychology experiment done in a good way. There is projection, denial, Freudian slips, everything. What I love about it is that the material never chooses the easy road of men are this and women are that, in fact there are many facets of greatness despite all flaws in everyone.

Depending on the topic of discussion the film makes the interesting observation that bonds are built, broken, and re-built, along the lines of time spent together, gender, age, education, social status, belief and personality.

The characters are all multidimensional and feel lived-in, and there are noteable blanks in character introduction, questions are left unanswered, which means more is under the surface than is being shown. This is one more aspect that makes the film very thought-provoking.

There is really nobody among the group without redeeming qualities, nobody I don't like. The only person that annoyed me for the longest time is Se Kyung but even she develops in a way that by the end I deeply empathize with her.

The most fascinating character to me is Tae Su, because once you peel off layer upon layer of brusqueness you learn how far he is willing to go for people, what a decent person he is underneath, a burden he carries by being constantly grouchy.

I like the state each one is left in, from people who are exposed completely, to others who get away with slight scratches, to one who chooses to lay open their secret. It's a very intelligent, tender way to handle the characters. One of the many things to adore about the script.

The sliding-dooresque twist at the end is such a clever idea and makes you ponder which world you want to live in, which option you would choose, it invites philosophical musings about the truth in relationships.

I am trying to gather my thoughts about why I think this kind of no-holds-barred sujet isn't suited for South Korea. They all talk very fast and act so cutesy and the cold hard truth demands time and depth in a way I don't associate with South Korean culture. They constantly hurt each other but gloss over it with the stereotypical tough love attitude.

It's as if the film itself wants to deal with heavy subjects but also doesn't want to alienate any part of its audience so it tries to be provocative while still playing it safe. Maybe this in itself is an indictment of middle class values.

There are no-holds-barred films from South Korea no doubt (e.g. No Regret), but I guess they are more Independent than this one.

This is an ensemble cast with no weak link but I still have to point out how outstanding without being disruptive Yeom Jung Ah is.

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Alternative Title: Men are Pigs

I am unsure whether I am more intrigued by the shameless honesty of the movie or repelled by everyone being unduly perverted. I am not known as being a prude but wow "Ethics of Anger" (original title) definitely is crammed with as much ugly shit and disgusting men as possible.

The movie starts and stops too often which disrupts the natural flow. The sequence of actions could have been much more smoothly if the writing was better.

There are great observations in there, hilarious sequences and at times wonderful acting. Cho Jin Woong as dying gangster is among the best things he has done. Lee Je Hoon is an unlikely great fit for a voyeur.

A shame that overall the movie is rather forgettable.

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mathematician's answer

A movie that by the end you realize is about something completely different than what you thought it would be. I quite like the twist in the end and the message the movie conveys, given the dilemma it starts out with.

I have a problem with the female character, I simply don't like her very much, she acts desastrously stupid for a person in her situation, which makes her look weak. By the end I empathize with the male lead but it takes a long time to get there. The only character I think is likeable throughout is the cop, who is clever without losing his humanity.

There are several implausibilities, e.g. what does the lead know about actual police work, how improbably fast do they uncover certain facts, and lastly, this genius brain comes up with such an elaborate ploy for something that could have been solved maybe even without a murder charge...

Solid mystery-thriller deepened by the melodrama in the end. Great score. Cho Jin Woong elevates the movie, like he always does.

Note to Self: Need to watch the Japanese original if only for Shibasaki Ko.

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Lost time

I just love the place this assured directorial debut and small independent film takes me.

The original title, "Lost Time", conveys a lot of it: The confusion of waking up unsure where or what or who you are, weighed down by memories, an indescribable feeling of loss, the heaviness and fragility of life, identity, choices and their consequences, change and inertia, alienation and doubt, metaphysical ambiguity and existential angst.

All this is handled in a diligent yet lighthearted manner (although I wouldn't exactly call it a black comedy as it is described here and there). The mind-bending script is clever not for its own sake but actually clever and full of substance. Great acting, soundtrack, pacing, atmosphere.

You have to live for a long time to be understood for a moment. And this is maybe all you can ask for.

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Unsettling

A gripping psychological horror-thriller with a tense, eerie atmosphere, a more than serviceable score, a plethora of intriguing characters, twists and turns. Great cinematography, color palette, framing and blocking is masterful.

Bluebeard, (original title "Thawing") starts strong, the plot twist around 2/3 of the runtime is so convoluted I couldn't believe it, which is why I love the ending because I want that to be the truth. Still, there are many unanswered questions, this movie might need repeat viewings.

Cho Jin Woong is phenomenal as a suffocatingly repressed, uptight yet sensual, nervous but closed-off, righteous, shy, depressed, calm man who is slowly driven out of his mind. Kim Dae Myung is very convincing too as a mirror character between trying to keep control over something increasingly terrorizing and carefully weighing each step towards his new neighbor.

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Wasted potential

It is puzzling why a movie that has at least 3 great actors, gorgeous cinematography, a reasonably good soundtrack and over the top hilarious gripping sequences, is not better as a whole. I need more background on the main character, on his motivation and personality. I also need more character development scenes, some quiet moments maybe. Why should I care for any of these people. So much wasted potential.


Things I loved

- Kim Joo Hyuk who steals the movie from Cho Jin Woong

- Cho Jin Woong forced into a double mascerade while still visibly being who he actually is

- Ryu Joon Yeol, particularly his reaction shots, he actually steals the movie from everyone

- several sequences where the action is energized by the soundtrack

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You can't try to see something that's invisible.

The second of three Japanese-made Invisible Man films, this time by Toho studios and much more overt in terms of leaning into post-war trauma than Daiei's The Invisible Man Appears. Unlike that film, Toho's production puts the trauma of its characters front and centre with the whole invisibility angle not actually turning up until about halfway through.

In Ginza, the dead body of an invisible man is discovered, alongside a suicide note. The note reveals that there is at least one other invisible man still alive. An ex-army commander reveals that during the war, Dr Nishizaki discovered by chance a particle that, when properly utilized, turns any object invisible. At the end of the Pacific War, a special attack corps made up of invisible men crashed on Saipan Island and were presumed dead, however, two survived. The effects of the invisibility particle cannot be undone.

Another very loose adaptation of the original story, this Invisible Man is far less a deranged killer than some adaptations have made him out to be and is much more focused on a sympathetic portrayal of its titular character. The Invisible Man of this film is much more focused on dismantling an organised crime syndicate that dresses up as the iconic image of the said character in order to commit crimes.

This is the only other film I've seen from Motoyoshi Oda outside of the two edits of Godzilla Raids Again. It's certainly a very moody film and like Raids Again, Oda's direction is solid and made a lot better here thanks to some pretty great editing. There are some great set pieces and a very consistent tone throughout the film and of course, there's Oda's patented car chase by the end. The special effects sequences from Eiji Tsuburaya are very clever but sparingly used, so there's a lot of pressure from the actors to be extremely good at miming which they thankfully fully commit to.

The plot is admittedly very messy in places and can even be almost incomprehensible at times, where this film does triumph however is in its characters. Seizaburo Kawazu as Takamitsu Nanjo, the film's Invisible Man is a tragic character, who was turned invisible against his will in order to help provide the funds to give his mother care, he finds new motivation in order to help a little blind girl finally regain her sight. Like with Godzilla Raids Again, it's wonderful to see Yoshio Tsuchiya in something other than a villainous role, here as Komatsu he assists in uncovering the major connections that link the criminal gangs together as an active driving force behind the plot. The rest of the cast is all pretty good.

Overall, Toho's adaptation of The Invisible Man is another solid little affair, once again less focused on the horror of the original and more focused on the science-fiction aspects of the production. You can see the later influence of their transforming human series starting their development here.

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Invisibility is no longer in the realm of impossibility.

The third and final Invisible Man film created by the Japanese, The Invisible Man vs. The Human Fly acts as a standalone sequel of sorts to Daiei's The Invisible Man Appears but you wouldn't know that from watching the film since it doesn't even acknowledge the film that came before.

A series of ghastly murders are being committed. The one similarity in each of the murders is that a weird buzzing sound is always heard right before the murder occurs. Is the killer invisible or possibly some other incredible creature?

Like many of the B-movie tokusatsu adventures that would follow, The Invisible Man vs. The Human Fly brings the wartime trauma to the fore, implying that this bodily corruption is an extension of the spiritual corruption suffered by those who lived through the conflict.

The Invisible Man Appears had opted to minimise the threat of violence to emphasise the immoral criminality of casual gangsterdom, thuggish armed robbery and the obscenity of fighting over a shiny diamond necklace when so many were going hungry, but Human Fly opens with a murder which turns out to be one of six recent mysterious cases of unexplained violent death. The only clue the police can come up with is a matchbook, later realising that some of the victims had served during the war together.

Where the Invisible Man in Daiei's first film is used as a warning about the misuse of science and the rising inequalities of the complicated post-war economy. By the 1950s, he'd become a more sympathetic figure. For Daiei, he was now a force of order, an unambiguously good instrument of law enforcement and a guardian of justice. For Toho, he was the melancholy ghost of the middle-aged man who'd been transformed by militarist folly, and like the 1949 Invisible Man knew he could never change back. The Human Fly, meanwhile, was everything that was rotten in the current society - embittered, greedy and vengeful, an example of bad science for which there was no legitimate application.

The impressive effects work of Eiji Tsuburaya has been abandoned and while Tōru Matoba attempts to do the ideas created by Eiji justice, his creativity is extremely limited by his choices of shots. Although the sequence of the railway and train exploding is a bright spot in an otherwise underwhelming effort. There's very little screentime dedicated to the titular characters and they are mostly relegated to background roles while a substandard police procedural plays out in the foreground.

Mitsuo Murayama's direction is fine, the story is fine, the characters are fine, it's just all a big bag of fine. It's not a film that is by any means special like the last two, just insanely forgettable. The actors don't really commit to the insane plot and ideas the film wants to portray and it mostly comes across as half-arsed in places.

Overall, The Invisible Man vs. The Human Fly is an entertaining if forgettable romp in the world of tokusatsu, you can do so much better but equally, you could do so much worse.

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There is no good or evil in science, but it can be used for good or evil purposes.

The Invisible Man Appears holds the unique distinction of being the earliest surviving tokusatsu production and one of three Japanese-made films starring the titular character. It's a relatively unique and unusual production compared to the later tokusatsu films of the 50s and 60s where it remains entirely forward-looking, relegating the trauma of World War II to background context rather than primary motivation.

Jewel thieves become interested in an invisibility formula invented by Professor Nakazato and want to use his invention to acquire a diamond necklace called the "Tears of Amour"...

Clearly taking influence from the exposure to American films during the Allied Occupation of Japan, The Invisible Man Appears is a very loose adaptation of the original Wells novel and appears to take cues from the more recent Universal movies being produced during the then more recent years of the 30s and 40s.

Less focused on murderous intent and instead, leaning into a far more wacky crime spree after a MacGuffin that symbolises post-war greed and selfishness. Astutely pro-science but wary of its misuse, the film develops a preoccupation with the role and responsibility of the scientific community as guardians of future safety.

I take my hat off to Arrow Video once again for managing to liberate these two Daiei classics from their vaults and finally giving them the attention they deserve outside of Japan. Unfortunately, the original film masters for this and its follow-up have long since vanished, a testament to their age, and what we are left with is a film cobbled together from surviving 16mm exhibition prints. There are all the artefacts to be expected with old celluloid; hairs, scratches, and authentic film jitter, but for anyone purchasing these old movies that should be expected and are unobtrusive.

Writer and director, Nobuo Adachi, delivers a fundamentally threadbare affair, the characters themselves are laughable in places. Seriously, these criminals have an Invisible Man at their disposable and all they can think to use him for is stealing a necklace, which they ultimately fail at numerous times. But it doesn't matter too much in the long run given that it nails the basics of being an entertaining cops and robbers film interspaced with a multitude of science fiction elements and a multitude of red herrings along the way.

His direction however is pretty good, there's a heavy noir atmosphere as actors deliver lines with slashes of light across their eyes, while simple actions such as the Invisible Man smashing glasses and pots on the floor are caught with whipping camera movements and canted angles. Clichés of the age, sure, but the darker ambience adds a much appreciated dramatic flair to accentuate the emotional beats.

This film also marks a very early credit for special effects wizard, Eiji Tsuburaya and while very rough in their execution, probably not helped by the so-so picture quality of the film prints, they showcase his talents right from the get-go making it no wonder that he would go on to be such a success in his field. He recreates many of the iconic moments that we've seen done to death in popular culture and yet with its film noir style they take on a very different feel and meaning.

Overall, The Invisible Man Appears is a solid interpretation of the character in an entirely new setting, some good acting, memorable direction and some very 'of the time' music help cement this film as the very definition of a hidden gem.

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Friendship rules!

Honestly, at the first part with visiting the friend in hospital already set it up to be a sad movie, which I wanted to avoid because I came for comedy and friendship which the reviews were boasting about. The first roughly thirty minutes weren't that funny but I was still interesting to watch for the story unfolding and once it progresses to seeing how the girl's dynamics are with each other, the fights, the swearing and the dancing— it's all just really good and fun and heartwarming. They added a bit of romance which of course, this is Korean after all but it didn't take away any focus from the girls and I did end up feeling quite envious of their friendship near the end. There were many scenes I like to rewatch but to rewatch it entirely would be too hard with how sad the end was?

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