Green Fish

Posted: Thu Apr 29, 2004 8:59 am Post subject: Green Fish Post Rating: 0

Green Fish
(Korean 1997)

CAST:
Han Suk-kyu, Shim Hye-jin, Mun Seong-geun, Song Kang-ho.

DIRECTOR:
Lee Chang-dong.

Green fish tells the story of Mak-dong (Han Suk-kyu: Shiri), a man who has just finished his service in the army only to return home and find that things aren't as he left them. His journey home starts with an incident in which he saves a woman from being beaten by a gang of thugs, in turn they beat him up instead and he is left battered and bruised with only a scarf as a memento from the mystery woman. Upon arriving home he sees that his once fondly loved neighbourhood has turned into a monstrosity of concrete, flats that over shadow the beauty that once belonged here and are owed to the ever rising economy. Mak-dong stays with his mother and brothers where he dreams of running a small restaurant with them, he must find himself work first though but without any real skills he finds it to be difficult.

Whilst out one night Mak-dong, by coincidence bumps into the woman he aided back on the train. Her name is Miae (Shim Hye-jin: The Ginko Bed) and she manages to get him a job, however it is with a group of gangsters led by Bae (Mun Seong-geun) whose girlfriend happens to be Miae. With Mak-dong falling for her but having to stay loyal to Bae he finds himself getting mixed up in a world that lives by strict rules that can cost any man his life.

The story that is told here doesn't really offer any kind of original aspects. It merely relies on depicting itself with a sense of realism, enough so to convince you that although the odd cliché may be present you can still put that aside and view the film with an open mind. The pace is slow, not so much that the viewer would get restless but more or less get to understand and sympathise with the characters better or at least this would be the intention. To make a truly great drama film I feel that you need to be able to hit all the right marks, unfortunately what we have here is something that could have delivered more but failed to on any real emotional level. That is not to say that it isn't a good film, it certainly has its moments but these are during the scenes in which we see Mak-dong interact with his family. The bigger picture though is centred around himself, his boss and the relationship they have with Miae and it is here that the film suffers. It is not that it is played out poorly as such but rather the development between characters is not stretched enough, having more of a rushed feel. The result is that we are not given enough time to fully appreciate and understand the character's minds. Sure they have their problems but so does everyone else in the film and I didn't really care for them.

It is a shame really because I cannot fault any of the actors. Han Suk-kyu does a very good job in his role as the naive young man who suddenly becomes embroiled in a situation from which he can't escape but there is something lacking, the one thing that should be most important and that is being able to care for his character. This is difficult because his character is actually pretty stupid, he makes poor decisions that in time will ultimately contribute to his downfall and having that predictable nature you can't help but think that he's just brought it all on himself.

Shim Hye-jin as the love interest is respectable in her role. Her character is trapped and in her despair she constantly drinks, knowing that she can never get away from her lover Bae but she also a promiscuous woman, she feels that she might as well just sleep with everyone seeing as she is sent out to do so with many clients of Bae's. She stays continuous depressive state, finding no real pleasure in life but it is her attitude toward her situation that prevents the viewer from really caring. If she is going to continue on in that frame of mind then so be it.

Mun Seong-geun as Bae plays his character well but isn't given any real chance to shine either. He is a leader who is respected only by his followers, his rivals pity him, he once belonged to a rival gang but went his own way and started to proceed in taking control of his town. He is looked upon as being weak, something that he tries to dispel amongst his rivals. In order to prove that he will do things as they should be done he is forced to later take care of the mess he has made but he remains a cold person all the same.
It is more to do with what the actors are given with rather than how they perform and they are not given any real redeeming qualities. I feel the better characters were many of the secondary ones such as Song Kang-ho's gangster, Mak-dong's disabled brother and the rest of his family whom he is doing all this for.

I really did like the score throughout which could have elevated the film so much more. There are some lovely pieces that try to gear you more toward the emotional side of things but seeing as these never really come across strongly then it remains just a nice addition to the film. The film also has moments when action is called into play, not enough to please action fans but enough to pick up in places between the slower proceedings but it remains a drama.
In all the film is a little uneven, it tries to offer a deep emotional core but for me it failed to do so. It is a sad film though, not in terms of being hitting but because the outcome isn't particularly rewarding. It offers enough interest to sustain its running time but not enough to warrant it higher praise.

Video: DivX 3 Low-Motion 640x352
Audio: Mp3 128 kb
1 CD 681 MB
Korean with English .srt subtitle

Posted: Thu Apr 29, 2004 11:44 am Post subject: Post Rating: 0

Interesting review... Korean Cinema House's opinion is usually worth listening to.

Thanks for posting this; always meant to watch Lee Chang-Dong's movies. I haven't got round to watching Peppermint Candy yet, but I've seen Oasis, and that's one of my favourite films ever now... absolutely mindblowing... so hopefully this'll have at least some of that same kind of feel to it.