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Spider Forest [KR SE 2DISC] |
Spider Forest [US Version] |
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Spider Forest (Korea
2004)
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Director : Song Il-gon
Cast : Kam Woo-seong, Seo Jeong,
Son Byeong-ho, Jang Hyeon-seong,
Kang Kyeong-heon and Park Won-sang.
Synopsis :
Kam Nim finds two dead bodies in a remote cabin and also spots the
killer. Kam chases the killer but eventually loses him. In the
process, he is hit by a car. Barely surviving a surgery, he reflects
on his life and how he arrived at the cabin and his relationship to
the corpses. |
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Review
by Edward Tang
Spider Forest didn't really get any box office notice or acclaim by
fans of Korean cinema and that's a shame. Okay, so it's not horribly
violent spectacle, nor a crappy horror flick or a
by-the-numbers-bullshit detective story, it's a movie that stands on
it's own two feet with an enthralling premise. If you appreciate
good cinema, you should truly get into this film because it's more
interesting with it's "dream-like" story and it's interesting cast
of characters and visuals. Some might get turned off because it's
not really the typical movie that has the typical turns and typical
bullshit that I've seen streamlined out of Hong Kong the last few
years. I do like the added parallel that this film could possibly be
a dream but it doesn't stop there. It also gives the viewer a look
into loss of a partner and subjects that pertain to that. The story
above all kept me interested as it should you. Okay, the ending
probably will come to you in the first few minutes of the film (If
you've got my super-intelligence) but it still doesn't lack anything
in power.
So the film starts out with a guy named Kang, who just seems to be
having a bad life. First his wife dies in a plane crash and then he
finds two dead bodies in a cabin. We learn later that these bodies
belong to his boss and his trouser bowser enjoying girlfriend. Kang
initially cries but hears somebody in the house and spots the little
bastard. In a creepy chase through a creepy forest (Spider Forest no
less) he gets tripped up and the killer evades him. But not only
does poor ol' Kang get smashed in the head by the killer with a log,
he gets smashed by a car and in turn almost dies. After getting
patched up at the doctor's office, he tells the doctor to get him
the police. A police officer (name escapes me) comes in and has some
sort of a small friendship with Kang and they go over in detail how
Kang came to where he was and events that led up to these moments.
We learn of Kang's girlfriend, his dead wife, his job and the legend
of the Spider Forest itself.
What's excellent about this film is that if you have the balls to
actually pay attention to this flick, it'll pay off. The story moves
like a dream almost, Kang relays his story onto the police officer
and we learn of a simple man who deals with his loss like most do.
There are many smaller stories as well, such as the legend of the
Spider Forest which tells that unloved souls go to the forest until
they are remembered or loved again. It captures your interest with
giving you something to go by as a smaller piece of information that
is dealt out every moment. It's not really a "detective" story where
it's more of a mystery saga that doesn't try to rely on a bunch of
random gore-infested shits to catch your ADD-fueled mind. Kang's a
likable guy and we follow him in regular life and when he begins to
find out more and more about the Spider Forest and what actually
went down at the cabin. But Kang goes into hyper mode and he begins
to doubt himself and his own memory at times. The psychological
aspects of this film gives us conclusion after conclusion that tries
to argue the fact that we might be watching fiction. The point of
this is that the director doesn't try to follow the hokey fucking
attempt to explain everything we see with some dead girl calling
people on a phone or something: it goes the way I wouldn't have
expected it to go.
The visuals in this film are also outstanding, there are a few
hidden secrets along the way. There's a scene where Kang peels a
dead leaf off of a table and it leaves an imprint that looks like a
heart. There's a whole bunch of that stuff going on in this film and
you can definitely see it. Some great direction is also added which
makes the film even more like a dream, from vast shots of the
countryside to some horribly violent situations (Stabbed in the neck
with a sickle? Yee haw), it's all top notch. The only crappy fact
that this film has is that it is named "Spider Forest" (Doesn't that
sound to you like a stupid fucking movie with ten foot spiders
jerking each other off and spewing poison slime at people? Hopefully
it doesn't, because that's just nasty). The music is pretty haunting
as well, it fits the scenes that it accompanies.
The film asks some interesting questions as well. "Are we living a
constant string of memories? How can we really tell what's what?"
The film relies on it's ending to cement the fact that there are two
separate problems that could have occurred: did all this happen? Or
was it simply a dream? That's a parallel that you couldn't find from
you simple run of the mill type film, but what can you do? We end
with the final results of the mayhem and we are left partially
pissed off and partially sad for Kang's current situation. The guy
went through a lot and it might have been in his head. Ah, it's so
nice these days that Korea still can kick film making in the ass
because I've been pretty bored with other stuff as of late.
Ignore the ranting above and just go see this film. It's an easy
rental if you like a little bit of thinking after the credits role.
Tartan, you've gotten better in the last few months, ditch the
horror bullshit and start getting stuff like this. Don't expect a
full on horror film (as it's sadly billed as) but a great film that
hopefully gets some notice over the next few years.
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| Notable Scenes : |
- Kam getting smacked around by the
car and learning who offed the
couple. |
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