Save the Green Planet!

Scott Hardie: “It ruled.”

There was just too much slackness of pace for this Korean flick to make the top ten, but I'm happy to call it one of my favorite films of 2005. It has something for everyone: Part thriller, part science fiction, part drama, part comedy, part horror, all weird. An unstable man convinced his former boss is an alien invader kidnaps him, shaves him bald, straps him to a chair, and plots to kill him, while his more intelligent captive plots an escape. It's a strange, unpredictable battle of imagination, and the film takes great pleasure in walking the line, going a long time without saying for sure whether the boss is an alien, or his captor is insane, or possibly neither, or possibly both. It follows in a new Korean trend of ultra-violent pictures that don't skimp on the gory injuries, but it's actually a gentle film at heart, more interested in its hero's fragile innocence than what horrors he's capable of inflicting in his seeming madness. I can't recommend this funny little freakshow enough.

− September 24, 2006 • more by Scott • log in or register to reply