The Film

The power of a films' energy is indescribable. It is rapturous, manifests emotion and has the ability to spellbound the viewer. This energy is created through the hard work of dedicated craftsmen who with talent and skill have the ability to capture the very essence of what it means to be human. Audience members have the sense to recognize this simply because they possess the ability to understand and translate what is viewed on the screen to their daily lives. Film can be seen as an extension of dreaming, providing an escape into a different perspective, providing methods of learning and adapting. It is pure creation where the subconscious can conjure any imagery it sees fit. In fact, seeing a particular image on screen might spark a new and different one in the viewers mind. It is as if the viewer is entranced by the directors dream and has the ability to enter different levels of subconsciousness through their own imagination.

Film Discussion: Stray Dog

Much of Akira Kurosawa’s Stray Dog could be more easily understood if the viewer has in the back of their mind the after effects of the atomic bomb on the Japanese citizens. With this in mind, this writer found himself clued into the possibilities of what Kurosawa was trying to say in his message. Just to name one instance, it was very intriguing that the train sounds in the movie sounded very much like the stray rabid dog from the very beginning image. There is also one instance when the sound of a baby crying sounds almost animal like. Whether this was intentional or not, it still adds to the film.

Throughout the film, characters experience a horrible heat wave. The viewer really can feel their pain as they go about their daily lives. Yet again, this writer felt that Kurosawa was trying to give his viewers a chance to really understand a deeper meaning of the film’s structure. It is almost as if this heat was symbolic for the troubling times the Japanese people were going through. However, what this writer found interesting about this is the fact Sato’s children seemed at peace and did not seem affected by it. In fact in relation to this, another instance that stood out was the slow paced sequence in which Detective Murakami, whose gun was stolen (lost), mopes around town, unsure of what to do. The stolen gun represented the displacement among the Japanese people after the atomic bomb devastated their lives. There is a reference made to Yusa, who stole Murakami’s gun, as the stray dog, but it was deeply felt that it was Murakami who in fact was seen as the stray dog. Who is a detective without a gun? Who is a Marine without their rifle? The viewer understands that a gun or rifle for that matter is considered to be family to these types of people, without it, they are nothing.

The film’s climatic ending is a direct correlation with the heat wave metaphor. This of all things mentioned above, is the one thing that made the film an enjoyable experience. There is a moment between the two main detectives on a bridge. Murakami says to Sato, “I have a terrible feeling something will happen”. If the viewer were paying close attention, they would have heard sounds of thunder roar in the distance and spot the darkening clouds; a storm is coming and fast.

The storm has arrived and it has come at a crucial part in the film’s structure. Yusa has shot Sato and left him for dead, then the downpour hits. This symbolized a bolt of tension being released from the characters and quite possibly the viewers themselves. Tension is released as the characters experience the downpour. However, this tension release comes only when Murakami has caught up with Yusa. During their scuffle, Kurosawa chose what felt like child like music. To bring the attention back to the Japanese children mentioned earlier; it was noticed when Yusa was defeated, a group of children emerged in the background. Life is back to normal so to speak. This could explain Yusa’s child-like behavior and his mental breakdown. The children represent the innocence of their society.

The very final scene sums up the experience this writer had while watching the film. Detective Sato explains to Detective Murakami “There will always be another Yusa”, meaning there will always be troubling times in which heroes need to stand up and show their fellow citizens not to be afraid of the troubling times that face them. So in a sense, Yusa is to be representative of the displacement between not only Murakami, but the Japanese society as well.

Dogtooth

Way Far Gone

http://www.roughcustomerfilms.com/

Film Discussion: Signer's Suitcase: On the Road with Roman Signer

Human begins as a testament to who we are will never stop searching for answers that would inevitably lead to the very question that has seemingly evaded us for as long as time has been perceived. How does nature really work? What is nature might be a question that Roman Signer would ask any seemingly supernatural or god like power? For this question has seemingly lead him all over the world to better understand its very own existence.

Signer as a performance artist constantly uses nature as a backdrop in his installations as a way to adapt and see what might become of his disturbances. What is he really searching? Peter Liechti’s Signers Koffer- Unterwegs mit Roman Signer (Signer’s Suitcase: On The Road with Roman Signer) has set out to capture Signer in his very own environment. One has to wonder if this is where Signer is at home. An element in particular that may cause the viewer to realize this fact is his performance installation seemingly out in the middle of nowhere.

Roman Signer slept in a tent with two monitors outside of his tent. Inside the tent along with Signer was an audio set up capturing the sounds of him snoring. The sounds of snoring were sent out through the monitors into the middle of nowhere. The snoring could be heard for miles. Shots of some of the wildlife were captured and the audio can be heard in the distance. The installation is clearly a metaphor for human begins as just another species on Earth. Of course we may not realize this because there is so much technology in our world that can cause us to forget that. Roman Signer is simply a reminder of who we really are, just another species in this big world.

This installation can be seen as a genesis behind the meaning of some of his other works. In most of his projects, man is compared against the world. The most simplistic of meanings might lead a viewer to see it as man vs the actual size of the world in which we live in. While, this is clearly evident, most of Signer’s work deals with metaphors beneath metaphors. There are elements that Signer uses in his man vs nature installations such as the ability to try and anger nature or to the very least disrupt it wondering what might become of the changes he is seemingly creating. Another element to his work that stood out was the fact that humans must adapt to sudden changes in nature.

Nature clearly never does what you want; it is a being in itself. One of Signer’s installations that deals with his matter is what I call “The Blocks of Life” which deals with Signer setting what looks like several clay like items on fire. What the viewer sees is that the blocks are contorting into different shapes, never contorting the same. So, Signer and the viewer are left with several different shapes that all have contorted into something else. This clearly must have some meaning in the fact that nature never does what one person wants. Signer very well could have had several people with him making sure the items were burned and shaped the same. The flame of life one could say. No one life is the same and one person cannot shape nature.

Could nature be defined as impervious? Will it never allow us to understand it completely? Signer’s performance installation that deals with the leaking gasoline is also quite compelling to look at further. It is rather quite simplistic from the outside, but I find that this is another case of a metaphor within a metaphor. As a side note, I would recommend looking at Matthew Barney’s work as it deals with metaphors within metaphors and is quite interesting and compelling.

The leaking gasoline as mentioned above is rather simplistic. However, the viewer can take this to mean that Signer is at it again, trying to possibly make a mark on nature and seeing the outcome. Someone could very well could have come along and struck a flame to the gasoline left behind. What would Signer accomplish then? Is the outcome strictly what he’s interested in?

Another element that Signer captures quite remarkably is the ability to experience landscapes driving at a certain speed and listening to certain music. Signer finds that the scenery contours as the drive continues. As the music continues, reaching its crescendo, the scenery becomes much more vibrant, providing Signer with an enjoyable experience. This can be seen as an installation that we all perform each day, but do we really take the time to notice our environments as we are traveling at a certain speed and listening to certain music? Are we subconsciously performing this installation? Signer clearly wants us to.

Signer as an artist deals a lot with experimenting with physics and its affect on nature. He seems transfixed on making changes to fit one needs, making the energy flow a certain direction. With this in mind, does man actually become a character of nature? Are we characters of nature? Nature seemingly writes the scripts and we adapt to its changes. It clearly does what it wants, performing certain tasks.

The installation on the bridge by far was the most compelling to me. Signer gives us details about how several people jumped and committed suicide, leaving behind their shoes as the only reminder that they were there and were met by an icy death. The viewer can only wonder what is going through his mind when it is destroyed. On this note, Signer’s installation with the white table floating reminded me of Jesus walking on water. Signer compared it to the melting of tongue and with that I was left with a metallic taste in my mouth. The table is floating through nature, up to nature’s path of where it leads. The mood of nature conveys night as Signer says. He compares it to the fact that darkness is only an absence of light and the mood of nature conveys either, simply waiting for a new day.

It also seems that Signer is very interested in discovering man’s place in nature. Every object has life. Signer calls it breath of matter. This was quite interesting to listen to. “Every object fills up and then dies. Our mood affects nature. Green is never green”-Roman Signer. With this in mind can we as humans understand that we are a product of own environment. Time is simply floating by and is unstoppable.

"I look at myself as a machine, performing these tasks”- Roman Signer."

MOTHER

Film Discussion: Kim Ki-Duk

What makes us human? The most likely answer one will give is the actions we chose make us who we are. However, a deeper meaning must be found in order to truly understand the question itself. This writer does believe that our actions make us humans, but the driving force behind them is our personal identities. Your identity is your soul; behind every soul is the deeper meaning. This writer believes it’s different for everyone. This is what Ki-duk Kim tried to explore in his Korean film, Shi gan (aka Time).

One of the many themes in this film is self-identity crisis. This is a cycle that only keeps going and going and never really stopping. The crowds of people at the end should clue the audience in to the fact that anyone could suffer from a self identity crisis. In this film, the self-identity crisis theme is explored through plastic surgery. Seh-hee tries save her relationship by under-going plastic surgery to match what she feels her boyfriend wants to see in a woman. Thus, changing her self-identity. Changing your looks makes you a different person one could say.

The opening images to this film depict a woman under going plastic surgery. The in depth look to the surgery through these images is merely an indication of how brutal plastic surgery can be to ones self. Later, the same woman exits the center into the new world, with her new identity. However, one cannot simply show off their new identity to the world. Your body must heal itself as it becomes used to your new look. The woman carries her old photo as she leaves the plastic surgery center.

She then runs into Seh-hee which causes the woman to drop the photo, shattering the glass and frame. This writer believes this was great symbolism to the fact this woman’s life has become shattered and possibly incomplete. This most likely will not become realized until the end of the film. At the end of the film, the audience should realize the woman who came out of the store, is Seh-hee, with her new identity. One can draw the conclusion that Seh-hee was running into her old self. This would explain why the decision was made for her to drop the photo of herself.

In addition to being a controversial filmmaker, Kim Ki-duk has also actively protested the fact that smaller filmmakers in South Korea do not get the deserved publicity. Many people have said that Kim is only trying to take care of himself, but he really represents the smaller filmmaker. The power of film production is held by a few in Korea (Hunt and Wing-Fai, p. 93). Because Kim Ki-Duk recognized the problem of having a few large distributors, Koreans now recognize the need for diversity in film production (Hunt and Wing Fai, p. 88).

Kim Ki-duk is among several Korean filmmakers who have been recognized in Europe. In 2004, Kim was given an award in Venice for 3-Iron (Hunt and Wing-Fai, p.209). Kim Ki-duk entered the film world on 1996 with the feature Crocodiles. This film along with two others of his Wild Animals (1999) and Real Fiction (2000) show young people who are really indifferent to society. Real Fiction is a test film that uses two cameras. The film is a story of how a young artist seeks revenge on a gang of bad guys that in his mind have not been kind to him. The forces of vengeance are demonstrated in Kim's Address Unknown (2001). This is the story of three teens during the Korean War and is set around a U.S. army base. Prostitution is a favorite theme of Kim Ki- duk and is introduced in Bird Cage (1998) and The Isle (1999). Kim thinks of prostitution as something that is common for ladies and gentlemen. The Isle earned international recognition. In this film, a prostitute who is unable to ear or speak has a somewhat controlled involvement with a fisherman. Unfortunately, unkind images over ride the beautiful setting of the film. (Vick, p. 166).

Kim continues his style in Bad Guy (2001). The forces of prostitution are again demonstrated when a college girl rejects a mute bad guy and must face the world as a prostitute. The Coast Guard (2002) does not spare the gory images that are a favorite of Kim. A young person, new to the military, kills an innocent person and then goes crazy over the incident. The images may not be pretty in this film, but it does demonstrate how psychologically damaging life in the military during wartime can be. (Vick p.167).

Kim changed his style in Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter--and Spring (2002). The setting is a beautiful mountain lake and a floating monastery. This film appears to be a ''Buddhist Fable” centering on an older monk teaching a younger one. The film takes Kim's more unpleasant drive and takes it in a new direction. The film appealed to the internationals and the locals because it appeared to be focused on Buddhism. Kim, raised a Christian," made up the rituals in the film."(Vick, p. 167). Was his intent to undermine the Orientals? (Vick, p. 168)

Kim Ki-duk can work at a rapid and crazy rate. He made two films in 2003. These were 3-Iron where a thief assists a woman to leave her abusive husband. The golf club as the film is named helped aid the escape. A teen- age girl attempts in Samaritan Girl to make up for prostitute friend's death by returning client’s money after sleeping with him herself. She has no idea that her father finds and beats them. (Vick. 168).

Kim often receives very mean criticism in Korea. He once decided not to release his films in Korea, but now has reversed that decision. He does have some defenders of his work in his home country. Do his films present a true hatred of women or are they a representation of something more? (Vick, p.168). Kim Ki-duk's view of humans is seen over and over in his productions. His films could easily be seen as nothing but an attempt to shock, but he attempst to share his thoughts with the viewer. His views are not hidden and they become easily obvious. (Vick, p. 166).

References

Asian Cinema: A Field Guide

East Asian Cinemas: Exploring Transnational Connections on Film

Film Discussion: Irma Vep

Irma Vep more than likely falls into a category that in, which the films are uniquely aware of themselves. Cinema is not magic; it is a technique and science. Olivier Assayas is a technician who is studying the science of filmmaking. Perhaps there is no magic the viewer can experience in this particular piece because Assayas is denying them that opportunity. Instead, Irma Vep is a film that is strictly set on studying itself. It is a world of film that is strictly aware only of itself and nothing more. God exists only within the director as for this is his world and his inhabitants. His story is his soul; nothing else consumes Rene than this. He would rather destroy his own creation than have it fall into the hands that threaten to take over his world. One could assume that he poisoned his own film. Rene is our mentor within the context of the film.

Irma Vep is a film that seemingly blends itself together within its very self. This world of film is marked only by celluloid. Maggie Cheung loses herself within the character of Irma Vep, taking on characteristics of the character herself. Does it consume her? This is inevitably leading back to her conversation with Rene about Irma Vep only being a part she is set to play. One might be able to argue that this is a direct parallel in the roles that humans have been set to play in their daily life. Is some unknown force directing us?

Maggie Cheung tests Rene’s theory of how there are no parts or roles, just the characters themselves. She is definitely in the moment when she decides to act on Irma Vep’s impulses. The only possible existence to the outside world, outside of the world of Irma Vep is Maggie Cheung’s interview with the French film reporter. It is a moment when Assayas is commenting on other films. It is the only connection outside of the world of Irma Vep, a world that Assayas is intent on keeping us in for the duration of the film.

But Deliver Us From Evil - Teaser

But Deliver us From Evil
Written and directed by Reto Sterchi
Starring Shane O'Brien, Laura Kweller, Starina Johnson, Cortney Buczkowski, Rick Messina, Susan Miller
Cinematography: Justin Eslinger
Song written and performed by Willy Vlautin
Produced by Jennifer Bonior, Reto Sterchi, Justin Eslinger

But Deliver Us From Evil - Teaser from Reto Sterchi on Vimeo.

Film Discussion: Performance

*Warning*

If you have not viewed this film, you may
want to stop here due to the possible
spoilers in this reading that may or may not
prohibit you from enjoying your experience.

_________


The identity of the average moviegoer and the average film student is at a constant flux. The film stars Mick Jagger and James Fox. While, Nicholas Roeg and Donald Cammell are attributed to both directing the piece, it is to this writer's understanding that Cammell was the sole director while Roeg contributed on the cinematography itself.

The film feels as a performance installation of the loss of identity, and how outside influence can change the way we think, feel and perceive the world. After this writer has viewed several of Nicholas Roeg films, it becomes clear that he has a strong focus in the cinematography and perhaps editing approach to filmmaking.

So many of his films cannot survive without the editing given the sheer complexity of them. It is as if the editing techniques presented in each of his films have a persona about them, an identity so to speak. There are times in the film Performance where the viewer is presented with a scene and does not figure out the significance of that scene until two or three scenes later. It could also be that the editing itself is putting on a performance.

One could draw the conclusion that the editing techniques in the film Performance are painted in such away that it presents the viewer with an up close look at Chaz’s fragmented life. There are other times where Roeg concentrates on presenting a close up on a shot that may not particularly warrant it. This writer draws the conclusion that Roeg is making sure the viewer is aware of the editing. These types of shots have the ability to grab at the viewer’s attention even more so than it might have already been. Given the story and editing combined, this gives the viewer a feeling that they are unknowingly participating in a performance installation. The film constantly makes sure the audience is aware and paying attention. Now, what could really be taken away from Performance is that it ultimately feels as though it is a test into the understanding of a viewer’s mind while watching such a film as Performance. As mentioned previously, the film puts on a performance for the viewer, but it is really a way of possibly understanding the viewer without them really knowing.

Does Turner really want to probe into the mind of Chaz, or is it Nicholas Roeg who wants to probe into the viewer’s mind as they sit and watch the scenes unfold, trying to understand what is going on. This writer finds that the viewer who tries to understand the scene is what Roeg wanted. Perhaps, he is interested in the thought process that one undertakes when presented with such material. So, with this logic this writer must draw the conclusion that Chaz himself is meant to be representational of the viewer himself or herself. At the end when Chaz’s firm catches up with him the viewer is pulled out of the situation and ultimately the film itself.

Nickel Children

No one can possibly argue that short films are very difficult to make. Some might agree that they're harder than feature films, depending on who you are. For the rest of us, filmmakers have limited time to tell their story and to get their point across in such a way that it would have the same effect if the short was actually a feature. The only real difference between a short and a feature is its budget. A short film is likely to have ten times the limited budget that a feature does unless your Michael Bay wanting to make Transformers the 35 minute short film. On this notion something like the Transformers franchise would never work in a shorter medium because the story is just too big and deserves to be told in a feature film. Now, I'll leave it up to you to decide it's deserving quality.

This brings us to the short film Nickel Children from director Kevin Eslinger. Nickel Children blends everything together into what a short film should be. The story I find is perfect for the short medium. As mentioned above, one thing that we must realize is that a short must do everything that a feature does, but in limited time. There is no margin for error because the slightest mistake is likely to be that more noticeable. Some might argue that characters must go through a full story arc. Personally, I don't find this to be the case and as long as the characters are believable in their environments and the story is engaging in its own right, then I find that this can lead to some pretty amazing experiences in cinema.

So, I don't know how many of you are actually reading my little page here, but I'd like to show you a teaser that was just released on the internet for the short film, Nickel Children.

Nickel Children (2010)

Release Date: 2010

Director: Kevin Eslinger
Writer: Kevin Eslinger
Genre: Action, Sci-Fi, Short, Western
Official Site: nickelchildren.eslingerfilm.com

Nickel Children is an action, adventure, sci-fi, fantasy steampunk film.

"Steampunk" is a visual, cultural style that blends western elements with British Victorian era design, often with over complicated steam powered machinery and technology.

Nickel Children is a story that takes place in the late 19th Century, in an alternate reality, dust bowl Kansas. It revolves around a young boy whom is abducted and forced into an underground child fighting ring. Wealthy people are invited to attend these secret communities and bet on the children for their own amusement. Jack is soon freed by a vigilante woman looking for her own missing son.

Film Discussion: Spider Forest

*Warning*

If you have not viewed this film, you may
want to stop here due to the possible
spoilers in this reading that may or may not
prohibit you from enjoying your experience.

__________

The stories in Asian films have a history of being told in new and different ways. Their unique visual style transcends the experience of watching foreign films. This writer has chosen to take a deeper look at the film, Spider Forest. The film was made in South Korea. It is from the year of 2004 and was written and directed by Ill-gon Song.

Ill-gon Song does not have a long list of films to his credit. He was born on January 1, 1971 in Seoul, South Korea. This only makes him thirty- eight years old which could be considered a young age for a director. Already at age thirty-eight, he has won ten awards and has two nominations from around the world. Spider Forest was nominated in 2004 at the San Sebastian International Film Festival for the Golden Seashell award.

The story revolves around Kang Min, a widowed television producer, who is drawn to a cabin in mysterious woods known as Spider Forest. He receives a call from a mysterious male who this writer believes is actually his subconscious. This mysterious male tells him that his girlfriend is meeting with another man in Spider Forest. Kang Min decides to investigate it and finds the truth. Now, Ill-gon Song decided to tell the story in a non-linear fashion. This either works or it does not. In this case it works, and works very well.

A spirit like figure dressed in a robe with a green scarf is viewed in the beginning of the film, with her back to us. The idea of a spirit and the green scarf show up throughout the film. Kang Min also wears a green sweater in many of the scenes. This color reminds this writer of the constant connection to the forest. The film begins with Kang Min discovering two gruesome murders in this mysterious cabin. As implied earlier, the two deceased are Su-yeong, his girlfriend, and Choi, his boss. Throughout the film, Kang Min attempts to understand what happened. The film as a whole largely deals with his subconscious forcing him to actually remember what happened. At the tail end of the film, he does in fact become aware that he was the perpetrator in these murders.

However, Asian films have the tendency to drag us along in order to give us the impression that something else is really going on. In this case, this could not be more true. There are several symbolic elements that serve as his subconscious. One element in particular that this writer found very interesting was the apple scene. In this scene, Kang Min is talking with his wife in what this writer presumed to be a flashback of sorts. She portrays a mime and while doing so she reaches for an apple in a basket that is on a table. At first glance, this may not seem significant to the story, but the sound effect of them eating the apple is the key to his subconscious forcing him to remember what happened. In the cabin, Kang Min’s boss was screwing his girlfriend, all while chewing on an apple. Kang Min then tells his wife of a dream that he had of her dying in a plane crash. She replies, “That isn’t a dream, that’s reality”. Unfortunately, this is pretty much a dead give a way to the fact that something else is going on. She actually dies in a plane crash, which the audience discovers through the use of a flashback. One must remember the story is not told in a linear fashion.

Kang Min visits Min Su-jin, the owner of a one- hour photo development store (in Min’s subconscious). He is investigating Spider Forest for his television show, Mystery Theatre. She tells him a story of a young boy who transfers into a new school where he takes a liking to a girl who is seen as an outcast. This girl lives in a cabin in Spider Forest. ¬ After viewing this film, this writer drew the conclusion that the story Min Su-jin tells Kang Min is that of their short childhood together. This becomes partially explained later in the film when the police make the discovery that Kang Min’s father was the actual owner of the one-hour photo store. One element that was confusing was the fact that we later find out that Kang Min was reported to have lived in the cabin in Spider Forest. Now, who actually lived there we may never find out. However, Kang Min’s mother left his father for another man. This seems a bit confusing and contradictory to the story as told by Min Su-jin. The teacher told the detectives that Kang Min lived in the forest with his father. However, this could have just been another way to help Kang Min’s real memory come back.

Min Su-jin relates the story as she and Kang Min travel on a lift near Spider Forest. It comes to a sudden halt as if to say they are now frozen in time. She tells Kang Min of the legend behind Spider Forest. She states that recently deceased people who are not loved by anyone at the time of their death are transformed into spider turned spirits who this writer actually believes she is one of the spider turned spirits. This is not to be seen as a literal translation but a metaphorical one. Kang Min visits Min Su-jin because he is

Earlier in the film, we see Kang Min give Su-yeong a present while at a restaurant. The present is two dolls that supposedly resemble each other. Later that night, we see him playing with the dolls. He positions them in such a way that resembles two people saying good-bye to each other as one departs for heaven. In this case, the male doll is holding on to the female much like a child who is losing grip on a balloon. This relates back to Min Su-jin’s story, which we see young Kang Min holding on to the arm of young Min-Su-jin the same way Kang Min positioned the male and female doll. After this scene, it became obvious to this writer that the female doll does not symbolize Su-yeong, but rather Min Su-jin. She is departing and since no one loved her at the time of her death is transformed into a spider turned spirit.

It did not hit this writer until later, but the one element to putting the pieces together that surrounds the events in this story was actually Kang Min’s car. As mundane as this might sound, it is in this writer’s opinion that his car was subtly put into the movie as the one element to solving the mystery. As mentioned earlier, in the beginnings of the film, an on coming car struck Kang Min. The car then drove off, leaving a bloodied Min to die on the ground. Now, from this writer’s perspective, the car was the same that he was driving throughout the film. Could it be that he is his own worst enemy? In the end, this becomes especially important because Min Su-jin leads him through the Spider Forest and through a tunnel in the forest. At the opposite end of the tunnel is the beginning of the film. We see the events that transpired (Kang Min being struck by a car). “I came to realize that the dead person was me” (Kang Min). Could he have meant emotionally or physically dead? Kang Min becomes fully aware of what he did because of help from Min Su-jin who is the key to his subconscious and guardian of the entire spider turned spirits.

Now, an attempt will be made to put this film in chorological order in hopes of better understanding this work of art. The film starts off with Kang Min waking up in the woods. This is not the beginning, but actually somewhere in the middle. This writer believes the true beginning of the film is when Kang Min receives the mysterious phone call from what he believes is someone else. This was discussed earlier.

Kang Min then decides to see if the claims this man has made are actually true. To his dismay, he finds that they are. Kang then contemplates on their murder. When one watches the film they will notice that the bodies appear to have been dead for weeks in the very beginning of the film. This becomes clearer when the audience should realize that Min killed Choi and Su-yeong and left them in the cabin for some time. He only returns when Min Su-jin leads him through Spider Forest and strangely disappears. She re-appears when Kang has come to terms with what he has done.

Asian culture shines through in the film with the offering of herbal tea (a health practice of Asia). Self- made medicine concocted of spider webs was also offered to Kang Min for an illness following a spider bite. A connection to spirits is also an Asian belief (Shamanism as so evident in this film).

The only reference made in the film to a separate North Korea and South Korea was a sexual comment. A character quoted a North Korean defector as saying “A North Korean man is always top during sex.” Could this be suggesting that males in this country see themselves as dominate over women?

Spider Forest has similar themes when compared to other Asian films. Violence, rape, and sex are repeated themes in both Memories of Murder, and Spider Forest. Also the murders were unsolved in both films. Dead bodies are discovered at the beginning of both films. Each detective in the two films returns to the scene at the end of the film. They both look defeated and exasperated. There is a recurring theme of the use of tunnels in both of these films. The suspected killers viewed in each tunnel. One is freed from suspicion of murder, the other free from his repressed thoughts. A connection to spirits can be found in both Tropical Malady and Spider Forest. They also both deal with forests as a setting.

The non-linear fashion of the storytelling in Spider Forest makes it difficult to link thoughts and themes together. At one time in his life, Kang Min had a happy relationship with his wife. Tragedy struck and he loses his will to survive. Unfortunately, he receives no emotional support from his boss. He meets another girl and her unfaithfulness drives him to murder. This tragic act forces him to repress his thoughts. Min Su-jin, a spider spirit, revives his conscious. One is left to wonder if he ever confessed to the crime, but the film has brings to mind the idea that humans have a conscious. Morally and ethically most people know what must be done. As in the world today, there is always going to be some who participate in illicit sex, some who are non-supporting of others when they are down, and others who know what needs to be done. It is reassuring to know that a Korean filmmaker is trying to tell a story about human struggles. The film reminds us that people all over the world struggle with challenges on a daily basis.