Antarctic Journal: Get to the Point (of Inaccessibility, That Is)

I'd never heard of a "point of inaccessibility" before Antarctic Journal. Evidently, the term refers to a geographical location that's extremely difficult to access, often because of its distance from the coast. Reaching such a landmark is a source of pride for explorers because it's so challenging. For the general public, however, there's little to recommend a POI (as it's sometimes called). The same could be said for Antarctic Journal, the pseudo-horror flick by director Yim Pil-sung (and co-written by auteur Bong Joon-ho). It's for extremists only. In other words, if you're committed to being a completist and seeing every movie starring Song Kang-ho then then you're eventually going to have to watch this dud about a South Korean crew searching for the South Pole's POI.

Which isn't to say that Song isn't good. As the merciless captain who hallucinates memories of his son's suicide when he isn't letting his crew members die one by one, the actor keeps the action grounded, which isn't easy given how much appears to be shot in front of a green screen. Keeping it real can only take you so far though, and what is real, really? Not the sudden nose bleed that he gets at one point. Not the novice (Yu Ji-tae) who he cavalierly bequeaths the ominous British expedition diary that they find in the snow. Not the cynical cohort (Yun Je-mun) who can't persuade anyone how crazy the captain obviously is. Not even the cheerful radio operator (Kang Hye-jeong) who flies off in a search helicopter when captain and company "vanish into thin air." I'm not saying, Antarctic Journal needed to be a naturalistic take on a devastating expedition, but shots of a frozen eyeball and a ghostly woman's hand come across as pretty random and just leave me wondering whether the film is about to take a serious left turn. Maybe it did. Over and over. Which is another way of saying Antarctic Journal just goes in circles. And made me rethink my initial plan to curate a Song movie marathon, despite how wonderful I still think he is.

Flowers For My Life (Drama - 2007)

Directed by Ji Yeong-soo (지영수)
Screenplay by Yoon Seong-hee (윤성희)
•Comedy •Drama
KBS | Airing dates : 2007/05/14~2007/07/03

16 episodes

Cha Tae-hyeon as Yoon Ho-sang
Kang Hye-jeong as Na Hana
Kim Ji-hoon as Ko Eun-tak

Synopsis

Jika ditanya apa yang paling Na Ha Na sukai di dunia ini, jawabannya adalah Uang. Apa yang paling bisa membuatnya bahagia? jawabannya adalah Uang. Na Ha Na memang gadis pecinta uang. Maka dari itu ia bertekad ingin menikah dengan orang kaya yang berumur pendek agar ia dapat memiliki banyak uang. Makanya ia pun memutuskan bekerja di rumah sakit sebagai perawat agar dapat bertemu dengan orang kaya berumur pendek.

Yoo Ho Sang adalah cowok yang selalu saja membuat susah keluarganya. Ia memiliki banyak hutang. Makannya ia selalu saja dikejar-kejar oleh penagih hutang. Ia merasa hidupnya selalu dipenuhi oleh kesialan.

Suatu hari Ho Sang bertemu dengan orang kaya bernama Hwang Dae Bak. Orang itu menyuruh Ho Sang bertukar identitas dengan dirinya. Karena dijanjikan uang banyak, Ho Sang pun setuju dan bersedia menukarkan bajunya dengan baju Hwang Dae Bak. Tidak hanya itu, Ho Sang disuruh berpura-pura sakit dan masuk rumah sakit sebagai Hwang Dae Bak. Lalu Hwang Dae Bak pergi keluar dan menyuruh ho Sang tinggal di RS sbg Hwang Dae Bak sam pai ia kembali.

Selama di Rumah sakit, Ho sang menjalani beberapa pemeriksaan dan tes kesehatan. Di RS ia bertemu dengan si penagih hutang. Kepada sang penagih hutang ia mengatakan bahwa kini ia sedang sakit parah dan terkena kanker. Karena kasihan, si penagih hutang akhirnya melepaskan Ho sang.

Ketika Ho sang kembali ke rumah ternyata keluarganya sedang mengadakan upacara pemakaman dirinya. Ternyata orang yg bernama Hwang Dae Bak yang saat itu masih memakai seragam kerjanya Ho sang telah meninggal dunia karena menolong seorang anak kecil. Mayat Dae Bak diidentifikasikan sebagai Ho Sang dari name tag bertuliskan "Yoo Ho sang" di bajunya. Anak kecil yang ditolong itu adalah anak orang kaya. Sebagai tanda terima kasih, ayah anak itu memberikan hadiah berupa surat tanah pada keluarga Ho Sang. Karena dianggap telah mati, Ho sang pun hidup sebagai Hwang Dae Bak.

Na Ha Na tahu dari dokter di rumah sakit bahwa pasien bernama Hwang Dae Bak terkena penyakit kanker. Makanya ia pun mulai mendekati Hwang Dae Bak tanpa mengetahui bahwa sebenernya orang itu adalah Yoon ho sang yang sangat miskin.

Emang rada ribet kalo diceritain kaya gini. Paling seru emang kalo langsung nonton. Bagus banget kok. Tokoh Na Ha Na di sini unik banget. Dia emang suka uang, Tapi jangan membayangkan ia sebagai tokoh antagonis yang serakah dan jahat seperti di film-film lain. Na Ha Na cinta banget ma duit dari kecil. Selai itu karena keluarganya Na Ha Na punya usaha pemakaman jadi dia udah biasa ngeliat mayat, malah diajak ngobrol ma mayat itu. Makanya dia ga punya temen karena banyak yg nganggep dia orang aneh.

Sebenernya alasan utama aku nonton serial ini karena mau liat Kang Hye jeong. Bagi yang udah nonton welcome to dokmakgol dan why u come to my house pasti tau cewek yg satu ini. Di 2 film itu Kang Hye Jeong memerankan tokoh yg unik dan aneh. Pengen liat dia mainin karakter cewek normal. Tapi ternyata di serial ini juga karakternya aneh. Tapi justru di situ nilai plusnya. Aktinghnya bagus banget deh.

Ini Film happy ending. Maksudnya endingnya bener-bener happy, ketawa-ketawa gitu. Beda banget ma film korea tentang penyakit gitu yang menjelang ending banyak adegan mengharukan, justru di film ini bagian akhir nya happy banget. Justru ditengah2 yang sedih karena banyak tokoh-tokoh baik yang meninggal satu persatu.

Film ini dalem banget maknanya. Karena di film ini banyak banget adegan orang mati jadi mengingatkan kita betapa kematian itu sangat dekat. Bisa dateng pada siapapun, kapanpun, dimanapun. Trus jadi lebih menghargai hidup dan lebih bisa menghargai orang yang masih hidup. Pokoknya bagus d.

Oldboy: Revenge Is Sweet, Repeatedly

I'd always been afraid to watch Oldboy a second time because I loved it so much the first. This movie, along with Save the Green Planet, is why I'm the longstanding fan of Korean film that I am. I didn't want to mess with that memory. I didn't want to rob Oldboy of its stature. In a nutshell, I was secretly worried that knowing the "shocking ending" beforehand would diminish the pleasures ahead. Would it end up feeling like a gimmick flick? Not to fear. Park Chan-wook's revenge masterpiece works equally well when you're clued in to the horrific plot twists. It's still creepy, lyrical, and deranged but now it's also deterministic. That main guy is doomed! Choi Min-sik gives what's likely the performance of his career as a man who, imprisoned 15 years for crimes unknown, is driven crazy by his need to discover why he was captured and confined. He's more than ably supported by Kang Hye-jeong as a blameless femme fatale and Yu Ji-tae as his pretty boy nemesis. The whole spiral downward is stunningly shot, paced, and performed. And does anyone not like perfection simply because they know where it's going? Not me. If an ending's any good, it's good whether you know it's coming or not. The spoiler is a term reserved for second-rate films.