Bugonia Couldn't Be More Bizarre Than the Science Fiction Psychodrama It's Based On
Greek surrealist director Yorgos Lanthimos specializes in distinctly odd movies. The narratives he creates defy convention, such as The Lobster, where singletons are compelled to form relationships or else be being turned into animals. In adapting existing material, he often selects source material that’s pretty odd too — odder, possibly, than his adaptation of it. This proved true for last year's Poor Things, an adaptation of Alasdair Gray’s delightfully aberrant novel, a feminist, open-minded spin on Frankenstein. Lanthimos’ version is good, but to some extent, his particular flavor of oddity and the author's neutralize one another.
Lanthimos’ Next Pick
His following selection to bring to screen was likewise drawn from unexpected territory. The source text for Bugonia, his recent project alongside leading actress Emma Stone, is 2004’s Save the Green Planet!, a confounding Korean genre stew of sci-fi, dark humor, terror, irony, psychological thriller, and police procedural. The movie is odd not primarily due to what it’s about — although that's decidedly unusual — rather because of the chaotic extremity of its tone and directorial method. It's an insane journey.
The Burst of Korean Film
There likely existed a certain energy within the country in the early 2000s. Save the Green Planet!, written and directed by Jang Joon-hwan, belonged to a surge of audacious in style, groundbreaking movies by emerging talents of filmmakers like Bong Joon Ho and Park Chan-wook. It debuted concurrently with Bong’s Memories of Murder and Park’s Oldboy. Save the Green Planet! isn’t on the same level as those iconic films, but it shares many traits with them: extreme violence, morbid humor, bitter social commentary, and genre subversion.
The Plot Unfolds
Save the Green Planet! revolves around an unhinged individual who captures a chemical-company executive, believing he’s an alien originating in another galaxy, intent on world domination. Initially, the premise unfolds as broad comedy, and the young man, Lee Byeong-gu (the performer known for Park’s Joint Security Area and Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance), appears as an endearing eccentric. He and his naive entertainer girlfriend Su-ni (the actress Hwang) sport black PVC ponchos and ridiculous headgear adorned with mental shields, and wield menthol rub in combat. However, they manage in abducting intoxicated executive Kang Man-shik (actor Baek) and transporting him to a secluded location, a ramshackle house/lab he’s built on an old mine in a rural area, which houses his beehives.
Growing Tension
From this point, the narrative turns into increasingly disturbing. Byeong-gu straps Kang into a makeshift device and subjects him to harm while ranting absurd conspiracy theories, ultimately forcing the gentle Su-ni away. Yet the captive is resilient; powered only by the conviction of his innate dominance, he can and will to undergo awful experiences just to try to escape and lord it over the mentally unstable kidnapper. Simultaneously, a comically inadequate investigation to find the criminal gets underway. The officers' incompetence and lack of skill is reminiscent of Memories of Murder, even if the similarity might be accidental in a movie with a narrative that comes off as rushed and spontaneous.
Unrelenting Pace
Save the Green Planet! just keeps barrelling onward, propelled by its wild momentum, breaking rules without pause, long after it seems likely it to calm down or run out of steam. Sometimes it seems as a character study about mental health and excessive drug use; in parts it transforms into a fantasy allegory regarding the indifference of the economic system; alternately it serves as a dirty, tense scare-fest or a sloppy cop movie. Jang Joon-hwan brings the same level of feverish dedication in all scenes, and the performer is excellent, although Lee Byeong-gu keeps morphing from visionary, charming oddball, and terrifying psycho in response to the film's ever-changing tone in tone, perspective, and plot. I think this is intentional, not a bug, but it can be quite confusing.
Intentional Disorientation
The director likely meant to disorient his audience, indeed. In line with various Korean films of its time, Save the Green Planet! is driven by an exuberant rejection for artistic rules partly, and a genuine outrage about societal brutality in another respect. It stands as a loud proclamation of a nation establishing its international presence during emerging financial and artistic liberties. It will be fascinating to see how Lanthimos views this narrative through a modern Western lens — perhaps, an opposite perspective.
Save the Green Planet! can be viewed online without charge.
