[K-FILMS ON DVD] 야수 (Running Wild) - Part 1

Kim was, like many of today's directors in Chungmuro, one of those 'Hollywood Kids', drunk and obsessed with Cinema in ways only those facing the same problem (ahem...) can understand. He wanted to become a director so much, he kept the fact he enrolled into Film & Theater at the Seoul University of Arts secret for months. His short films in the mid 90s, 호텔켈리포니아 (Hotel California) first and especially 폭력영화 (Violent Film) and 새들은 이 나무에서 저 나무로 날아갈 수 없음을 안다 (Wounded Birds) won him acclaim and several awards, which jumpstarted his career in Chungmuro. His work as assistant director, lasting nearly a decade, saw him work in the commercial field, with the horrible 1995 Park Joong-Hoon vehicle 꼬리치는 남자 (A Man Wagging His Tail), Song Hae-Sung's 1999 melodrama 카라 (Calla) and even the embarrassing film remake of the mid 90s TV classic 종합병원 (General Hospital), but also with Park Chan-Wook 3인조 (Trio). The motto back then for young Kim was success at all costs, your average workaholic. His obsession with films led him to pay very little attention at home, where his mother's health was getting worse, to the point he lost her shocked by this unexpected turn of events. Angry with himself and the world, it was there that characters like Oh Jin-Woo and Jang Do-Young were born, years before 야수 (Running Wild) even became reality.

That 삼각관계 (menage a trois) of 형사 (detective), 검사 (prosecutor) and 조폭 (gangster) has populated Korean cinema for years, often becoming an excuse to develop issues around class divide. You have the rugged detective, his gun and stinky socks the only friends he's got; the prosecutor, holier than thou, high and mighty, with his by-the-book modus operandi. And finally Korean commercial Cinema's favorite scapegoat, those gangsters which become protagonists of everything from half-assed romances to silly comedies. The 형사물 (detective film) in particular has become one of the safest bets for success in Chungmuro, as shown by the better than expected performances of films like 강력3반 (Never To Lose), and sometimes make for top notch Cinema, like the Yang Dong-Geun/Jung Jin-Young buddy movie 와일드 카드 (Wild Card). Running Wild, like many other films featuring gangsters, detectives and prosecutors, starts from the fundamentals. Jang Do-Young only knows violence, swears like a machine and doesn't seem to have a good relationship with showers. He's, in short, like a slightly more pathetic version of Seol Kyung-Gu's detective in 공공의 적 (Public Enemy). On the other hand, Oh Jin-Woo is your usual 'words are my gun, justice my only partner' elite prosecutor, demoted because he tried to touch the sky. To make a comparison, he's a slightly holier than-thou, less down-to-earth version of (again) Seol Kyung-Gu in 공공의 적 2 (Another Public Enemy). Finally, Yoo Gang-Jin is your model 두목 (boss), one of those 'professional hoodlums' -- with professional meaning businessman, a la Moon Sung-Geun in 초록물고기 (Green Fish), with a tad less realism -- ruthless with those who rain on his parade, but a considerate family man at home. At least that's what it seems.

But while this setup is made of, let's admit it, cliches, it's by focusing on the little details which led those characters in those situations that makes Running Wild interesting. Do-Young's half brother is a failed gangster, his mother on the verge of dying from a chronic disease (a clear parallel with Director Kim's own situation, as noted by the tribute to his mother at the end of the film), his only relationship with a woman, Joo-Hee (a wonderfully subtle Eom Ji-Won), posing as a surrogate mother more than anything else. On the other hand, Oh Jin-Woo seems to be so hell bent on doing well at work because there's something wrong at home, with the rift between him and his wife -- Moon Jung-Hee, who did so well in 바람의 전설 (Dance with the Wind) -- deepening by the minute. And perhaps the most interesting situation is that of Yoo Gang-Jin, the model boss who doesn't move a muscle while killing one of his poor victims; who rarely shows any emotion beyond a few grins of self-absorbed confidence, but who almost looks scared once daddy's little girl shows she might know what's cooking away from home. He has immense power, but nobody he can trust. Even though people in high places do even worse things than him, all he is in the eyes of those politicians is a third rate gangster touching what's not his. Three different 'classes', three different beasts coming to terms with failure, drunk with something (violence, justice, power) enough to let it devour their entire lives.

Take Oh Jin-Woo, based on the real life case of prosecutor Hong Kyung-Young, who became a victim of the law he respected so much when a suspect died, after which he was brought to trial for inflicting violence on him. His obsession with doing things by the books crashes with reality, when he starts realizing the system and its puppetmasters are untouchable, even for people like him. It might just be a silly coincidence, but I think Yoo Ji-Tae's act of losing 10kg for the role is like a perfect metaphor for his losing of the 'baby fat' as an actor he carried around from his early days up to his excellent performances in 올드보이 (Oldboy) and 남극일기 (Antarctic Journal). As good as he was there, it always felt like someone was orchestrating those changes from behind, both the directors (Park Chan-Wook and Im Pil-Sung) or the veteran, supremely-talented actors he worked with (Choi Min-Shik and Song Kang-Ho), taking him under their wing and creating chemistry and fire even when it was hard to do so.

Yoo never felt on par with his fellow colleagues back then, he merely lived up to their standards and those required by the director. And mind you, although it's obviously a factor, there's no need to bring experience into the mix: Ryu Seung-Beom looked on par with Choi Min-Shik in 주먹이 운다 (Crying Fist), just like Shin Ha-Gyun and Bae Doo-Na did with Song Kang-Ho in 복수는 나의 것 (Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance). Be it the opportunity to work with great directors (Hur Jin-Ho, Park Chan-Wook, Hong Sang-Soo, Im Pil-Sung) slowly forcing him to improve, or something clicking inside him creating a breakthrough, this is not the Yoo Ji-Tae of 내츄럴 시티 (Natural City). Hell, call it blasphemy, but it's not even the Yoo Ji-Tae of Oldboy. He feels more confident, finally able to go past the surface and let all the fire come out. This is his best performance to date.

But of course the obstacle was someone else. Kwon Sang-Woo and all the 몸짱 (best body) syndrome which tags along, and with his persona, star of embarrassing Korean Wave bait like 신부수업 (Love, So Divine), 천국의 계단 (Stairway To Heaven) and 슬픈연가 (Sad Sonata). Yes, his work in comedies had always been satisfactory, especially in 동갑내기 과외하기 (My Tutor Friend) and the 'New Age Wuxia Comedy' 화산고 (Volcano High). And of course Yoo Ha was the first to show the young star had immense potential, forcing it out of him in 말죽거리 잔혹사 (Once Upon a Time in High School). But it always felt like he could do much, much more. That he could drop his image a little and show a slightly more 거친 (suffering) side of his personality on screen. Kwon seemed to want the same, as he commented: "I envy those able to make transformations in their acting, and no matter how big a star they've become, people working for a decade carrying the same image irritate me (who would he possibly think about saying that. Yo... Yon... what's his name?). Personally I'm getting tired of doing the same thing, so I'm trying to change." That was the key, trying to change. Because you can't just drop everything with a film, and I'm not just talking about the benefits his previous image brought, both financial and in terms of popularity -- doing an erotic drama a la 애인 (The Intimate) at this point would have been career suicide, like playing a villain, not so much because people wouldn't want to see that, but because he hasn't gotten there yet, acting-wise. Obviously this doesn't mean Kwon will stop starring in safe star vehicles like 청춘만화 (Almost Love), seeing as that's what brought him success, unlike the failure this film experienced.

But Kwon shows something here we've never seen before, even in the days of Once Upon a Time in High School. There's moments when his limitations (pronunciation, tendency to go a little overboard with certain physical reactions) clearly show, but this is really the first time I felt Kwon as an actor portraying a character, not just Kwon Sang-Woo the continental superstar. That's exactly what I asked and didn't get from Bae Yong-Joon in 외출 (April Snow), and why this is a new beginning for Kwon as a serious actor. The few scenes when he's alone, thinking about his pathetic life; enjoying, for lack of better words, his last moments with his mother, or releasing all that pent up frustration when the inevitable happens (the thumbs up and 'Fighting' thing might feel excessive, but as you'll learn reading about the audio commentary, real life is often more surreal than fiction). He finally shows that fire which was hidden inside, and there's moments when that raw talent, which hid dormant behind safe star vehicles finally comes out, with impressive power. It felt, in some ways, like what Lee Byung-Heon did in Kim Ji-Woon's masterful 달콤한 인생 (A Bittersweet Life) -- coincidence or not, another noir -- getting past the limitations being a 'star' puts on actors, and letting all the energy come out.

So we're dealing with two 'best of their careers' performances, but the real beasts (of acting, that is) are two others: Kim Yoon-Seok, and especially Son Byung-Ho. Both theater veterans, who spent their first few years in the industry with roles that would rarely stand out, not because their performance was lacking, but they used that 'CGI equation' (the less you notice it, the better) that showed their theater roots more than everything else. Kim Yoon-Seok started making good impressions with comedies like 시실리 2km (To Catch a Virgin Ghost), with his fantastic supporting role in 부활 (Rebirth) finally giving a name to one of those 'faceless geniuses' populating so many Korean films and TV Dramas. In Son Byung-Ho's case, it was a little different. He always made a name for himself even with the smallest of roles. From the ruthless boss in 파이란 (Failan) to the gay musician in Song Il-Gon's 꽃섬 (Flower Island), from the authority-addicted soldier in 알포인트 (R-Point) to the 'Andre Kim of gangsters' in 흡혈형사 나도열 (Vampire Cop Ricky). I always liked him, always considered his work top notch, but he's simply incredible here. He doesn't move a single muscle when he's torturing his accomplices after a big mistake, but shows very subtle and striking fear once his facade risks crumbling under the weight of all those 'secrets'. Along with Kim Yoon-Seok's usual subtlety, the two form a perfect duo, their scenes deserving a film of their own. So far, Son's is the best supporting performance of 2006, something I'm really not surprised about.

The interesting thing about Running Wild is how it forms a sort of narration through Jin-Woo, who delivers the message, and it uses Do-Young as its vehicle to show was that message will be about. In short, we're not trying to point fingers and find who that 'beast' of the [Korean] title is, because in a way all three are beasts. What Director Kim is trying to do instead is showing what makes people like them into beasts, which at the end of the day is society. So we start with an action noir in mind, but the film turns into something completely different by the end. This is certainly a 'macho' film, but it doesn't use that to develop the story. The film, like some Hollywood films of the 70s, uses genre as a catapult to delve into politics and the dark sides of Korean society. Its characters and their situation might have a touch of 80s Hong Kong Noir, which Director Kim grew up watching, and admits were what made him glow closer to people who failed, with a failure of a past and probably an unredeemable future. But the way those characters move, and how their story unfolds on screen is much different than your average John Woo film. It's closer in sensibility to a Michael Mann (the relationship between characters) and Sergio Leone (closeups and emotional tone). Yes, if I had to describe Running Wild with a few examples, it'd be Mann and Leone shooting a HK Noir in Korea, with all the pop-socio-political consequences that come with it.

The film is far from perfect: although Kim shows impressive command of the medium, there's too much emphasis on flashy camerawork, excessive zoom ins and outs -- be it because Eom Ji-Won was in this, but sometimes it felt like 극장전 (Tale of Cinema) in that sense -- which is unnecessary given the powerful performances and impressive art direction driving the ball home. Also, although the bloody finale is very well staged and an emotional hitter, it really goes on for way too long. But the keys to this film's failure at the box office were other things: both the rush-job the director was forced into, which ended up taking off important scenes dealing mostly with character relationships (scenes which thankfully are restored here, making the Theatrical Version of the film like an ugly, shorter half-brother), but also that use of Kwon and Yoo's image, or its lack thereof. Of course that's a major strength of the film, but with today's cinemagoing populace in Korea dominated by young women, offering a 'macho' film (at least on the surface) which got rid of the two stars' persona didn't look appealing to viewers. But don't let that influence you. Running Wild has top notch acting, dialogue which might not be fresh but feels meaningful and has delightful little nuances to enjoy (for those who understand them, that is, but we'll get to the horrible subtitles later), another magnificent job from Kawai Kenji (the first 10 minutes are near perfect, and there isn't a single moment where he goes overboard with sentiments), and especially very assured direction from first timer Kim Sung-Soo.

Just like Nietzsche said, if you look long enough into the abyss, you fall into it. But Kim learned from his mistakes in life, and used those mistakes to make a very powerful, meaningful film debut. I don't know if that's enough not to fall into the abyss, but he just 'fell' into my list of directors to look out for in the future. So to use a (very important) line from the film, Director Kim: Fighting!

CONTINUES ON PART 2