Busan Dispatch. 4.

"Remapping of Asian Auteur Cinema" is a new series begun this year at PIFF, initiated to highlight neglected Asian directors who have significantly impacted the cinemas of their home countries but have yet to receive the full recognition they are due internationally. This inaugural series featured Iran's Sohrab Shahid Saless, whom both Kiarostami and Makhmalbaf cite as a major influence on their work; Indonesia's Teguh Karya, who is considered Indonesia's greatest director; and Thailand's RD Pestonji, whom Thai film scholars Robert Williamson and Chalida Uabumrungjit state is "the one strong link to Thai film history" and present day darlings Ratanaruang and Sasanatieng. And it is Pestonji's Country Hotel (1957) that I gladly ventured over to see at the Busan Theater, located in the bustling area of Nampodong which never met a neon sign it didn't light.

Country Hotel's first half consists of a band of bizarre events which help to solidify the literal Thai title of the film - "The Hotel From Hell." The bartender of this establishment happens to be the world's arm-wrestling champion and appears to earn more money winning bets that test his strength than from people buying drinks. Also adding to the money concerns is the fact that, for some strange reason, this hotel only has one room to hire, and an initial tension arises from two boarders who fight for this room. Starting out at each other's throats, these boarders eventually become romantically entwined when forced into each other's arms by a group of bandits. The entire film takes place in the lobby and the sole room of this hotel and apparently this set has since been reconstructed at the Thai National Film Archive. Pestonji limited this film to one room partly due to the challenges of filming on 35mm, something that Thai cinema never fully advanced to until the 1960s. In this way, much of Pestonji's importance is due to how he pushed Thai film technologically. This film definitely makes up in passion any flaws due to the absurdity of some of the plot scenarios and has greatly piqued my interest in checking out more of his films if I haven't simply missed my only chance to see his work here at PIFF.

Aware I might not get to see another Lee Man-hee film, I took the subway to the end of the Jangsan line to see another of Lee's films at the Primus multiplex. The second of Lee's war films I've seen, (the first being the only film available on DVD by Lee, The Marines Who Never Came Home), 04:00 - 1950 was made in 1972 and addresses the moment the Korean War began. I cannot speak to the accuracy of what is depicted in the film, but I can speak to the most interesting aspect of it, which is that so much is framed within the rectangular frame view from a bunker. This point of view provides the audience with a similar claustrophobic feeling as that felt by the characters at tense times throughout the film. Heavy-handed in its nationalism and one-liners, the film is not up to par with The Marines Who Never Came Home, but would obviously be of interest to those curious about how the Korean War has been depicted on screen by those who lived it.

From the Korean War to the Vietnam War and Vietnamese-American director Ham Tran's Journey from the Fall. However, this film is less about the war directly as it is about the aftermath, paralleling the experience of those who left Vietnam as refugees on boats and those who were forced into re-education camps (and the film is dedicated to both). A friend and I have fallen into seeing Vietnamese-American films together, so I felt a little bad seeing this one without her. Our first one together was Victor Vu's First Morning (not showing at PIFF), a film we saw at the San Francisco Asian American International Film Festival a few years ago, and a film which recently (and finally!) received a release in the US. Both my friend and I found First Morning overly melodramatic for our tastes. But during the question and answer session that followed the film, we did see how strongly the film resonated with the elders of the Vietnamese-American community in attendance. We realized that First Morning wasn't intended for her and me (although she is Vietnamese-American) and it doesn't need to be. We were simply glad the film is out there for those with whom it does resonate.

I found I was quite able to immerse myself in Journey from the Fall. When you consider the tragedy upon tragedy upon tragedy that this generation of Vietnamese had to endure, the story is naturally going to seem overly melodramatic. So to portray it on film as such is syntonic with the experience. Even so, Tran was able to titrate the emotions quite well here, assisted by the quality performances by the actors and actresses who play the father, mother, grandfather, uncle and son. Yet, again, this film was not intended for me but for the audience to whom he dedicates the film. And I think it will resonate with them. And I hope Journey from the Fall journeys to theaters soon.

Speaking of releases, Hur Jin-ho's films should have been released in the US long ago, but, sadly, if it isn't violent or exotic, US distributors and venues tend to stay away from Asian films (example: the delayed release of Vu'?s First Morning). Hur's debut, Christmas in August, is the film I'm most likely to offer up as a good introduction to South Korean film. It is a wonderfully honed melodrama, always subtle and never sappy. So I was anxious to see April Snow, for Hur?'s pedigree, not for Yonsama?'s. In case you've haven't been following these things, "Yonsama" is what actor Bae Yong-joon is known as in Japan by thousands of middle-aged housewives and the people who love them. April Snow, as a product, is a clear sign of the mature state of South Korean cinema in that it was partly produced with this non-South Korean market in mind. In fact, it failed at the South Korean box office but thrived in Japan's.

I find the themes that Hur carries from film to film interesting, so I found myself liking this film more than most people I've talked to about it. Plus, seeing it this late in the festival, this was the first South Korean film I watched in Busan where the streets and buildings of South Korea on screen appeared "familiar" to me. However, I do like this film less than Hur's other two. With an In the Mood for Love-like storyline (without the style and overall quality), the film follows two people whose respective partners are having an affair. Those partners end up in a coma after a car crash and the two who aren't comatose meet at the hospital and end up having an affair themselves. Hur's slow pacing and subtle narrative progression still remain, but not with the deft artistry of his two previous outings. And something that's been simmering in Hur's films has been let loose more fully here. It's too long an explanation to go into detail about, and it would involve ruining endings of this film and Hur'?s second film, One Fine Spring Day. But let's just say that there's a little too much "Vengeance for Mr. Sympathy" in Hur's work to my liking. He powerfully portrays an aching beauty around the beginning and ending of relationships, but it's where he continues to partly take that ache that fails his themes.

With the Asia Pacific Economic Conference (APEC) taking place in Busan the week following PIFF, a special series of films was set up to stimulate discussion around related issues. After watching South Korean director Shin Dong-il's Host & Guest, I was a little bit surprised to see it on the list. With US President-select George W Bush arriving in Busan in the coming week to read what he's told to read and avoid answering questions with more than a few repetitive phrases, to place a film on the docket that takes creative potshots at him is pretty ballsy. But the film does address issues such as war and recession, so it is appropriate to screen, based on the intent of the series. (Besides, the Bush II administration is notorious for avoiding all forms of criticism, constructive or otherwise, so this film won't even faze them. I can't see anyone from the US preparation team tolerating an art film long enough to get to the critiques. But there is some Jesus-symbolism, so maybe.) An out-of-work film professor who has never made a film nor apparently seen a Godard film meets a Jehovah's Witness and they trade expositions back and forth. Although the scenario where they become tied to each other is forced when it doesn't need to be, I find this film quite intriguing. There's an eerie white aura that surrounds characters and emanates from window panes early on in the film, and the initial setup of unwanted solicitations from multiple mediums underscores the effects of the recession wonderfully.

The closing film at PIFF was the premiere of debut director Hwang Byung-kuk's Wedding Campaign. The film follows two country bumpkin friends who travel to Uzbekistan in hopes of claiming a bride amongst the Korean-Uzbek population there. (Yep, more Korean diaspora cinema here at PIFF.) Although the beginning was a bit rocky, I found myself enjoying where the narrative eventually headed. Partly filmed on site in Uzbekistan, the film represents the cross promotion across nations that is a staple of PIFF and particularly its PPP (Pusan Promotion Plan).

Although Jung Jae-young has been the subject much of the critical buzz I overheard at the screening (and deservedly so), Soo Ae as the Korean-Uzbek translator also shines here. With her second lead role after her strong film debut in A Family (not screened at PIFF), she is fast becoming one of South Korea's vast reserve of stars who can carry a scene on their own or equally with another veteran actor. As an entertaining mainstream feature that provides a venue for some of South Korea's best actors and a demonstration of the international scope of what PIFF has brought to world cinema, Wedding Campaign was an excellent choice to end PIFF's 10th campaign.

As for the awards, my favorite film at the festival received the New Currents Award which includes a prize of US$30,000. And that's Grain in Ear (China/S Korea), dir. Zhang Lu.

The rest of the awards:

• First Special Mention: Silent Holy Stone (China), dir. Wanma Caidan.

• Second Special Mention: The Unforgiven (S Korea), dir. Yoon Jong-bin.

• FIPRESCI Award: The Unforgiven.

• NETPAC Award for Best Korean Film: The Unforgiven.

• PSB Audience Award (US$10,000 - chosen among New Currents films): The Unforgiven.

• Woonpa Fund Award for best Korean documentary: Tea & Poison, dir. Joung Yong-ju.

• Sunje Fund Award for best Korean short film: A Bowl Of Tea, dir. Kim Young-nam.

Posted by dwhudson at October 15, 2005 5:03 AM