Busan Dispatch. 4.

I am rocking two computers at a Descansso Caffe in the Busan turf claimed by both Kyungsung and Pukyong Universities. I have my laptop in front of me and a computer on the wall to my right. South Korea is one of the most internet connected countries. (Last I checked Iceland ruled.) And the wall unit beside me that allows me to verify the knowledge I drop here at GreenCine underscores not only how South Korea is where the internet is headed - which is why Google is headed here to open up a research and development office, and yes, I googled that just to make sure I'm correct - but it also underscores the public culture that abounds here.

Just as I go to coffeehouses to read in public, in South Korea I can also surf the net in public, this wall placement allowing everyone to see exactly what I'm surfing like the cover of the book I'd normally be reading while sipping a sweet potato latte. I'm a total city mouse, itching to be out in public with the rest of the public, which is why I prefer my films in the theater than on DVD. Part of what I love about South Korea is how all ages are out throughout the day and late into the night. But as much as South Korea has a vibrant public culture, there are still some things that aren't permitted public expression.

For example, Queer culture. In spite of the fact that I've been told by my friends, that "everything Queer is hot right now," what they mean is that commodified forms of Queerness, such as Queer Eye, are hot right now. For the most part, Queer culture is still hidden away in select neighborhoods. You won't see it as part of the public conversation of bodies out the window of the cafe I'm in right now. But if upon the release of No Regret the theaters stay as packed as the screening I attended where the aisles were filled with an excited audience, things just might be changing for the better here in that regard, thanks to director Leesong Hee-il and the amazing cast of his feature debut, No Regret.

I would have missed this incredible film if it weren't for a conversation I had with Italian critic Paolo Bertolin, who urged me to rework my film schedule for the next day. And I'm glad he convinced me to do just that. No Regret follows Su-min (played expertly by Lee Han) as he leaves his country orphanage to find a space in the extra-large city of Seoul. Financial circumstances result in Su-min taking a gig as a host at a club for men. (The way class is dealt with in this film is part of what makes this film so refreshing.) This host club is full of well-developed characters that refuse to cliché away your day with caricatures. The film is hilarious without requiring the sharp tongue of the queen so demanded of gay characters on US mainstream sitcoms. Some of the jokes will slip by non-Korean audiences, but the film will entertain nonetheless. Plus, it's the type of film that makes you want to know more about the inside jokes and references. It is universal without removing itself from not only the local, but from the even deeper subculture from which it arises. Yes, the self-loathing mixed in might frustrate the Western audience which is beyond that in their Queer film, but there are enough different characters here to permit the occasional character to hate themselves. Plus, don't give up on the film, it's not headed to the cliché of all clichés of Queer film you think it is. This film shouldn't just be on the radar for Queer film festivals, it should be on the shortlist for every festival.

Such as all the festivals I'm sure Ten Canoes is paddling its way towards. Narrated in English by the great David Gulpilil with the characters speaking Ganalbingu dialogue, Ten Canoes takes us on several tales in one towards endings we weren't and were expecting. I love the cinematic portraits of the characters when they are introduced. I love how the black and white is used to represent the closer past while color is used to represent the past passed the closer past. And I simply love that this film was made. Big ups to all involved.

I was hoping to catch Aki Kaurismäki's latest, Lights in the Dusk, but it sold out fast and I wasn't in the mood to sit in the aisle as all the young adult Koreans were for No Regret. (Guess the fire codes are different in South Korea.) But no complaints, because this just enabled an opportunity to see the latest by Austrian director Barbara Albert, Falling, before it comes (I hope) to a German film festival near me in January. Falling has a lovely beginning that caused me to emit sustained laughter that I'm sure annoyed my neighbors. A funeral brings five female schoolmates back together after a significant absence. Failed dreams float amongst them like the cinders of the campfire they surround, but this only serves to re-meld a bond of adult friendships. Some of the scenarios seem too outlandish for me and a bit too quickly stepped away from, but there is enough here that intrigues me, especially the first German song played in the car by the one character's younger daughter.

It was my third chance to catch the Danish film A Soap, and it finally worked into my schedule here at PIFF, so I figured I'd pocket the charm in its third appearance. Charlotte (Trine Dyrholm) makes a dash for a new life and leaves her live-in boyfriend for a new flat below which resides Veronica (David Dencik), a transgender who is awaiting approval for her sex reassignment surgery. Both Charlotte and Veronica have a lot to learn about each other, that "other" being their respective selves, and each is the unfortunate object of some transference of each other's issues. But the story that transpires transfixes and transcends the self-loathing that presents itself initially.

...Just like No Regret, which is exactly what I felt about my selections of what was on offer on this Thursday at PIFF, no regrets.

Posted by dwhudson at October 21, 2006 4:07 AM