The President's Last Bang

Who says assassination can’t be fun? Or at least funny?

In what could have been a sombre, brooding series of set pieces chronicling the last days and violent demise of South Korea’s President/Dictator, or a measured study of conflicted men grappling with the issue of employing sinister means to a noble end, director Im Sang-Soo instead opts for a fast-paced comic portrait of men in power behaving badly.

I’m not familiar with the history of this event and I’m sure that far more comprehensive and reverent interpretations exist. But I can’t imagine a version as compelling or, oddly enough, realistic, given the way he captures what in all probability is the driving force behind most political and historical events: supreme self-interest.

Are the assassins acting out of a desire to see democracy flourish? Do they have designs on absolute power of their own? Or are they simply tired of kowtowing to their overbearing, boorish superiors? The implication is that political-military power structures are doomed to self-destruction because their inherent reliance on conformity breeds resentment and hostility. I think it's a pretty germane statement for our times; in the post-screening Q&A, Sang-Soo was keen to point out a possible link between the ignoble cretins in his film to the ahem, less than stellar administration to our south.

Credit to the film’s success, though, goes to the cast, whose alternate takes on macho bravado, craven sycophancy, and exasperated confusion communicate the absurdity of their situation without or resorting to broad farce or slapstick. That the pacing is standard potboiler thriller and the plot's resolution is a foregone conclusion fairly early on in no way detracts from the film as a whole. Very good and recommend.

Though I’ve been mocked in the past for my ostensible fixation on Asian films at recent fests, I’ve gotta say, they offer the most bang for the buck. Three of the most daring and thought-provoking films I saw last year—3 Iron, Spider Forest, and Old Boy--were all from South Korea and if TPLB is any indication, this trend will continue. I’m looking forward to Sympathy for Lady Vengeance (and may rush for Duelist, one of my original picks that fell victim to Box 33).

BTW...on the heels of my breakout performance on Global TV last night, all future correspondence will be handled by my coterie of handlers. Anyone wanting to get in on the ground floor of an entourage-ship are encouraged to apply.