[PREVIEW] Film "Poongsan"

Yoon Kye-sang from a scene in film "Poongsan" [NEW]

He has no first name and no family name. So let's call that unidentifiable man, who smokes North Korean cigarettes with a picture of the Poongsan dog drawn on its pack yet rides a South Korean motorcycle, Poongsan in this article. Poongsan (played by Yoon Kye-sang), is a night-time dispatch rider who has paved an unimaginable blue ocean for himself, delivering video messages for separated families, hidden relics in North Korea and even people that are missed, all in a three hours round-way trip between Seoul and Pyongyang. Then one day, South Korean secret service agents ask him to bring Soon-ok (Kim Gyu-ri), the lover of defected former high-ranking North Korean official Kim Jong-soo, to the South. And Soon-ok comes to develop feelings for the rough and silent Poongsan who leads her out of the North on a dark night by crawling, submerging and jumping.

Hence three hours may seem like a ridiculously short amount of time to travel back and forth between the capital cities of North and South Korea but it was enough time for one man and woman to exchange their emotions for each other. South Korea may be a place where "one can wipe their butt without using their hands" and Soon-ok is adorned with good clothes and fancy jewelry but the country is a prison without bars for her. And the lover she reunited with has become an old man who is always on the verge of having a nervous breakdown from the guilt of having betrayed his country and the worry of getting assassinated for it. He also starts obsessing over Soon-ok excessively once he notices the subtle change in air between her and Poongsan. When he hears that Poongsan brought the fainted Soon-ok back to consciousness in the process of their escape through CPR, the elderly man gets overcome with jealously and asks, "Tell the truth! Was it a kiss or CPR? Was it CPR or a kiss?"

Anticipation Quotient: 7 (out of 10)
The peculiarity of the year. Who is the owner of this dog?

Yoon Kye-sang and Kim Gyu-ri from film "Poongsan" [NEW]

In a time when the last generation of people bred by people from the North and South are dying out, a mutant life called Poongsan is born. And this man, whose name, hometown and voice we do not know of, ends up leading the audience into his world. The determination North Korean spies sent to South Korea show toward their courageous leader and the pledge South Korea's secret service agents make in front of their proud national flag are all of no use. The dogs of both countries squirm about to save their own lives when in the deadly ring. This scene, in the latter half of the movie, is of black comedy in genre -- one that one cannot laugh about but will give you a sense of pleasure that is queer enough to make you forget about the pains of our history. Only the single dog who travels back and forth between the red and blue flag watches it with angry yet sad eyes.

"Poongsan," produced and written by director Kim Ki-duk, is Kim's pupil Juhn Jai-hong's second directorial work since debuting through film "Beautiful." Without question, one will feel that "Poongsan" is of Kim Ki-duk blood. And just like it was for Kim's earlier works, it will be difficult for female viewers to warm toward the way "Poongsan" treats the film's only female character Soon-ok. The audience may also often find themselves lost in the strange humor, the sudden romance and coarse flow of dialogue which follow after the love triangle between Soon-ok, Poongsan and Kim Jong-soo emerges. But Kim's blood has passed down a new genre of gene to his younger generation. And we cannot know yet whether it is a change for the better or worse. But one thing for sure is that "Poongsan" is bolder, more aggressive and more fun. A strange dog has popped up in Chungmuro for sure.

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Senior Reporter : Beck Una one@
Editor : Jessica Kim jesskim@, Lee Ji-Hye seven@