[Lee Jong-gil's Film Reading] Reason and Love Needed to Escape Saengjigok

Netflix's 'Jigok' Depicts Exploitation of Anxiety Amid Incidents and Corruption
A Society of Hate and Despair Created by Pseudo-Religions... Overcoming Fear with Hope

Youth are having a conversation in a coffee shop. The topic is a notice predicting death. They watch a lecture by Jeong Jin-su (Yoo Ah-in), chairman of the Saejinrihoe, on a smartphone. "An angel appears and makes a prophecy. First, the recipient's name is mentioned. 'So-and-so, you will die on such and such date and time. And you will go to hell. When that time comes, the prophecy will be fulfilled by the messengers of hell.'" A heated debate ensues. "That sounds like nonsense." "If you go to this person's YouTube channel, there are tons of proof videos."

A man at the table across overhears the conversation anxiously. He sweats coldly and keeps checking the time. Two o'clock in the afternoon. As thunder shakes the ground, his face turns pale. Soon, strange creatures break through the glass wall and storm into the cafe. They start beating the man mercilessly. Even as he struggles to escape, it’s useless. They tear his body apart and emit heat to burn him to death.

In the Netflix drama Hellbound, people tremble in fear. Chairman Jeong Jin-su claims that those who receive the notice are sinners. He explains that God intervened because humans denied the intention to commit sins and forgot shame, guilt, atonement, and repentance. "God has conveyed messages in a transcendent way throughout human history. (...) Now, the right to neglect evil is gone, and only the duty to do good remains."

Everyone dies. No one knows when or how. The Netflix drama Hellbound uses the premise of predicting that time to discuss societal anxiety. It depicts extreme exclusivism and dogmatism. Saejinrihoe distorts and exaggerates specific incidents to secure legitimacy. It demands repentance from those who receive the notice, fostering hatred and despair and intensifying social chaos. It is truly a living hell.

Historically, such cases have been frequent. The instigators were mainly political forces. A representative example is the Great Kanto Earthquake in September 1923 in Japan’s Kanto, Shizuoka, and Yamanashi regions. 120,000 households collapsed, and 450,000 households burned down. The number of dead and missing was about 400,000. The Yamamoto Cabinet systematically spread rumors that Koreans and socialists were inciting riots to divert public dissatisfaction elsewhere. Enraged Japanese formed vigilante groups and beat or massacred Koreans. The death toll is estimated between 2,000 and 6,000.

Uncontrollable fear can come at any time. It is not only natural disasters. Witnessing various incidents, accidents, and corruption inevitably brings a sense of foreboding. But if we shrink back, everything will be paralyzed. Director Yeon Sang-ho proposes two major ways to revive dulled senses: clear-headed reason to accurately judge reality and boundless love. These are portrayed through lawyer Min Hye-jin (Kim Hyun-joo) and the couple Bae Young-jae (Park Jung-min) and Song So-hyun (Won Jin-ah). Each overcomes fear and points to hope. However, the process of maturation is omitted. They rely thoroughly on being righteous or instincts like maternal love from the start.

Alfonso Cuar?n’s Children of Men (2006) is a masterpiece skillfully depicting the restoration of reason and love. The world shown at the beginning is worse than Hellbound. Governments have collapsed due to riots and terrorism. Even the barely maintained UK is abnormal. Refugees are confined in camps, and elderly people are given suicide pills. No babies have been born for 18 years, and everyone is engulfed in helplessness. Theo (Clive Owen) changes his mind after meeting Kee (Claire Hope Ashitey), a girl who miraculously becomes pregnant. He crosses a battlefield filled with bullets to bring Kee and the baby to the future ship. Dormant reason and love awaken with the baby’s cry. This leads to courage that overcomes fear and reaches hope. The earnest plea contained is not much different from Hellbound: "Don’t be separated from the baby. No matter what happens...".

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.