Bugonia Isn't Likely to Be Weirder Than the Sci-Fi Psychodrama It's Inspired By
Greek surrealist director Yorgos Lanthimos has built a reputation on distinctly odd movies. The narratives he creates are weird, like The Lobster, where unattached individuals are compelled to form relationships or risk being turned into animals. In adapting another creator's story, he tends to draw from basis material that’s rather eccentric too — odder, perhaps, than his adaptation of it. That was the case regarding the recent Poor Things, an adaptation of Alasdair Gray’s gloriously perverse novel, an empowering, open-minded take on Frankenstein. Lanthimos’ version stands strong, but to some extent, his particular flavor of eccentricity and the novelist's neutralize one another.
Lanthimos’ Next Pick
His following selection for adaptation was likewise drawn from the fringes. The basis for Bugonia, his latest project alongside acclaimed performer Emma Stone, was 2004’s Save the Green Planet!, a bewildering Korean fusion of science fiction, dark humor, horror, irony, psychological thriller, and cop drama. It's an unusual piece not primarily due to what it’s about — even if that's decidedly unusual — rather because of the chaotic extremity of its tone and storytelling style. The film is a rollercoaster.
The Burst of Korean Film
There likely existed a creative spirit within the country during that period. Save the Green Planet!, the work of Jang Joon-hwan, belonged to a boom of stylistically bold, boundary-pushing movies by emerging talents of filmmakers including Bong Joon Ho and Park Chan-wook. It came out concurrently with Bong’s Memories of Murder and the filmmaker's Oldboy. Save the Green Planet! isn’t on the same level as those iconic films, but there are similarities with them: extreme violence, dark comedy, pointed observations, and genre subversion.
The Plot Unfolds
Save the Green Planet! revolves around a troubled protagonist who kidnaps a business tycoon, thinking he's an extraterrestrial hailing from Andromeda, plotting an attack. Early on, the premise is played as slapstick humor, and the young man, Lee Byeong-gu (the actor Shin known for Park’s Joint Security Area and Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance), appears as a lovably deluded fool. Alongside his innocent entertainer girlfriend Su-ni (Hwang Jung-min) don plastic capes and bizarre masks adorned with mental shields, and wield balm in combat. But they do succeed in abducting inebriated businessman Kang Man-shik (actor Baek) and taking him to the protagonist's isolated home, a ramshackle house/lab he’s built on an old mine amid the hills, home to his apiary.
A Descent into Darkness
Hereafter, the narrative turns into increasingly disturbing. Lee fastens Kang to a budget-Cronenberg torture chair and physically abuses him while ranting absurd conspiracy theories, finally pushing the innocent partner away. Yet the captive is resilient; driven solely by the certainty of his own superiority, he is prepared and capable to endure horrifying ordeals in hopes of breaking free and dominate the mentally unstable kidnapper. Meanwhile, a deeply unimpressive police hunt for the abductor begins. The detectives' foolishness and incompetence echoes Memories of Murder, though it’s not so clearly intentional within a story with a plot that comes off as rushed and improvised.
Constant Shifts
Save the Green Planet! continues racing ahead, driven by its own crazed energy, breaking rules without pause, even when one would assume it to either settle down or falter. At moments it appears as a character study about mental health and overmedication; in parts it transforms into a symbolic tale regarding the indifference of capitalism; sometimes it’s a dirty, tense scare-fest or an incompetent police story. Jang Joon-hwan brings the same level of hysterical commitment to every bit, and the lead actor is excellent, even though the character of Byeong-gu continuously shifts between visionary, endearing eccentric, and dangerous lunatic as required by the film's ever-changing tone in mood, viewpoint, and story. I think that’s a feature, not a flaw, but it may prove pretty disorienting.
Purposeful Chaos
The director likely meant to disorient his audience, mind. Similar to numerous Korean films from that era, Save the Green Planet! is powered by a joyful, extreme defiance for genre limits on one side, and a genuine outrage about man’s inhumanity to man in another respect. The film is a vibrant manifestation of a culture establishing its international presence during emerging financial and artistic liberties. One can look forward to witness Lanthimos' perspective on the original plot through a modern Western lens — perhaps, a contrasting viewpoint.
Save the Green Planet! can be viewed online without charge.
