REVIEWS FORUM
S Kor. 2011. 110mins Director/screenplay Kim Joong-hyun Production company KAFA Films (Korean Academy of Film Arts) International sales CJ E&M Pictures,
www.cjent.co.kr/eng/ Producers Park Eun-jee Cinematography Lee Jin-keun Production designer Hur Seo-hyung Editor Park Young-sam Music Kim Mok-in Main cast Um Tae-goo, Park Se-jin, Kil Hae-yeon, Yoon Chae-young, Lim Hak- soon, Yun Su-ah
Choked REVIEWED BY DARCY PAQUET
The Korean Academy of Film Arts has turned out another note- worthy debut feature in Choked (Gasi), Kim Joong-hyun’s story of a family torn apart by debt. Much buzzed about at the 2011 Busan International Film Festival where it world premiered, the low-budget film focuses on two people whose lives are ruined by financial problems. The first is middle-aged Hee-su (Kil), who goes on the run,
leaving behind debts she has accumulated in a pyramid scheme, while the other is Hee-su’s friend Seo-hee (Park), a divorced woman who gave her a sizeable loan. As time passes she becomes so desperately short of cash that she starts legal pro- ceedings against her former friend. The other person deeply affected by Hee-su’s absence is her
son, Yun-ho (Um). Newly employed at a reconstruction firm — which specialises in the unscrupulous eviction of tenants — he is hoping to marry his long-term girlfriend but is worried he will lose her if she discovers the mess his family is in. He is also harassed over his mother’s debts, first by Seo-hee and then more ominously by a professional debt collector. Choked is highly effective at depicting individuals under
extreme social pressure, whether related to money, family or social status. Indeed, this pressure comes across as something endemic to Korean society, making this a coming-of-age story with little hope for its characters’ futures. Partly as a result, the emotionally intense film struggles to find a satisfying resolution to its various narrative strands. Nonetheless, Kim maintains interest with the roundedness of
his characters. None of them deserve their fate, but the less admirable sides of their nature are on full display, complicating the viewer’s feelings for them. Particularly of note is the finished quality of Lee Jin-keun’s
high-definition cinematography, which never gives the impres- sion of this being a student film. Sometimes referred to as Korea’s top film school, the Korean
Academy of Film Arts has produced such well-travelled student features as Bleak Night (2010), End Of Animal (2010), I’m In Trouble! (2009) and Members Of The Funeral (2008).
n 20 Screen International at the Berlinale February 11, 2012
VMI EFM
VANTAGE MEDIA INTERNATIONAL / VISION MUSIC, INC SCREENING TODAY
Valley of the Sun Saturday, Feb 11th
Marriott 1
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PREMIERES 2012
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