IFFK: International Film Festival of Kim Ki-Duc?

IFFK 2009 – Day 4

I saw two films today in IFFK 2009: Anti Christ and Dream. Considering the frantic rush for these two films, watching them in itself should be considered as an achievement. Both films were good and memorable in their own unique way.

Anti Christ: Passion, Guilt and Crime

This is a gruesome, yet daring story of a couple, whose only toddler son falls down through the window and crashes to death, while they are passionately engaging in sexual intercourse. The opening sequence of the movie dramatically shows this incident. Thereafter, the movie is divided into four segments: grief, pain, despair, and three beggars.

The guilty conscious soon catches up with the wife (a later scene shows that she has actually seen the child about to fall, but has not done anything in her excited state of orgasm) and starts playing mental tricks. The husband is a therapist and soon takes the responsibility of treating her mental problems.

They move to an isolated cabin in a forest, where the entire family spent some days in the previous year. There, the activities grow more grotesque. Soon, her mental condition improves (she herself proclaims in one scene that she has come out of the problem); however, the husband starts to have problems. The animals, insects, plants, and all around him begin to frighten him.

As he tries to figure out the meaning of the notes that she wrote during their previous stay, she attacks him with a piece of wood. What happens later is … well, I am not spoiling it. It depends on whether you watch a Catholic or Protestant version of the movie. Apparently, IFFK received a protestant version. In a nut shell, she destroys the organs that were the root cause of the child’s death.

This is a difficult movie to watch. Even the dialogues (which is in English and hence no subtitles) is not very clear in some scenes. However, visuals are splendid and convey the mental turbulences of the actors. I would have watched the film again, if not for those gruesome scenes. Maybe, when or if computers take over, this might well be the only film they preserve.

A large number of people assembled at Kripa Theater to watch the movie, despite this being the second screening. Some newspaper reports about the explicit sex scenes in the movie obviously catalyzed spectator interests.

Dream: Whose Dream Is Your Life

It has been established today once and for all: Kim Ki-Duc is the best-loved and most sought-after director in IFFK. There were long queues in front of Dhanya-Remya theater complex that prompted security guards to wonder why all these people want to see this film. And when the name Kim Ki-Duc appeared on the screen, there were thunderous applause and cheers from the viewers.

The screening of the film, which was to be started on 11.45, started 15 minutes late. The fact that the previous screening at Dhanya concluded only on 11.35 complicates the matters further. After a determined effort in the heavy rush, I managed to get into the theatre. However, once the film started, all the sufferings were easily forgotten.

The film has a bewitching story line. A man sees dreams and a woman enacts the dreams in her sleepwalking self. This leads to some complex, occasionally humorous, and almost always beautiful sequences. The opening scenes establish this curious link between the protagonists. The film goes on to narrate how it changes their lives.

Verdict: A simple and bright movie that deals with some complex issues surrounding human psyche.