Tribeca 2011: The Journals of Musan Review
By David Kempler
Korean Bore
The Tribeca Film Festival is upon us and I confess to being a bit excited about it. In pre-screenings, my first experience was with the Korean film, "The Journals of Musan".
Seung-chul (Park Jungbum) is a North Korean defector who is struggling to survive in South Korea. He is as non-descript and boring as anyone you might come across. Relegated to surviving by putting up illegal posters and other just-as-exciting jobs, he walks around like a ghost, never fitting in with the people and places around him. His roommate is also an illegal defector, but he is more of an outgoing hustler, always looking for the fast buck, even if it is by illegal means.
The contrast is clear and even though it leads to the inevitable clashes, they never feel all that intense. That is the central problem of "The Journals of Musan". Despite the set of circumstances laid out, you never much care what happens to the central character or anyone around him.
Jungbum, in addition to starring, is also the writer and director, and it is hard to be certain what his strengths are. His acting here is so restrained that it is hard to determine if he is giving a nuanced performance or if he is a stiff. Presumably it's the former. His character takes so much guff from everyone that after the fourth or fifth time it happens you stop hoping that he will finally stand up for himself. When it finally happens, he beats up two gentlemen who have been torturing him. The scene runs into stark contrast to martial arts films from that part of the world. I know 9-year old, one-armed girls who could have thrashed all three of them.
His coming out party at the end isn't exactly a huge payoff either. He sort of gets the girl, but I'm not sure why anyone would want her. No, I don't mean she is unattractive or that she has a witch-like personality. I mean that she has no discernible personality whatsoever. I think she is supposed to have one, but I'm not sure.
On a side note, our lead character adopts a street puppy at one point. There are a couple of scenes where it is hard to tell if the dog is being abused. At the very least, one character kicks him around a bit. It made me wonder about the stereotype of dogs being eaten in that part of the world. That along with everything else, left me with a bad taste in my mouth.
