🔗 Share this article The New Film Can't Possibly Be Stranger Than the Science Fiction Psychological Drama It's Adapted From Aegean surrealist filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos specializes in distinctly odd movies. His unique screenplays veer into the bizarre, for instance The Lobster, where single people need to find love or face transformed into creatures. Whenever he interprets another creator's story, he tends to draw from basis material that’s rather eccentric also — more bizarre, possibly, than the version he creates. This proved true with 2023’s Poor Things, a screen interpretation of author Alasdair Gray's wonderfully twisted novel, a pro-female, open-minded take on Frankenstein. His film stands strong, but partially, his particular flavor of oddity and Gray’s neutralize one another. Lanthimos’ Next Pick Lanthimos’ next pick to bring to screen was likewise drawn from far out in left field. The basis for Bugonia, his latest project alongside star Emma Stone, is 2004’s Save the Green Planet!, a perplexing Korean fusion of science fiction, black comedy, terror, satire, dark psychodrama, and police procedural. It's an unusual piece less because of its subject matter — although that's highly unconventional — but for the frenzied excess of its tone and storytelling style. The film is a rollercoaster. The Burst of Korean Film It seems there was a certain energy in South Korea at the start of the millennium. Save the Green Planet!, written and directed by Jang Joon-hwan, was included in a surge of daringly creative, groundbreaking movies from fresh voices of filmmakers including Bong Joon Ho and Park Chan-wook. It came out alongside the director's Memories of Murder and the filmmaker's Oldboy. Save the Green Planet! isn't as acclaimed as those two crime masterpieces, but it’s got a lot in common with them: graphic brutality, morbid humor, sharp societal critique, and defying expectations. Image: Tartan Video Narrative Progression Save the Green Planet! revolves around a troubled protagonist who kidnaps a chemical-company executive, believing he’s a being originating in another galaxy, with plans to invade Earth. At first, this concept is presented as broad comedy, and the protagonist, Lee Byeong-gu (the performer known for Park’s Joint Security Area and Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance), seems like a charmingly misguided figure. Alongside his naive entertainer girlfriend Su-ni (the star) don black PVC ponchos and ridiculous headgear encrusted with mental shields, and use menthol rub in combat. However, they manage in seizing inebriated businessman Kang Man-shik (actor Baek) and transporting him to Byeong-gu’s remote property, a dilapidated building he’s built on an old mine amid the hills, home to his apiary. Growing Tension Moving forward, the narrative turns into increasingly disturbing. Lee fastens Kang to a budget-Cronenberg torture chair and subjects him to harm while ranting bizarre plots, ultimately forcing the innocent partner away. Yet the captive is resilient; driven solely by the conviction of his innate dominance, he is willing and able to endure terrifying trials to attempt an exit and lord it over the clearly unwell younger man. Simultaneously, a comically inadequate manhunt for the kidnapper gets underway. The officers' incompetence and incompetence recalls Memories of Murder, even if it’s not so clearly intentional in a film with plotting that comes off as rushed and improvised. Image: Tartan Video A Frenetic Journey Save the Green Planet! continues racing ahead, fueled by its manic force, trampling genre norms along the way, well past it seems likely it to find stability or run out of steam. Occasionally it feels like a serious story about mental health and overmedication; sometimes it’s a fantasy allegory about the callousness of the economic system; sometimes it’s a dirty, tense scare-fest or a bumbling detective tale. The filmmaker brings the same level of hysterical commitment in all scenes, and the performer is excellent, even though the character of Byeong-gu constantly changes among savant prophet, endearing eccentric, and frightening madman depending on the film's ever-changing tone in tone, perspective, and plot. I think that’s a feature, not a flaw, but it might feel pretty disorienting. Designed to Confuse Jang probably consciously intended to disorient his audience, of course. In line with various Korean films from that era, Save the Green Planet! is powered by a joyful, extreme defiance for genre limits in one aspect, and a profound fury about human cruelty additionally. The film is a vibrant manifestation of a culture gaining worldwide recognition amid new economic and social changes. It promises to be intriguing to observe how Lanthimos views the original plot from a current U.S. standpoint — possibly, the other end of the telescope. Save the Green Planet! is available to stream without charge.