BEAUTIFUL Review
By Charles Webb
I was surprised to learn that Kim Ki-Duk was not only the producer for Beautiful, but the film's writer as well. I was surprised because the writer-director's normally masterful control and focus - present in wrenching dramas like Bad Guy and Coast Guard - was wholly absent from this histrionic mess of a film.
The movie stars Cha Su-Yeon as Eun-Young, a woman who, the screenplay tells us repeatedly, is cursed with immense beauty. It would be impolite to argue otherwise, so let's focus on how this functions in the film. Eun-Young attracts unwanted attention from all corners - from the average male passersby on the street, to hospitality workers, to most worryingly her best friend's boyfriend. Eun-Young's lifelong inconvenience actually becomes a menace when she's assaulted in her home by a man who's been stalking her.
The incident practically destroys the young woman, driving her out of her mind with anger and self-loathing. Blaming her appearance for her life's woes she vows to make herself unappealing to the world. What happens from here is both banal and pathetic as the character develops a series of eating disorders to conquer her body image issues. The screenplay has Eun-Young alternately between binge and purge cycles with the occasional screaming fit for good measure. Her descent into madness is a short trip aided inadvertently by a concerned patrolman (Lee Cheon-Hee) who gradually becomes as obsessed as Eun-Young's stalker.
The central problem (of many) with the movie is that its lead is a quintessential victim - the screenplay keeps hurling circumstances at her to react to. The nominal attempts to control her destiny - acquiring eating disorders (yes, plural) - feel slight. Millions of men and women globally struggle with eating disorders but somehow this movie reduces a valid issue to a petulant reaction on the part of a wholly unsympathetic lead.
Eun-Young's problem - that she's too beautiful - is supposed to generate pathos with random men on the streets of the city accosting her or lavishing unwanted attention on her. The first few instances it's unpleasant and actually creepy but over time it becomes unintentionally funny and finally annoying. We know very little about Eun-Young - what motivates her, what she wants, or even what she does for a living. The character is so slight as to be nonexistent, so when the movie asks that we sympathize with her plight it's nearly impossible.
Beautiful, a terrible film in its current form could have been grist for pitch-black comedy or perhaps body horror. Instead, it coasts on its basic premise until the mind-bogglingly ridiculous scenes at the end which made this viewer thankful that the movie was at least short.
Beautiful will be screened for free in New York on February 9 as part of Subway Cinema's free Korean Movie night. The event will be held at the Tribeca Cinema, 54 Varick Street, on the corner of Canal Street, one block from the A, C, E and 1 train Canal Street stops. Seating is on a first come, first served basis.
Charles Webb is a jack of all trades: comics scripter, screenwriter, and game designer living in NYC.
I was surprised to learn that Kim Ki-Duk was not only the producer for Beautiful, but the film's writer as well. I was surprised because the writer-director's normally masterful control and focus - present in wrenching dramas like Bad Guy and Coast Guard - was wholly absent from this histrionic mess of a film.
The movie stars Cha Su-Yeon as Eun-Young, a woman who, the screenplay tells us repeatedly, is cursed with immense beauty. It would be impolite to argue otherwise, so let's focus on how this functions in the film. Eun-Young attracts unwanted attention from all corners - from the average male passersby on the street, to hospitality workers, to most worryingly her best friend's boyfriend. Eun-Young's lifelong inconvenience actually becomes a menace when she's assaulted in her home by a man who's been stalking her.
The incident practically destroys the young woman, driving her out of her mind with anger and self-loathing. Blaming her appearance for her life's woes she vows to make herself unappealing to the world. What happens from here is both banal and pathetic as the character develops a series of eating disorders to conquer her body image issues. The screenplay has Eun-Young alternately between binge and purge cycles with the occasional screaming fit for good measure. Her descent into madness is a short trip aided inadvertently by a concerned patrolman (Lee Cheon-Hee) who gradually becomes as obsessed as Eun-Young's stalker.
The central problem (of many) with the movie is that its lead is a quintessential victim - the screenplay keeps hurling circumstances at her to react to. The nominal attempts to control her destiny - acquiring eating disorders (yes, plural) - feel slight. Millions of men and women globally struggle with eating disorders but somehow this movie reduces a valid issue to a petulant reaction on the part of a wholly unsympathetic lead.
Eun-Young's problem - that she's too beautiful - is supposed to generate pathos with random men on the streets of the city accosting her or lavishing unwanted attention on her. The first few instances it's unpleasant and actually creepy but over time it becomes unintentionally funny and finally annoying. We know very little about Eun-Young - what motivates her, what she wants, or even what she does for a living. The character is so slight as to be nonexistent, so when the movie asks that we sympathize with her plight it's nearly impossible.
Beautiful, a terrible film in its current form could have been grist for pitch-black comedy or perhaps body horror. Instead, it coasts on its basic premise until the mind-bogglingly ridiculous scenes at the end which made this viewer thankful that the movie was at least short.
Beautiful will be screened for free in New York on February 9 as part of Subway Cinema's free Korean Movie night. The event will be held at the Tribeca Cinema, 54 Varick Street, on the corner of Canal Street, one block from the A, C, E and 1 train Canal Street stops. Seating is on a first come, first served basis.
Charles Webb is a jack of all trades: comics scripter, screenwriter, and game designer living in NYC.
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