[K-FILM REVIEWS] 거북이 달린다 (Running Turtle)

Sometimes you wonder whether something as alluring as success is really the answer. And no, this is not going to be another one of those odes to perseverance and long-term prospects, chastising talentless starlets and their 15 minutes of fame. But in an environment marked by the kind of frenetic speed only light can beat, you really wonder whether stardom can seal an actor's legacy, and cement his status for years to come. Think of Kim Seon-Ah, who became a huge star in 2005 with 내 이름은 김삼순 (My Lovely Sam-Soon), and hasn't recovered since. Is she still popular? More or less. But if you look at her career after the 50% ratings scored by that drama, you could easily consider those four years a complete, utter waste of time. First, the scripts coming her way tried to emulate what brought her to stardom. Then, sensing a fat paycheck might be the answer despite the specter of typecasting looming behind the corner, she essentially acted the same character over and over, with little or no variations, for years on end. Only a complete u-turn would give her career a new spark before it's too late, like starring in a small "slice of life" film, working with an acclaimed director who can challenge her, or choosing something a little more more provocative. The problem, obviously, is that until you really touch the bottom, you really won't feel the need to change.

But then you take a look at the career of people like Song Kang-Ho and Kim Yoon-Seok, and you realize how that's just a generalization. You can debate on when Song actually gained the stardom which still continues to this day, be it with the gangster-wannabe in the brilliant 1997 black comedy 넘버3 (No. 3), his supporting role in the 1999 blockbuster 쉬리 (Shiri), or his phenomenal double-header in 2000, with diametrically opposite characters in 반칙왕 (The Foul King) and 공동경비구역 JSA (Joint Security Area). But it still won't matter much, because Song is still a superstar, he still hasn't starred in a single stinker in his 13 year film career, and his choice of projects is like a master's course on how to balance commercial appeal, artistic merit, quantity and quality. It's perhaps for that reason that the success of his longtime friend and fellow theater alumni Kim Yoon-Seok is all the more striking. Kim has certainly made his share of perplexing choices - things like 파랑주의보 (My Girl & I), or third rate TV dramas like 인생이어 고마워요 (Thank You, Life) and 러브홀릭 (Loveholic) - and only really reached stardom with last year's 추격자 (The Chaser), but what we're dealing with is the sort of "repetition" which doesn't hurt as the typecasting a Kim Seon-Ah or Park Cheol-Min (now Korean TV and Chungmuro's favorite comic relief guy) had to go through, willfully or not. It's that pleasant sense of familiarity, and the realization that, even if the character might be similar, his immense talent is going to make it worth sitting through anyhow. The same can be said for his latest one man-show, 거북이 달린다 (Running Turtle).

The image of local detectives Korean cinema has perpetrated at least since 1993's 투캅스 (Two Cops), mixing charming local flavor with what essentially is the same Machiavellian modus operandi of The Shield's Vic Mackey, has become a sort of recurring cliché, enough that it feels awkward when films or TV dramas try to bank on more by-the-book professional ethics the Japanese neighbors often exhibit - think of Go Hyun-Jung and Ha Jung-Woo in the TV drama 히트 (H.I.T.), for a rather painful example. Explaining Koreans' peculiar view of law enforcement is something that would involve long dissertations on their history and relationship with the "golden badges" on top, but let's just say that as misguided a view of reality as it might be, the tentative by Korean cinema to humanize this kind of work environment and sort of dissect it from the huge can of worms that its social duties can be is understandable. After all, the work environment is really just a canvas, a catalyst for a bigger statement about Korean men, their work dynamics, the social structure built around them, and how the individual can move inside such world made of shades of gray. It's if you take that kind of blueprint and apply it to characters like Song Kang-Ho's in 살인의 추억 (Memories of Murder) and Kim Yoon-Seok's masterful turn in The Chaser that you start to separate the figure's (detective, in this case) social obligations from the core values guiding the man pulsating inside. Korea has had a much too painful modern history, and its people's democratic consciousness (more than democracy itself) is much too young to consider such elements when applied to figures like politicians, so it's only inevitable that such ambiguous treatment of men surviving in the jungle passes down to detectives.

In that sense, Detective Jo Pil-Sung of Running Turtle and (former) Detective Eom Joong-Ho of The Chaser share the same kind of approach to their profession, quintessentially aiming for a somewhat righteous conclusion, but eliminating all the burdensome caveats and conditions in the middle. Yes, they're similar characters, but unlike the shallow typecasting people like Kim Seon-Ah were subjected (or subjected themselves) to, this offers a variation on the main theme, hence making the film a much more intriguing prospect. That is not only because Pil-Sung is a much less explosive version of Detective Eom, it's the entire social apparatus surrounding him that changes. Ryu Seung-Wan hinted at such atmosphere with his 짝패 (The City of Violence), but there's something about Chungcheong Province that is tremendously fascinating, in the sense that they're much less straightforward than people from the Gyeongsang sphere -- think of the Busan bravado oozing from Kwak Kyung-Taek's films -- and always give you the misleading perception that their placid and "slow" lifestyle is not hiding a volcano ready to explode. That is really the story of the film: this is a low-fi, Korean-style police procedural, yes, but it has its own little explosions of angst and raw power. It just happens to be "watered down" by the Chungcheong atmosphere, making its placid, almost insipid vibes all the more realistic and enticing, particularly if you want to see something deviating from the norm.

The comparisons with The Chaser are inevitable, considering Kim's role and the nature of the film - it's once again chaser and chased, going every step of the way to beat the other. But if I had to hazard a comparison, I'd rather call it a more parochial version of 와일드 카드 (Wild Card), the excellent (and criminally overlooked) police procedural with Yang Dong-Geun and Jung Jin-Young from a few years back. There's a healthy dose of comedy which will likely not translate incredibly well (although a good chunk of it works on timing, ad-libs and body language alone, so it might nonetheless work), and the film turns increasingly heavier - I wouldn't call it darker - by the third act. Without the need to bother Na Hong-Jin's debut, Running Turtle doesn't have half the energy of Kim Yoo-Jin's 2003 film, but once you let that Chungcheong atmosphere capture you, it's quite the solid ride, particularly considering the excellent cast. Even Jung Kyung-Ho's rather listless performance as renowned criminal on the run Song Gi-Tae sort of fits with the tone of the film, considering it's not really about him, but rather how Pil-Sung copes with the seemingly insurmountable odds he forces upon him,and how this chase impacts his work and the relationship with his family (elements which are neatly addressed in the final scene). Top notch veterans like Gyeon Mi-Ri (as Pil-Sung's spunky wife), Ju Jin-Mo (as the chief detective) and Shin Jung-Geun (as Pil-Sung's third-rate thug buddy) can only add to the flavor, while Seonwoo Seon manages to do pretty well with the little she's given. But of course this film belongs to Kim Yoon-Seok, and perhaps it's the reason why it did so well at the box office, surprisingly so for a film with so little in the way of ambitions.

I first noticed him on two of the best TV dramas of the decade, one the masterful 2004 short 제주도 푸른 밤 (Blue Nights in Jeju), the other 2005's shocker 부활 (Rebirth), ironically starring alongside Eom Tae-Woong on both occasions. It took him a while to get things going in terms of mainstream acceptance, but the reason you always ended up remembering him was because he completely captured every second he was given. In Rebirth, for instance, all he did was staring at the camera eating peanuts from his bag, while playing one of the most ambiguous characters in Korean TV drama history. That's how you build a legacy. One little role after another, and Kim started becoming one of those actors whose name you want to learn, because just knowing his face doesn't cut it anymore. His roles in 타짜 (Tazza), The Chaser and - what the hell - even the horrid morning daily drama 있을 때 잘해 (Love Me While You Can) brought him fame, but it's the quieter fare, like his quintessential Korean dads in Lee Joon-Ik's 즐거운 인생 (The Happy Life) and 천하장사 마돈나 (Like a Virgin) that allow him to really shine, proving his immense range. Pil-Sung is somewhere in between the subtle moments offered by such characters and the explosiveness of his more famous performances, but it's always drenched in that Chungcheong flavor, giving it another dimension.

Running Turtle is certainly no masterpiece, nor does it aspire to reach The Chaser's heights. Director Lee Yeon-Woo, who debuted with the pedestrian comedy 2424, doesn't exactly go for style and panache here, but he hits all the right notes: the film is genuinely funny when it needs to be, without ever going overboard. When the more dramatic aspects kick in, it conveys the necessary, stressing realism over flashiness, and that's certainly a welcome sight, particularly in a period when one too many films think of glitz first. Yes, it's essentially a one-man show built around Kim Yoon-Seok, but he delivers so well that he manages to hide himself inside the film's trappings, making it a much more satisfying experience. It's a medium sized commercial film which managed to make good money, not insult its audience, and remain alive in waters infested by much more daunting sharks (foreign and domestic). It was like a turtle, running at its own pace, but eventually reaching its destination. And, really, that's what the industry needs to start running after once again...

RATING: 7

거북이 달린다 (Running Turtle)
Director: 이연우 (Lee Yeon-Woo)
Screenplay: 이연우 (Lee Yeon-Woo)
Produced by: Cine2000
Int'l Sales: Showbox/Mediaplex
117 Minutes, 2.35:1 35mm, Color
Release: 6/11/2009
CAST: 김윤석 (Kim Yoon-Seok), 정경호 (Jung Kyung-Ho), 선우선 (Seonwoo Seon), 견미리 (Gyoen Mi-Ri), 주진모 (Ju Jin-Mo), 최권 (Choi Kwon), 신정근 (Shin Jung-Geun)