I loved the way the movie jumps straight into the dark side of the moon— A place which exists but we never get to see. It refers to the truth that is hiding in plain sight—the reality, the true heroes, the ‘nobodies’ of our world who keep things moving and together in spite of all the chaos and plunder.
The movie shines light on the miracle workers whose ‘job
is to freeze the water’, if their overlords wish to walk on water.
The dark comedy is set alight with ‘the ring of fire’,
which doesn’t refer to any seismic zones but literally an arsehole and
haemorrhoids.
A morally bankrupt capitalist on his last legs slapping the crap out of a
spineless military general, further seals the tone of the narrative taken by director
Byun Sung-Hyun.
The movie is about a misguided group of young Japanese revolutionary
Marxists charging at the windmills like Don Quixote with a half-baked plan to
hijack a plane to Pyongyang, when the windmills are manned by a bunch of
unscrupulous spineless bureaucrats.
The plot is inspired by real events and follows what transpired with a heavy
dose of sarcasm and the absurd.
Japan Air Lines Flight 351 was a scheduled passenger flight from Tokyo Haneda Airport to Fukuoka that was hijacked by members of the Red Army Faction of the Japan Communist League on March 31, 1970,[1] in an incident usually referred to in Japanese as the Yodogo Hijacking Incident (よど号ハイジャック事件, Yodogō Haijakku Jiken), after the aircraft's official Japan Airlines poetic nickname "Yodo" (meaning "still water").[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan_Air_Lines_Flight_351
I don’t intend to give away the spoilers, but some worthy mentions are in
order.
· ‘The Star-Spangled
Banner’ played in the background every time the American official
spoke, implying that the so-called defenders of democracy sit safely on their
thrones while riding heavy on the back of smaller nations who bear all the
consequence. It instantly evokes the hollow claims made by Mango Mussolini
about ending nine wars.
· The reference to the Fastest
Finger First and Clint Eastwood-style Western showdown
between the South Korean and North Korean air traffic controllers, adding a
dead Mexican playing maracas to bring in the
Mexican standoff into the whole thing, is brilliant.
· Hvorostovsky’s On the
Hills of Manchuria playing as the North Koreans bombard the plane,
with the hijackers sold on the idea of it as a welcome cannon salute. This
scene illustrates the delusion of foolish idealism that lacks any solid grounding.
The movie momentarily descends into a slower pace in between to provide a
moment of retrospection on the maddening events unfolding in the background.
The guileless, filthy rich men and women in power seem like invertebrate
parasites—highly advanced creatures who exploit and kill their
hosts to survive. They are the vilest of selfish human specimens who worry only
about the optics.
The passionate young ones, on the other hand, jump into action without a
concrete plan and stumble in the darkness. The situation is saved by a wise and
experienced ‘nobody’ who intervenes behind the scenes to save the day.
My only grievance and quite a big one is the lack of a sane female character
in the entire movie.
Now, go and watch the movie, before I tell you everything! It is worth it
and shines like a pearl in the sea of imitation clams churned out by the
corporate rating-chasers.
Let me know what you think, please.
No comments:
Post a Comment