Okja (New Bong Joon-Ho film, co-written by Jon Ronson)

[Small Man Big Horse]

Contains probably the best pig rape scene I've ever witnessed. And I've seen a lot.

[Small Man Big Horse]

More seriously, this is the latest from the director of The Host and Snowpiercer, and is about a girl who is in love with an enormous super-pig, but then the pig's taken away from her by an evil corporation. Tilda Swinton's the big bad, Jake Gyllenhaal is a wacky tv nature bloke, and some Japanese girl is a japanese girl who holds the emotional core of the film together.

I'd been looking forward to this for a while as I like Joon-Ho, but it wasn't until today that I discovered that Jon Ronson co-wrote it with the director. It's quite funny in places and the set pieces are beautifully filmed, though the Animal Liberation Front types are a bit too quirky, it feels like they've fallen out of a Wes Anderson movie, and Swinton is a bit melodramatic towards the end. They're only minor complaints though and otherwise I enjoyed it a lot, especially the pig herself who's impressively animated.

[Monsieur Verdoux]

Sounds incredible, I'm sticking it on as soon as

[Bhazor]

The thread title made me think it was one of Poo's Boswego adventures.

[Bazooka]

Ah yes, this is the Netflix film. I am definitely going to be watching this, I consider The Host to be the best monster film of the last 20 years or so.

[Lost Oliver]

Loved it but won't watch it again. Cried my eyes out and felt sick afterwards. Why? Cos' this kind of thing is really happening. I actually cried into my dressing gown. Not my proudest moment.

Agree on the quirkiness. A few of Ronson's films do this and I'm not sure why cos' he's a bloody funny man who I assume wouldn't like that kind of thing.

[hermitical]

Loved it but won't watch it again. Cried my eyes out and felt sick afterwards. Why? Cos' this kind of thing is really happening. I actually cried into my dressing gown. Not my proudest moment.

Is this from an animal rights perspective? If so I think I would struggle to watch

[Lost Oliver]

Yeah. I don't know why it got to me so much. Might've just been that I was particularly emotional last night. It just hit a tone between horror and cutesy that was difficult to marry up. I guess you have to face up to this thing though as difficult as it was. That said I won't be watching it again.

It'd be interesting see if it converts anyone to vegetarianism or the like. As a vegetarian it made me think seriously about going vegan but ultimately where do you stop? You're always going to rip someone off no matter what you do.

[amoral]

I liked this a lot. Bong might be my favorite director of action. No hyperactive editing, always fun and invigorating, with great music choices and real emotion. Mija chasing the truck with Okja inside through the streets was a great action sequence that also brought tears to my eyes.

[Straight Faced Customer]

I've written a little something on cyberpunk site Neon Dystopia about Okja, Colossal and other Korean-related sci-fi. Wasn't sure whether to post it here or in the Asian movie thread as it's not about Asian cinema as such...

[SteveDave]

It'd be interesting see if it converts anyone to vegetarianism or the like. As a vegetarian it made me think seriously about going vegan but ultimately where do you stop? You're always going to rip someone off no matter what you do.

You'll end up like Silver.

[colacentral]

Bit late to watch this. Has its flaws, especially some OTT performances and cheesy humour. The ending is really powerful though, and I admit I was holding back tears (even more than War for the Planet of the Apes which I saw last night and had some similarities - it's been an emotionally rough weekend of film viewing). At least there was some glimmer of hope in the post-credits scene (I was joking with my girlfriend that there would be a post-credits scene where everything would be fine and we couldn't believe that it almost actually did go there.)

[SpiderChrist]

Watched this last night, on the recommendation of daughter. Loved it, and am now going to have to check out Bong's other films. Shades of Wes Anderson and Ghibli (particularly the early scenes on the farm).

[Bazooka]

Watched this last night, on the recommendation of daughter. Loved it, and am now going to have to check out Bong's other films. Shades of Wes Anderson and Ghibli (particularly the early scenes on the farm).

I haven't seen all of his work but The Host and Memories Of Murder are excellent.

[zomgmouse]

Thought this went steadily downhill in the second half after a solid and entertaining buildup. Overchurned messages and sentimentality really grate on me and I found it increasingly clunky and cringey. Which was a shame as I was quite enjoying it in that opening third or so.

[Keebleman]

This movie's predictability was fascinating.  From the opening minutes I thought, I know exactly how this will play out.  That's quite a common experience in movies: directors set the audience up to think their film will play out in a particular way, and then delight in undermining the expectations (often in ways which themselves are fairly predictable), but this one followed my expectations so closely it was astonishing.  When the animal liberation people showed up and started fainting cos they wouldn't eat tomatoes, arguing about their ethics and beating the crap out of each other for violations of said ethics, I was disappointed because that seemed not to fit the template, but no, all those quirks were soon forgotten: these were our heroes.

There is a hint of ambiguity in the fact that Mija and her granddad eat fish and chickens, but so little was made of it I think it must have been an oversight.

The design and animation of Okja was wonderful though.  If it hadn't been, I don't think I would have found anything worthwhile about the film at all.

I had really enjoyed Memories of Murder and Mother (The Host I was a little more ambiguous about and I still haven't seen Snowpiercer) so I have high expectations of Bong Joon-Ho, but this seems a colossal step back for him.

And who the hell is this film for?  Kids would be the obvious audience: really broad performances, lots of slapstick, and goodies and baddies clearly delineated, but the profanity puts it out of that demographic.

[rasta-spouse]

I had really enjoyed Memories of Murder and Mother (The Host I was a little more ambiguous about and I still haven't seen Snowpiercer) so I have high expectations of Bong Joon-Ho, but this seems a colossal step back for him.

This movie seemed under-directed. Bong's usually quite a smart filmmaker. I blame Ronson's script, the plotting obs, but there's also a bit where Tilda Swinton says "epic fail!" and it just seems so jarring. Even her rap in Zero Theorem seemed more natural.

[PlanktonSideburns]

This movie seemed under-directed. Bong's usually quite a smart filmmaker. I blame Ronson's script, the plotting obs, but there's also a bit where Tilda Swinton says "epic fail!" and it just seems so jarring. Even her rap in Zero Theorem seemed more natural.

Tilda Swinton raps in Zero Theorem? Fucks sake.