How entertaining? ★★★☆☆
Thought provoking? ★★★☆☆ 27 October 2015
A movie review of COLLECTIVE INVENTION.By Hemanth Kissoon
Seen at the Toronto International Film Festival 2015. (For more information, click here.)
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“You’re still clueless,” Jin (Park Bo-yeong)
Half-man/half-fish, Park Gu (Lee Gwang-soo) was a pop culture phenomenon, but hasn’t been seen in five years. A video news piece is the narrative coat hanger, looking back on the impact Gu had on South Korean society. TED scatology COLLECTIVE INVENTION is not - rather a caustic observation, given a satirical top layer for ease of swallowing. Human mutation has had glamorous forebears in the likes of X-MEN and SPIDER-MAN; unfortunately for Gu, his “fish man” persona is more of THE ELEPHANT MAN variety.
Half-man/half-fish, Park Gu (Lee Gwang-soo) was a pop culture phenomenon, but hasn’t been seen in five years. A video news piece is the narrative coat hanger, looking back on the impact Gu had on South Korean society. TED scatology COLLECTIVE INVENTION is not - rather a caustic observation, given a satirical top layer for ease of swallowing. Human mutation has had glamorous forebears in the likes of X-MEN and SPIDER-MAN; unfortunately for Gu, his “fish man” persona is more of THE ELEPHANT MAN variety.
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Passive to the point of invisibility, Gu is a blank canvas to project onto, a cypher for victims of modern society. While the choice is understandable, making him so meek hampers enjoyment. Gu’s mistreatment thus is a general cry of pain. Instead of dour catalogue of community failings, COLLECTIVE INVENTION holds up a wry, surreal mirror. One feels that writer-director Kwon Oh-Kwang shot the film with one eyebrow permanently raised, daring us to challenge him on his comedy misanthropy: Humanity as exploitative idiots, lone voices of reason/compassion/empathy struggling to be heard.
A graduate reporter for a television station looks back on the whys. Poor student Gu took part in a clinical trial, paid just $300, and a side effect his slow transformation. Escaping from the medical research facility he hides out at Jin’s, who he views as his girlfriend. In reality they had a sorta one-night stand.
Jin certainly has a mouth on her, spewing amusing invective. She is a rare character in a Koran film to actually comment on the country’s patriarchy. So often shown and implied in the oeuvre of Lee Chang-dong (POETRY, SECRET SUNSHINE), and executive producer here, it is a thought seldom articulated explicitly. This is only the start of the commentary. Jin sells back Gu to the same company that did the tests. “Why not?” she queries, “It’s a capitalistic society.” So much of Korea’s excellent cinema over the last decade have questioned the increasing wealth gap, and the corruption/injustices that can be concomitant.
Hope comes in the form of remorse and action. A mildly daring breakout mission is as absurd as the rest of the tone. The visual effect for Gu’s face is hardly WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE sophisticated. Shoddy make-up, while raising a gentle initial chortle, does not outweigh the blankness of the expression and the (e)motionless eyes. COLLECTIVE INVENTION has its heart in the right place, but required another plane of humour/character/darkness.
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