Bugonia Isn't Likely to Be More Bizarre Than the Science Fiction Psychological Drama It's Inspired By
Aegean surrealist director Yorgos Lanthimos specializes in extremely strange movies. The narratives he creates defy convention, like The Lobster, where unattached individuals must partner up or risk being turned into animals. When he adapts existing material, he frequently picks basis material that’s pretty odd too — odder, maybe, than his cinematic take. Such was the situation with 2023’s Poor Things, an adaptation of author Alasdair Gray's wonderfully twisted novel, an empowering, open-minded spin on Frankenstein. The director's adaptation is effective, but to some extent, his unique brand of oddity and Gray’s balance each other.
The Director's Latest Choice
The filmmaker's subsequent choice to interpret also came from far out in left field. The original work for Bugonia, his newest collaboration with leading actress Emma Stone, comes from 2004’s Save the Green Planet!, a perplexing Korean genre stew of sci-fi, black comedy, terror, irony, dark psychodrama, and police procedural. It's an unusual piece not primarily due to what it’s about — although that's far from normal — but due to the frenzied excess of its tone and storytelling style. It's an insane journey.
The Burst of Korean Film
It seems there was a certain energy across Korea during that period. Save the Green Planet!, the work of Jang Joon-hwan, was part of a boom of daringly creative, groundbreaking movies from fresh voices of filmmakers including Bong Joon Ho and Park Chan-wook. It was released alongside the director's Memories of Murder and Park’s Oldboy. Save the Green Planet! isn’t on the same level as those two crime masterpieces, but it’s got a lot in common with them: extreme violence, morbid humor, bitter social commentary, and defying expectations.
The Plot Unfolds
Save the Green Planet! is about a disturbed young man who captures a business tycoon, convinced he is a being from the planet Andromeda, plotting an attack. At first, this concept unfolds as broad comedy, and the young man, Lee Byeong-gu (the performer known for Park’s Joint Security Area and Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance), appears as a lovably deluded fool. Together with his childlike circus-performer girlfriend Su-ni (the star) wear slick rainwear and ridiculous headgear encrusted with mental shields, and employ menthol rub for defense. But they do succeed in seizing inebriated businessman Kang Man-shik (actor Baek) and taking him to Byeong-gu’s remote property, a dilapidated building assembled in a former excavation in the mountains, home to his apiary.
Growing Tension
From this point, the story shifts abruptly into increasingly disturbing. Lee fastens Kang into a makeshift device and subjects him to harm while declaiming outlandish ideas, ultimately forcing his kind girlfriend away. Yet the captive is resilient; fueled entirely by the certainty of his own superiority, he can and will to undergo awful experiences just to try to escape and exert power over the mentally unstable protagonist. Meanwhile, a comically inadequate manhunt for the abductor commences. The detectives' foolishness and lack of skill recalls Memories of Murder, even if it may not be as deliberate within a story with a plot that comes off as rushed and improvised.
Unrelenting Pace
Save the Green Planet! just keeps barrelling onward, fueled by its wild momentum, defying conventions without pause, even when it seems likely it to either settle down or run out of steam. At moments it appears like a serious story on instability and excessive drug use; in parts it transforms into a symbolic tale on the cruelty of corporate culture; sometimes it’s a claustrophobic thriller or an incompetent police story. Director Jang maintains a consistent degree of feverish dedication throughout, and the lead actor shines, although the character of Byeong-gu continuously shifts from savant prophet, endearing eccentric, and frightening madman in response to the film's ever-changing tone across style, angle, and events. It seems it's by design, not a bug, but it may prove rather bewildering.
Purposeful Chaos
Jang probably consciously intended to disorient his audience, of course. Like so many Korean films of its time, Save the Green Planet! draws energy from an exuberant rejection for stylistic boundaries on one side, and a profound fury about societal brutality on the other. The film is a vibrant manifestation of a society establishing its international presence during emerging financial and artistic liberties. One can look forward to see the director's interpretation of the same story from a current U.S. standpoint — perhaps, a contrasting viewpoint.
Save the Green Planet! can be viewed online without charge.