The Coast Guard

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A minor key Kim Ki Duk

The Kim Ki Duk case is a big controversy subject for asian movie buffs. Some say he's only wanting to provoke, some call him sexist although his movies only deal with primitive desires, those who complain about some unreal aspects in his screenplays and the fans. Among them no one agrees for chosing the best Kim Ki Duk: the pro-the Isle point out its narrative freedom, the pro-Adress Unknown its thematic density, the pro-Bad Guy his stunning directing. None of them is perfect and the favorite depends on people's sensitivity. Anyway it was curious to see how the director would deal with Bad Guy's surprise public success in Korea.

Here Kim Ki Duk is borrowing elements from his previous movies to exploit them in a new way. The army in Adress Unknown was treated in a choral way, Coast Guard has less characters. Adress Unknown was about US occupation, here it's the division of Korea already (badly) treated in Wild Animals. The movie is less stylish than Bad Guy. Whereas the Isle and Bad Guy were "mute" Kim Ki Duk, Coast Guard has as much dialogues as Adress Unknown. But the movie continues Bad Guy since just like Bag Guy revisited the popular gangster/drama genre, here the beginning plot could be the one of a blockbuster about North and South Korea. As Kim Ki Duk is a body's director, the theme of military trainment has a good potential for him. Contrarely to Furyo, the soldier puts disorder into the army from the outside and the inside. Jang Dong Kun's choice in the main role is interesting caus' we don't expect him getting mad since he's low profile.

Project is interesting, its execution is less. Jang Dong Kun is no good for playing madness. The girl playing the Isle-like woman fascinated by her boyfriend's murderer isn't convincing since her smiles are too naive. If the movie's well framed evoking even Kim's professional past as a painter, the directing is lacking of point of view. But rarely when the camera substitutes its look to the characters' look, we find a little bit of Kim Ki Duk's talent. Some moments are interesting anyway: the violence against fishes which belongs the director's trademark, the scene when the killer is in the same situation as the one he killed, the beautiful plan of the bleeding mermaid-like girl bathing into an aquarium and making the water look red and a nice urban ending echoing the beginning's scene. Unfortunately the last plan isn't really subtle. Music isn't good during the whole movie.

Till now, the human aspect of Kim's movies could compensate their drawbacks. It's not the case here and the movie looks minor key compared to the Isle, Adress Unknown et Bad Guy. It could have been promising as a second or third movie (screenplay's more constructed than in Birdcage Inn for instance). As an eighth movie, it's disappointing since the potentially new elements miss their target. The will to change is here, it isn't just working.