I find it really interesting that ‘I’m A
Cyborg, and That’s Okay,’ came out of the same mind of man who created
‘Oldboy,’ and that entire ‘Vengence Triology.’ Because, the essence, quality, and
overall feeling is something that’s completely different than that of
his trilogy.
Chan-Wook Park creates this sort of ‘New World’ of psychiatric hospital movies. In the first 20 minutes, I remember I really struggled trying to think of a movie that it seemed like, one I could relate it to, even. Or, ultimately find some kind of genre to smush it into. But it was impossible.
This movie is about a young woman, Young-Goon, who believes that’s she’s a cyborg. At the hospital that her mother puts her in after she harms herself at work, you are welcome to be introduced to all these bizarre, almost whimsical characters that stay and live in the institution. But, Young-Goon pays no attention to them, for the most part, because she’s too busy trying to talk to electronic devices, recharging herself by licking batteries, and thinking of her Grandmother. Her grandmother was taken away when she was younger by the so-called ‘white ‘uns,’ and left her dentures at home. Her grandmother had also believed that she was something other than human; she believed she was a mouse.
‘I’m a Cyborg,’ is a really fascinating portrait of the life of a psychiatric patient. The idea of this certain level of craziness that just can’t be fixed, and the way that the patients all sort of remedy each other, even though they can’t remedy themselves. You almost want to believe that the patients aren’t even crazy, at all. You almost want to believe that their psychological hallucinations are ones that are realer than the reality we’re used to; the reality of patients being sick, and them needing doctors.
I think my big problem with this movie, though, was that it’s just sitting on this fence between being serious, and getting you to feel really invested in these characters, and just being so nonsensical and whimsical that you can’t even begin to take it even a little bit seriously. All the sets, and scenes have this surreal quality to it that helps fit you into this weird sort of dream-like space, similar to the patients’ views. And the lighting is frequently at this neutral tone, if not a little colder than average, but when it gets to these intense sort of build-ups, it’s almost like Chan-Wook Park underexaggerates the intensity. I suppose that just sort of rubs me the wrong way.
After watching the movie I noticed that on Netflix it was under the category, “Romantic Comedy.” Which is kind of laughable, because it’s very true that Young-Goon meets a boy, at the institution, but there’s really not a lot of romance involved. It’s more of just this beautiful, quirky support system that develops between two people who need the help whether they recognize that or not. And it is humorous, I suppose, because of the strange mental tics these patients have, and they way they’re portrayed.
I saved some stills of the movie to show the beautiful way he uses lines to shoot a scene. It's such a simple way to compose a frame, or several frames, but something about the symmetry he gets down with is just really fantastic.
Chan-Wook Park creates this sort of ‘New World’ of psychiatric hospital movies. In the first 20 minutes, I remember I really struggled trying to think of a movie that it seemed like, one I could relate it to, even. Or, ultimately find some kind of genre to smush it into. But it was impossible.
This movie is about a young woman, Young-Goon, who believes that’s she’s a cyborg. At the hospital that her mother puts her in after she harms herself at work, you are welcome to be introduced to all these bizarre, almost whimsical characters that stay and live in the institution. But, Young-Goon pays no attention to them, for the most part, because she’s too busy trying to talk to electronic devices, recharging herself by licking batteries, and thinking of her Grandmother. Her grandmother was taken away when she was younger by the so-called ‘white ‘uns,’ and left her dentures at home. Her grandmother had also believed that she was something other than human; she believed she was a mouse.
‘I’m a Cyborg,’ is a really fascinating portrait of the life of a psychiatric patient. The idea of this certain level of craziness that just can’t be fixed, and the way that the patients all sort of remedy each other, even though they can’t remedy themselves. You almost want to believe that the patients aren’t even crazy, at all. You almost want to believe that their psychological hallucinations are ones that are realer than the reality we’re used to; the reality of patients being sick, and them needing doctors.
I think my big problem with this movie, though, was that it’s just sitting on this fence between being serious, and getting you to feel really invested in these characters, and just being so nonsensical and whimsical that you can’t even begin to take it even a little bit seriously. All the sets, and scenes have this surreal quality to it that helps fit you into this weird sort of dream-like space, similar to the patients’ views. And the lighting is frequently at this neutral tone, if not a little colder than average, but when it gets to these intense sort of build-ups, it’s almost like Chan-Wook Park underexaggerates the intensity. I suppose that just sort of rubs me the wrong way.
After watching the movie I noticed that on Netflix it was under the category, “Romantic Comedy.” Which is kind of laughable, because it’s very true that Young-Goon meets a boy, at the institution, but there’s really not a lot of romance involved. It’s more of just this beautiful, quirky support system that develops between two people who need the help whether they recognize that or not. And it is humorous, I suppose, because of the strange mental tics these patients have, and they way they’re portrayed.
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