MIFF Day 12: BREATHLESS and EDEN LOG

BREATHLESS (2009), South Korea, more Korean cinema on the schedule and again this delivers in truckloads a brilliance, dark, brutal but human tale about Song-hoon, a street thug who works as debt collector who takes pleasure in beating everyone down including anyone who crosses his path. We soon learn that he has a compassionate side towards his little nephew and his sister giving them his earnings to help survive. Song world has been violence throughout his life and you get the impression that this seems to be a daily occurrence in South Korean’s life - domestic violence towards female. But the film certainly brings a human side to this cycle of violence by finding a kinder side as Song discovers a unique friendship with a teenage school student who connects with his life and they forge a strange but strong friendship that makes him rethink his chosen life. The film is heavy going but the human side in the film takes the story to the brilliant level.

EDEN LOG (2007), France, has taken a longtime to arrive on our shores and can see that this film certainly on basic principals contained the potential for incredible brilliance. Instead we get a poorly executed film that has a messy story that never explains the story completely or give the dimensions to prove the potential of this universe the story exists in. This sci-fi film reminds me of THE FOUNTAIN (2006), another film that got lost in it’s brilliant ideas but never pulls it together. The production designs and quality of the universe created far exceed the low budget production, but in parts this film is unwatchable getting lost in the darkness of this underground world. The mystery of the man with no memory as he tries to escape an underground world inhabited by many dangers draws many parallels to another low budget sci-fi film, CUBE (1997). In the end, I was disappointed but I can see why this film will split audience with many dismissing the film immediately and others heralding this as sci-fi classic to rival, BLADE RUNNER (1982). Check it out to see whether you discover a cult classic or rubbish B-grade film.