Han Suk-kyu did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Jung-won in Christmas in August.
Han Suk-kyu plays the man who runs the photo shop and part of this film is working within his state as his job. A performance that reminded more than a little bit of Timothy Spall in Secrets & Lies, who also portrayed a photographer who is good at his job and exudes a pleasant professional demeanor. Han's performance is this presence in part as he makes his Jung-woo likable though certainly very specific in his manner. Han finds the right balance in terms of creating this state of the man while also in a way being a facade of sorts, as obviously someone who is working their job isn't being entirely themselves, if successful, as they must please their customers. However what Han though brings in this performance is the frequent contentment in his manner in his shop that creates an innate affability. Han's performance finds the right balance to express both the state of Jung-won as he is an appealing presence, that is both the man being the best photographer he can be, while also just in part being a strong aspect of himself. An expression where Han brings this innate sort of quiet passion to the character as he prepares any photograph or takes a potential order. There's this calm about him but also this sense of intelligence in the man as he speaks his additional questions to customers to get the best result possible for them.
The theoretical shake up in the film comes from the woman who shakes up his world in Da-rim, who takes time away from giving parking tickets to relax within his shop. This is the first challenge to his specific environment, though initially we Jung-won reacts to her as any customer does. Han is very good in bringing this quiet sense of the attraction to her as not something of an overplay but just a marginal increase in brightness to the already affable way Jung-won presents himself. Her challenge to him though is far more complicated than just being a potential switch up from his specific life already as she asks him questions about his age and his marital status, both which Han initially lies about. A key moment in a way because Han's delivery isn't exactly as the dodge you might think it is, rather he makes it the continuation of the proper customer servicer who rather than care about his own potential concerns of the relationship, gives the answers that are the simplest ways to discourage future questions from being asked that would disrupt this world. When Da-rim very easily breaks them down as obvious lies, though in her own affable way even if quite blunt in her way, Han's wonderful in not showing any defensiveness rather this easy acceptance of her insight, with an easy smile as though the man is accepting she does see him more clearly beyond sort of the presentation.
Han's performance is very much defined by the differences we see in the man depending on where we interact with him as we see the man away from the shop, he is a different person, not completely but fundamentally. Han still has that shy affable demeanor as his core as we see him with his father and sister, we still the man we see in the shop, however there's a greater sense of this innate sadness within the man's shy demeanor. He's a bit more open, if still reserved, and Han rather nicely balances this aspect to show a man who still hides his loneliness though hides it less. Things take a turn for the worse, and the melodramatic when Jung-won also discovers he has a terminal illness to go along with his lonely state. And while we once again see the man try to hide it within himself though in this instance it is a bit harder, as we see when he is with his one friend he shares this information with. Han is quite powerful in the man's change in manner, because Han earns the sudden burst of a kind of rage in the typically so affable man. As Han presents it with this painful sense of the desperation fitting to the man who now sees his life will be far shorter than he expected, and is quite moving in portraying that brief loss of the man's usual calm. Something that he returns to after this point, however Han is terrific by showing the man going back to close to be the affable shy man, but not being only that as the sense of that impending fate is within his eyes, even if it isn't overt.
Theoretically this is where the film is within the very specific melodrama of the romance being thwarted by a terminal disease, although the real trick to all of it is how well done it is, not the fact that it is as such. And in this sense the film works within it, which is of Han separating himself slowly, while still embracing what he can, including briefly more overtly taking part in the romance. Where the chemistry works is not in some intense way, but rather just the pleasant, normalcy of it on their date that you see the future of it in the moment, even as Jung-wong can never be part of the future. And Han's performance works in creating this simple affable embrace of the life he has left, though it is this way of basically preparing others for his death more often than not. Han delivers this convincing calm to the character that is very moving in the way Han always observes in any scene with really two ideas. One being this appreciation of the moments he does have, but subtly within his work is this powerful somberness of the brief time he will have with this experience. The climactic moment of this, being a direct reference to Ikiru, and quite a potent reference as such, as we see Han prepare to take his own photograph. Han's work is incredible in the scene because you see how much the man is going through as he makes the preparations the tragedy flowing through him, not in big weeps but actually in the quietly sad though confident manner he goes about, before the picture, being essentially one last simple smile to please others as the characters as Jung-won always had done.
35 comments:
Louis: Ratings and thoughts on the cast.
Didn't get to say it earlier sadly
R.I.P. Roger Corman, one of the most important filmmakers of all time
i have literally only seen 3 movies he directed or produced, but his influence alone makes him stand far up there
Does anyone have Louis’ most recent list on the best female leading and supporting performances ever?
Louis: Thoughts on these episodes?
Seinfeld - The Parking Garage; The Parking Spot
Frasier - RDWRER
Louis: Thoughts on the trailer for Megalopolis.
Luke:
Shim - 4.5(Brings a compelling energy that manages to create this sort of dynamic forwardness while still being coy at the same time. She manages to naturally hit first the notion of being not interested, while being interested, by being so blunt while also in this way quietly empathetic despite the bluntness. As the relationship progresses she balances that with this subtle sense of the emotional connection that she realizes rather well if so very much internalized again within the overall manner that is very stoic nearly. She balances it nicely to create a dynamic character that doesn't usually say what she means, yet you always understand her even in her reserve.)
Tony:
The Parking Garage I think artfully manages to get enough bits out of a realistic situation of just being stuck somewhere, with the uromistisis being an affliction to those who can't find a bathroom, and the whole thing a historical document to the time before cellphones, where going anywhere with family and friends required very exact planning to avoid such situations. And the accidental ending is absolutely brilliant and couldn't be more perfect.
The parking spot also works as weird bottle show, and the nature of the "rights" of a parking spot, which I'll admit I've occasionally gotten into myself at least once, and manages to find comedy in the debating of it, with a great bit carrying it all the way to the police officers doing the same. Great side bits of the "phony' comments by Mike.
RDWRER is a great episode of just the "boys" bouncing off of each other effectively throughout to get to their goal, with very much a classic comedic setup in this sort "what could go wrong" way, and again Niles/Frasier/Martin is just such a strong combination.
Jonathan:
Visually it looks like it is going to be quite something at the very least, and it is clear Coppola is going for broke with it. The question is will it add up to anything or just be "stuff", really hope it is a masterpiece that requires contemplation and not just a mess. But we'll see.
If you finished X-Men ‘97, what did you think of it as a whole?
I liked it quite a bit, and while I could nitpick some story beats here and there (maybe a Phoenix ex machina in the finale for example or the Goblin Queen being extremely rushed), I don't see any reason why to fixate on them as they never really got in the way of my overall enjoyment of the show for any extended point. I think it managed to capture the spirit of the original cartoon, yet amplified it and took it in directions that the original couldn't and wouldn't. Partly in being slightly more mature, and being able to actually have a bit of violence, however I appreciated that it never went overboard in that regard and made it PG-13ish rather than becoming Invincible, but this was also in terms of just going a little deeper in terms of character exploration. Also the animation was just better, particularly the action since the X-Men finally can land a punch directly and just was far more creative with depicting their powers...though Morph's powers maybe were a stretched a bit far...but I'll accept the cameos. Not flawless, but really quite good, and I'll say it really highlighted how much the X-Men movies have wasted so many opportunities by acting like Wolverine is the only X-Man character worth exploring.
Who do you think had the most compelling arc of the season?
Megalopolis, yep the reviews are pretty much what I think was expected, reviews ranging from a masterpiece to insanely boring to batshit insane to agonizing to sit through lol.
Robert:
Probably Cyclops for me, though I'll admit that was perhaps amplified by my near constant annoyance of having been turned into "Not-Wolverine third-wheel" in the movies.
Louis: I think Magneto and Rogue for me (though more individually than together). For my money the “Magneto was right” monologue is the series high point. I was a little annoyed that Xavier vindicated by the season’s end and is still a didactic, selfish moralizer (though the show at least wants us to be annoyed by him). I’m hoping next season the rest of the X-Men are willing ti challenge him a little more like Cyclops and Rogue did.
Also, what did you think of Theo James as Bastion? I didn’t realize that was him until I read the credits.
Robert:
Didn't exactly love the romantic subplot (other than Gambit's moments reacting to it), but yes their storylines were overall quite great.
I thought James was terrific, bringing a smooth snake energy that was very distinct compared to the villains of the original series, and ended up being both striking and dynamic in how much of an impact he made with the character in so little. Making Bastion stand out by the sheer confidence, but also this uniquely casual way he explored the character who is so assured of his intention he requires no bluster.
Louis: Your thoughts on Anton Lesser in Game of Thrones.
Louis, your rankings on Disney Live Action Re-makes, films and perfrmances?
Louis: Thoughts on Chris Potter's Cable?
Never thought he'd do a great job taking over Bayne.
RIP Dabney Coleman
R.I.P. Dabney Coleman.
RIP Dabney Coleman.
RIP Dabney Coleman.
Mitchell: You know, I think I'm beginning to sense a pattern in all the Death Battles involving Dragon Ball characters...
Seriously though, while I disagree with the outcome of Goku vs Superman, can't deny it is superbly animated, with the voice acting and writing being particularly in character for both. The other two battles are different stylistically, but I definitely found the concept of time-bending fun in the second fight and Lanipator's performance as Vegeta terrific in the last one.
Marcus:
Lesser has a great voice, a great look and just a great fit for any period pieces, Game of Thrones included. I will say however Qyburn is an example of wasted potential, like so many things in that show if you go from his scenes with Jamie early on where there is a complex cynicism within the character, to later where he becomes pretty much a one note henchman. Having said that Lesser is terrific even when just as the henchman in accentuating the sort of lizard slimy evil of the character and the moments of quiet glee he has in his moments of success, and know truly how to accentuate a line to get the absolute most out of it. BUT his best work is from season 3 where there is a more seasoned sort of fashioned wisdom even to his performance of a man who has come to understand his world perhaps too well in his way, and while blunt in his words, there is a sense of truth in Lesser's performance. I wish we had gotten that Qyburn still later on, but Lesser was always good no matter how thin his character became.
8000's:
I thought he was good, and while I questioned the decision initially I could understand it later, as Bayne's performance has this unquestionable confidence to it that would've been perhaps less fitting to the more vulnerable Cable here...though personally I would've given the Bayne the shot. Still having said that, Potter's performance brings that similar gruff demeanor in an appropriate approximation to Banye's performance, while bringing this greater desperation and emotional vulnerability on the edges of his vocal work to allude to the struggle in the character dealing with his familial connections.
J96:
1. Cinderella
2. Pete's Dragon
3. Cruella
4. The Jungle Book
5. Beauty and the Beast
6. Aladdin
7. Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book
8. Christopher Robin
9. Mulan
10. The Lion King
11. Alice in Wonderland
1. Luke Evans - Beauty and the Beast
2. Cate Blanchett - Cinderella
3. Emma Stone - Cruella
RIP Dabney Coleman
Louis: Do you have any interest in watching Baby Reindeer on Netflix? I've seen the first three episodes, and it's intriguing.
Louis: Your favorite autobiographical, or semi-autobiographical films? (i.e. Minari, The Fabelmans, etc.)
Tahmeed: I will say, if you look through all of DB's "Dragon Ball" match ups, their win/loss ratio isn't too bad; The guys running DB clearly like the series.
And for the three I mentioned above, I most strongly agree with Goku Black Vs Reverse Flash. This is on the grounds that there both removed from time, and would need to disable eachother's temporal invincibility. Thawne's way of doing that would be removing Black's ring. Black's way of doing that would be removing Thawne's connection to the speed force IE comprehending and manipulating the extra dimensional, all encompasing concept of kinetic energy itself. Even Fused Zamasu would struggle against Thawne, since Thawne has erased people's entire timelines just as Zeno defeated him in canon.
Louis: Your thoughts on the screenplay for The Big Lebowski.
Louis: Your thoughts on this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4QAziR95WE
Louis: Thoughts on the screenplays of Saving Private Ryan and Shakespeare In Love. And if you haven't already, what did you think of Spielberg's direction.
Jonathan: You can find his thoughts for SILs screenplay in Jeremy Renner’s review for Kill the Messenger.
Louis: Your thoughts on this scene https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Hh3bSzDQ1Po
Jonathan:
Saving Private Ryan's screenplay perhaps contains some of my biggest reservations with the film. The first being the framing device that is written so thinly, but also so questionably by trying to construct a twist out of this type of film that very much wants to be this respectful remembrance of WWII veterans, so making it a surprise is dishonest for that intention. But the whole concept is flawed as written because it wants to convey the visual message of the film, if we don't understand what vets with through what the film will show, then the film has failed. We do understand by what we see, so the script pounding it in, feels excessive. Worse is the whole "earn this" concept is ludicrous, and to break that down. The film's whole way of trying to treat this mission of a single message, which would likely be easier to sound from unit to unit, since it isn't as though it is a secret mission, but worse is that it tries to make the mission have this thematic core that is quite frankly dumb. Dumb because it treats the mission as though it is extra dangerous, where nothing implies that factly, particularly since the guys would still be going to one battle to another if they weren't on the mission, so this bizarre treating it as though they'd not be in danger if not in the mission just makes no sense. This is exacerbated because it so fixates on this, when it is completely nonsensical, since all the men would be in danger whether or not they were trying to save private Ryan. My criticisms of the script don't end there though, and despite Siskel and Ebert's claim otherwise, the film does very much create this colorful group of troops all with a singular definition, the coward intellectual, the gruff second, the stoic leader, the religious zealot, the cynic, and worst of all the Italian and the Jewish guy. The only one that doesn't fit in one of these is Wade is the empathetic and, where his backstory isn't just in support of that fueling his whole final scene from that is powerful, and kind of suggests just how thin everyone else is as written comparatively. In terms of basic plot progression, the film does its job of creating one challenging scenario after another, and in those sort of action set pieces, that works, though given it's Spielberg, that is basically a given. The dialogue and some of the details are fine, but on the whole, as you might've guessed, I don't care for this screenplay.
Spielberg's direction is what saves the film in terms of just the visceral intensity of the piece, where every action sequence Spielberg crafts with the precision of Raiders, but with the brutality and messiness of Schindler's List. There isn't a moment in terms of his work on the battlefield that doesn't feel tangible in terms of the level of grit, grime and intensity. How he puts together the opening especially is just one stunning choice after another in giving this level of scope, while having this groundlevel vicious intimacy. There is no moment within the action that Spielberg gives to chance, giving such attention to detail that does make every action scene striking, and really every result of the brutality such as a certain brutal death scene. Having said that, as much as this contains some of Spielberg's very best as a director, it also contains some of his worst, where Spielberg started I'd say more than ever to play into his particularly extreme and intense sentimentality. Returning back to the framing device, where the opening and ending, Spielberg chooses every shot, every musical choice as hard as possible as the most extreme "FEEL THE EMOTION" that unfortunately feels like forced pandering, just the way he frames with such extreme closeups, Harrison Young's teary eyed closeups are so accentuated that it becomes ridiculous and overwrought. Or the counting the dog tags scenes, where yes it makes sense for the soldiers to be disturbed the grisly gambling of the main group, but the way Spielberg frames every passing soldier with the same hangdog expression makes it just feel so over the top. These moments are theoretically the outliers, but they stick out as excesses every time they happen. That doesn't override the achievement of so much of his work here, but this sits a bit like Scorsese for Gangs...though I think Spielberg's misses here are perhaps less baffling, as it easy to see the intention of those sentimental scenes they're just excessive.
Bryan:
The Big Lebowski's screenplay is perhaps the truest example that plot doesn't matter, or at least it doesn't have to. Though it is easy to see why it's a film that many don't "get" the first time around, and often improves on re-watches, because you stop caring about the plot and care about everything else. Because the plot is that of basically an anti-noir, the plot does make sense, you can see how the pieces add up, however they don't add up in a satisfying way, much like how there is no bowling tournament to provide your typical expected climax. If that's what one cares about, and often that is what brings you into a film, and if that is how you come into Lebowski you will likely be disappointed. That's not a criticism though, because the Coens don't care about it and nor should you. Because the appeal of the film is every little character moments, random detail and just random scenes that they choose to explore, and as weird as it is they all strangely cohere despite being so disparate. As just for example, how does an old west speech have anything to do with a burn out bowling bum? Nothing, but because of the way the film juxtaposes the two, written so well as is Elliott's rambling narration, the two weird interactions with the stranger and the dude, it all makes sense even if it doesn't. And theoretically that is the point of the plot, to get the dude from place to place, but really even more so it is to get the moment where the dude is contemplating the situation, talking about Lenin, having Donnie mistake it for John Lennon, quote "I am the Walrus" and for Walter to tell Donnie to "Shut the fuck up". That's the brilliance of the film because it is all about the random moments of hilarious dialogue, or situation, whether it be the central character and related to it like Walter's outbursts, Donnie's meekness or dude's sometimes indifference, or randomness of the plot such as the landlord who wants feedback from the dude, de Jesus, the Nihilists, or even Philip Seymour Hoffman ``translating" the big Lebowski's rage. It all adds up because it all doesn't and what that means is it doesn't have to, because it is the experience of one hilarious and strangely fascinating moment after another, and the true greatness of the screenplay is that it exists wholly on the inbetween bits, the center is there, but the center doesn't matter, it's all glue and such delicious glue it is.
Tahmeed:
Sounds like something I should check out at some point.
Marcus:
The Fabelmans
All That Jazz
Mirror
Minari
Persepolis
I'd say are my favorites of those that I've seen.
8000's:
Wasn't aware he was a standup, has some decent bits in there.
Anonymous:
A great Scorsese montage scene that perhaps speaks to the entirety of the message of the piece most overtly, even though Scorsese never does spell it out for you. In that you do have justice in the fact that the firm is taken down, however the justice for the white collar criminal is banished to tennis playing in jail, getting to reinvent one's self as a motivational speaker, admired as ever by his employees in the tracking shot and the men at the end, as there is no code of honor, he's not even a "snook" like Henry might believe, he's just a different kind of crook now, a legally sanctioned one. And all that is in contrast to the subway ride where Denham is still unglamoriously riding the subway where none of that will ever change for him despite doing the right thing.
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