No Other Choice

"i'll contact you when i go missing" ok im sorry but NO MATTER THE SITUATION i am BURSTING OUT LAUGHING AT THAT i am STILL ROLLING ON THE FLOOR 30 MINUTES AFTER IT HAPPENED i genuinely love movies that are 'comedies' but are really just powerful dramas with deep messages hidden under a blanket of comedy. That type of movie is insanely hard to do well, and really only two movies I've seen have done it for me. Jojo Rabbit and this, Both now sit in my top 4, which tells something about the quality these are made at. but now actually why i love this movie: It starts off pretty simple actually, but as Man-su gets further in his plan, more things keep piling and piling on to his daily life, a lot like a ruthless job would. Another thing is that there are a lot of ways you could metaphor his experiences to a job. And since he's looking for a job, its the best executed form of situational irony I have seen in a long time. Now we talk about the cinematography and editing... Those mirror and cross dissolve transitions... they are GORGEOUS. The blending of greens, oranges, greys, at all the houses, are perfect touches to the otherwise bland life of Man-su, showing that he is out of his comfort zone and really getting OUT there for the first time. Then, the execution of all of it. I have never seen a Park Chan-wook film before this, but if his style and pacing is THIS good, i need to check him out. The way he set up the 2 main victims with the j*b application scene, the way he blended perspectives together to form a fragmented but understood story about him losing his job, everything. The story really works if you break off three pieces, still part of the main story but can work on their own. That is the buildup and climax of each victim. He figures them out, talks to them, gets them in a scenario and BOOM. it just is fast while being slow and it just works so well and i dont even know what to say. that ending, with the 'shhhh' and then not another single word spoken, just pure sound from the cello and the raw emotion from Man-su and Mi-ri (his wife), PERFECTION