Green Fish

Third Window films

1997

Gangster drama

Korean with white on black English subtitles

R2

16:9 Widescreen

Reviewer: Bob Estreich

Some issues back we looked at a Korean gangster film, A Dirty Carnival. This dealt with the place and problems of ordinary street “soldiers” in the thriving Korean crime gangs. It dealt with themes of loyalty and betrayal. Green Fish starts the process a little earlier, but covers the same descent into violence and despair. It is directed by Lee Chang-Dong and produced by Myung Kay-nam and Yeo Gyun-Dong.

Mak-Dong has just been discharged from the army after many years away from home. On his return, he finds that his little hometown village is now on the outskirts of Ilsan, a huge city complex. The happy family that he dreamed of coming home to has its problems. One brother is retarded, another is a detective with a serious alcohol problem. His sister appears to have become a prostitute. His mother is working as a maid in the city. Jobs are not easy to come by in the new city. With no contacts and feeling alienated, Mak-Dong’s idea of starting a small family restaurant seems to be a forlorn hope

Through a contact with a girl he briefly met on the train home he gets a job of sorts as a parking attendant, organized for him by a local crime lord Bae Tae-Gon. The girl, Mi-Ae, is Tae-Gon’s mistress, but that does not stop the two becoming interested in each other. As a result of a brawl in which he acquits himself fairly well, Mak-Dong is promoted to the ranks of Tae-Gon’s soldiers, and this is where his descent into violence begins. He consolidates his position when he sets up a local councilor who is resisting one of Tae-Gon’s property redevelopments. Although Mak-Dong is not particularly brave or vicious, he seems to fit into the discipline and loyalty required of a street thug. Apart, of course, from his involvement with Mi-Ae, which will get him into serious trouble if he is found out. Although Tae-Gon treats her with contempt, he will not tolerate disloyalty from a subordinate.

Bae Tae-Gon has built his criminal empire while his own boss was in jail. Now his ex-boss is out of prison, and Tae-Gon is reluctant to give up all that he has built up. He has never had to stand up to his ex-boss before, and at their first meeting his ex-boss taunts him about this. There is going to be a gang war over the territory and Mak-Dong is going to be deeply involved in it. He knifes one of the opposition gang, and this could be the turning point. Can his boss stand up to his ex-boss? Will his involvement with Mi-Ae be found out? Can he even help his dysfunctional family? Mak-Dong is now in so deep that there will not be a happy ending.

Green Fish was Lee’s first film. The production is a little rough, with long scenes filmed with a hand-held camera. This seems to have become his trademark style, and although it seems a little unprofessional it allows long action sequences to flow without the interruption of camera changes. It adds to the gritty impact of the film and builds up the tension. The film won the Dragons and Tigers Award at the Vancouver Film Festival.

It is a rather morose film, with few moments of happiness to lift the gloom. Partly this is a result of Mak-Dong’s alienation, partly it results from the realization that the city and all its associated vice and crime has sprouted in such a short time in what was once a quiet rural community. There are a number of camera shots in which the high rise buildings of the city loom in the background, stark, impersonal, and out of place. If this is the future of Korea, there will be many more Mak-Dongs.

This review will appear in Volume 2 No.2 (2009) of the digital and print edition of Synergy Magazine.

If you came to this page directly (and missed our menu), click here to go to the Synergy Magazine front page. (http://www.synergy-magazine.com)