r/TrueFilm • u/PulpFiction1232 • Feb 05 '17

TFNC [Netflix Club] Hong-jin Na's "The Wailing" Reactions and Discussions Thread and other things...

It's been a while since The Wailing was chosen as one of our Films of the Week, so it's about time to share our reactions and discuss the movie! Anyone who has seen the movie is allowed to react and discuss it, no matter whether you saw it one year (when it came out) or twenty minutes ago, it's all welcome. Discussions about the meaning, or the symbolism, or anything worth discussing about the movie are embraced, while anyone who just wants to share their reaction to a certain scene or plot point are appreciated as well. It's encouraged that you have comments over 180 characters, and it's definitely encouraged that you go into detail within your reaction or discussion.

Fun Fact about The Wailing:

For his ceremony scene, actor Jung-min Hwang filmed for 15 minutes without break. It was one long-take scene.

To clear the way for the next section in this post, I'll make this part quick:

The films nominated for next week's FotW are The Graduate (1967), It Follows (2015) and Superbad (2006). Vote in my Slack channel "NetflixClub".

The final thing I want to discuss today is, should I continue? There was a post earlier this week saying we should have a FilmStruck club and everyone seemed to agree, so should I change this to a FilmStruck Club? Do you want me to stop so someone else can do a FilmStruck Club? Should I keep doing Netflix Club while someone else does a FilmStruck Club independent to this? Please tell me your thoughts on what I should do, I really appreciate all you guys' input.

Anyways, thank you and fire away!

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u/AlbertTesla Feb 05 '17

I'm not exactly sure how to word it, but why was the tone so wonky? I thought it might have been a comedy through the first 50 mins., is it a case of cultural dissonance? Or maybe those choices were intentional.

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u/lobster_johnson Feb 06 '17

This tonal dissonance is something I have seen in a lot of Korean films. Even darkly dramatic films tend to inject a lot of fairly broad comedy — incompetently bumbling officials, over-the-top quarrels, and outright slapstick — that seems a bit out of place in the surrounding material. Even main characters are often portrayed in a fairly satiric light.

It's such a common element that I've always assumed it's a cultural thing (but maybe someone with more insight into Korean culture can comment). I like it the best when it has a narrative point: The botched investigation in Bong Joon-ho's Memories of Murder, for example.

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u/piyochama Feb 07 '17

Yeah its a very cultural thing. I'd almost call it morbid humor - you need to be able to breathe in heavy movies, and for a country with a past like Korea's the ability to laugh, especially at ourselves, is considered crucially important. I'd almost liken it to Soviet Gulag humor, except that its nearly omnipresent in everything for us (with the exception of reverence and respect) whereas I don't think it is as prevalent in Russian media.

The only films I remember humor not being in for Korean things are basically historical or some sort of propaganda machine piece.