BSA 104 (Scriptwriting) Week 7 : Okja Review

Okja (2017) is the latest film by Korean director Bong Joon-Ho. It follows a young girl who raises a genetically altered pig, when the pig is taken back to where it was made she goes after it in hopes of bringing it home. The film starts Tilda Swinton, Paul Dano, Jake Gyllenhaal and a large collection of other famous actors.

Okja is a movie that really played around with my emotions and left me feeling confused. It changes tone regularly and it's presentation is inconsistent throughout. One moment you're watching a wacky comedy, the next an action/adventure film and then it's a very dark representation of animal abuse that leaves you feeling dirty. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, the director has done something similar with his older work, where he combines serious and comedic tones. His 2006 effort The Host showed this most clearly. I think its a staple of his, but I think Okja had the most apparent contrast between scenes. There is something to be said about the fact that Bong Joon-Ho can juggle so many emotions, and execute each of them effectively, but it is an experience that can leave many viewers confused. The best thing I can say is that when I needed to feel sad, I felt sad, when I needed to laugh I laughed and when I needed to feel happy for the characters, I did. It shows that this is a competent director who can execute a scene very well, and that the change in tone is intended and controlled. I feel it worked better in some of his other ventures, I also feel that it isn't always necessary. His last movie Snowpiercer (2013) kept a very consistent tone and escalated realistically and I do feel like that movie is better than Okja.

The lead character is a child and this means that her motivations are very pure. We sympathize with her situation and root for her as she takes steps to fixing her situation. It does however feel at times like the people around her are controlling her, as a child she has little power and others take advantage. It's an interesting film because it is an ensemble piece with a lot of different characters and themes to explore, in hindsight some of the other story strands were more interesting than the girls journey. It feels like there are large segments of the film where the girl is absent, making it dubious as to whether she even is the main character. Luckily during those periods we have a lot of other interesting characters to explore.

One of the best things about Okja is that there are so many interesting characters, there's never a chance to be bored. This large amount of characters and big actors attached can leave some without much impact or not enough screen time. Giancarlo Esposito gets lost among all the different story strands and his presence is dubious.

Something interesting to note about Okja is the performances, with a cast that's mainly American it's kind of alienating to see everyone act so, well, Korean. They take on mannerisms and speech patterns that come across as normal in Asian films, but once translated to English it feels weird and out of place. All the actors are almost too expressive and lively, except ironically enough for the Asian actors, whose performances are more reserved and subtle. It's very cool to see American actors act Asian, even just for the novelty of it, but it does pose the question: "why isn't Okja an entirely Korean film?". There would be no difference if it was set in Korea, other than the replacement of actors and location names. The culture represented in the film isn't American culture, it's Korean culture. The in-universe TV Shows and pop-culture is what you would see in Korea, not in America. It's interesting but alienating.

Tilda Swinton and Jake Gyllenhaal on set of Okja, 

their wacky costumes are reflected in their performances 

The most engaging moments in the film to me were the ones where the film took a darker turn. When the titular animal is captured and abused, these scenes are dark but extremely effective. I think they are engaging because of the shift in tone and the viewer knowing that something bad is about to happen - it's sad to see these lovable characters go through such traumatic events. I don't know why scenes like these are so engaging, but I thin it's because they up the stakes by so much. Some of the most scarring scenes in cinematic history are also some of the most engaging.

I started losing interest towards the end, this is because I could see where the movie was going. Once something becomes predictable I stop paying attention, luckily the story takes a turn I did not expect and although the ending is the same as I would have guessed, the context changes.

I think Okja is a very interesting film that people should see just because its so different. I feel like its one of those films where I will find myself changing the way I see it upon repeat viewings.