SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 5
New York City’s Museum of the Moving Image
Come, Together (컴, 투게더)
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 4:00 P.M.
Dir. Shin Dong-il. 2016, 122 min. With Im Hyeon-gook, Lee Hye-eun, Chae Bin. In Korean with English subtitles. An “assuredly executed drama with fiery performances” (Maggie Lee, Variety), Shin Dong-il’s engaging film illustrates the toll Korea’s hyper-competitive society can take on an ordinary family. When middle manager Beom-gu (Im Hyeon-gook) is fired from his job after eighteen years, his violent rage throws his family into turmoil. His wife Mi-young (Lee Hye-eun), now the sole breadwinner, starts cutting ethical corners in her job selling credit cards. Meanwhile, their daughter Ha-na (Chae Bin) frets over her college entrance exam. Shin’s psychologically astute film is a well-crafted combination of social critique and tense drama that movingly makes the case for following one’s passions rather than succumbing to societal pressures.
Okja (옥자)
Followed by live video call with Bong Joon-ho
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 7:00 P.M.
Dir. Bong Joon-ho. 2017, 120 mins. With Tilda Swinton, Ahn Seo-hyun, Paul Dano, Jake Gyllenhaal. In English and Korean with English subtitles. Hailed visionary Bong Joon-ho (Snowpiercer, The Host) returns with a typically twisted, vegetarian-friendly blockbuster about the friendship between a young girl named Mija (Seo-Hyun Ahn, Monster) and her “super-pig” Okja. In the guise of a family movie, this madcap anti-corporate satire follows the duo’s fight against a villainous corporation—led by the always superb Tilda Swinton, who plays both a hypocrite CEO and her scheming twin sister. En route to freedom, Mija and Okja encounter a plethora of quirky characters, including a cadre of eco-terrorists led by a courteous troublemaker (Paul Dano) and a “Sir Attenborough” from hell (Jake Gyllenhaal).