Countdown

It has been a pretty weak year for new films really, and with regards to Korean Cinema this has been especially evident.  Whilst looking through my reviews for my top 10 I was seriously concerned that no Korean film would make it.  Luckily, this little gem came up just before the end of the year, and it epitomises everything that I love about Korean Cinema – even though it did poorly at the box office.

“Countdown” explores the story of a rather efficient, not to say violent debt collector, Tae Geon-ho (Jeong Jae-yeong).  Geon-ho pursues his targets relentlessly, and he seems utterly focussed and frankly friendless.  It becomes clear that the loss of his son a few years ago has impacted him greatly, and even more so as some form of Amnesia means he cannot even remember the details of his Son’s death.  Suddenly he starts experiencing blackouts, and is diagnosed with Liver Cancer.  Given a tight deadline to find a suitable donor, he starts hunting down those recipients of organ donations from his deceased Son, as they are the only people he can be guaranteed to be a match too.  The hunt does not go well, until he finds the final donor, Cha Ha-yeon (Jeon Do-yeon).  Ha-yeon comes with baggage though – she is a con-woman who is about to be released from prison.  She cuts him a deal – she will donate to him a portion of her liver, if he helps her track down the criminal boss who betrayed her and put her behind bars.  The thing is – she is a con-woman, who attempts to betray Geon-ho at every turn.  However, her attempts at getting her revenge drag not only Geon-ho into more trouble, but also her estranged 17 year old daughter.  Can Geon-ho help save them both, with the reward of saving his own life?  And at the same time maybe find the answers about his own missing memories, and finally grieve?

For over an hour, this is a superior Korean caper film.  Jeong Jae-yeong brings us a fascinating character, who in other films could have been the bad guy.  He is sullen and determined, and frankly rather unlikeable.  His interactions with other people are wholly selfish, until you meet his parents, when suddenly you get a clue as to his past.  You do begin to warm to him when you meet the calculating Ha-yeon, who is a totally selfish con-artist, who will use anything and anyone to get her money and revenge.  There are a couple of excellent set pieces, it is blackly comic, and frankly if the film continued in this vein it would be very good indeed.

Then it does one of those Korean tone and genre changes.

The point the change happens is when we meet Ha-yeon’s daughter – a sullen little teenager who is used as a target against her mother.  But we see that maybe her Mother is not quite as selfish as previously suggested, that she knows she has been a bad, absent parent, and is in some ways trying to make up for it.  However, this is paralleled with the telling of Geon-ho’s past – he was raising alone a Son with Downs Syndrome – and it had a huge effect on him – frankly he was not up to the job.  As the film rumbles along, we see the final fate of the boy, and his death, due in no small part to Geon-ho’s inabilities.  It is quite heartfelt and quite realistic stuff.

Suddenly the story isn’t about the money, or even about the liver transplant.  It is about a man atoning for his perceived sins, and that the cost for that can only end up being utterly tragic.  Trying not to spoil things – but only one of our main characters makes it to the final credits, yet the effect they have on the other character is transformative.

Special mention has to go to Jeon Do-yeon – she really is one of Korea’s finest actresses – and she totally sells a character that first seems no more than a selfish con woman.  Not only that, but she still looks utterly gorgeous, and you can see just how she manages to manipulate the men around her (and tellingly, the only other real female of the piece, her daughter) is utterly immune to her charms.

I thought this film was utterly fantastic, but, I can see how a Western Audience would really struggle with that tonal shift – it is much more jarring than a Romantic Comedy that turns into a Fatal Beauty – but for me I found all aspects of the story totally compelling.  It looks as fantastic as any Korean movie does, and has two great central performances from frankly two of asia’s finest talents.  But that journey from blackly comic crime caper to a story of personal loss and self doubt is one you have to be prepared for.

Highly Recommended