Obaltan / Aimless Bullet

Obaltan / Aimless Bullet (1961, South Korea, directed by Yu Hyun-mok)

Over the last 2 decades, contemporary Korean films have become much more well known in North America and easily available in various formats be it theatrical releases, DVD/Blu-Ray or streaming.  The success of Bong Joon-ho, Park Chan-wook, Hong Sang-soo, Lee Chang-dong has ensured that their new films and works by other contemporary Korean directors have a good chance at getting North American distribution. On the other hand, Korean cinema from the 1950-60s isn’t as well-known or seen compared to other global cinema or even newer Korean films. Kim Ki-young’s 1960 classic film The Housemaid is the best known film from this period and that managed to find an audience after a 2008 restoration by the Korean Film Archive in association with The Film Foundation’s World Cinema Project and HFR-Digital Film laboratory. However, there are quite a few worthy Korean films from that 1960s period including Obaltan (Aimless Bullet), a film that is found on many all time best Korean films list and even topping some of those lists.

Aimless Bullet (also known as Stray Bullet) was not a commercial success upon its release in 1961 and was banned by the government due to its bleak depiction of events in South Korea. The post-war years in South Korea were tough on many fronts, especially economic growth, as the country tried to rebuild after the devastating Korean war. Yu Hyun-mok’s film brilliantly captures those hardships and struggles in a manner reminiscent of Italian neorealism. That is not a coincidence as director Yu Hyun-mok cited Vittorio De Sica’s Bicycle Thieves as an influence.

The film is shown from the perspective of Cheol-ho (Kim Jin-kyu) and his family, who are displaced North Koreans living in a Seoul Slum. Cheol-ho is an accounting clerk who can barely make ends meet, a point illustrated by his inability to pay for this persistent toothache. He has to provide for his mother, pregnant wife, daughter and younger siblings. Cheol-ho’s younger brother, Yong-ho (Choi Mu-ryong) is disabled by the war and has trouble finding a job despite being a decorated war veteran. Cheol-ho’s mother suffers from trauma and constantly shouts “Let’s go”, words which take on an ironic and painful meaning as the family has nowhere to go. The desperation of the family members to improve their lives leads them into a darker territory where they have to make some vital moral and ethical decisions.

Yu Hyun-mok expertly incorporates neorealism and genre elements, especially some film noir and crime elements (gangsters and a bank heist as an example). The film also tackles vital socioeconomic elements of Korean society in the Korean war’s aftermath which led to poverty, crime and general disillusionment. There is also a nod towards political elements such as the influence of US in the post-war rebuilding efforts. Some of the depiction of post-war society recalls early Akira Kurosawa, especially Drunken Angel (1948). Aimless Bullet also has some smart technical flourishes which provides a new entry point to assess Korean Cinema of the 1960s. However, it was not a film that I was aware of until it became available online a few years ago on the Korean Classic Film YouTube channel. This was a genuine discovery for me and I hope it can be the same for others.

Saeed Roustayi's Law of Tehran

Law of Tehran / Just 6.5 (2019, Iran, Saeed Roustayi)

In this high-octane thriller, detective Samad (Payman Maadi, A Separation) goes on a relentless hunt to track down drug kingpin Nasser (Navid Mohammadzadeh). Samad hopes that the arrest of Nasser will help control the escalating problem of drug addiction that is wrecking havoc in the city. However, Samad's quest for Nasser leads him down a path rife with corruption and shifting morality, one where Samad can’t trust anyone.

Anchored by award-winning performances from Payman Maadi and Navid Mohammadzade, Law of Tehran is unlike any Iranian film that has come out in recent years. The film seamlessly combines elements of Iranian cinema with genre elements of crime films. The end result is a pulsating film that deftly incorporates social commentary while pushing a police thriller/crime genre to new heights. Law of Tehran boasts some of the most creative police procedural scenes shown in a film while depicting the social problems of addiction, homelessness, crowded jail cells with unflinching reality.

The film was a smashing box-office success in Iran and winner of several Film Festival awards but its global travel was partially halted by cinematic shutdown in early 2020. Back then, the film went by the title of Just 6.5 but has now been released with the new title of Law of Tehran.

Two recent films by Michel Franco

New Order (2020, Mexico/France)
Sundown (2021, France/Mexico/Sweden)

Two recent films by Michel Franco take common associations of Mexican crime and beaches and turn them into multi-layered cinematic case studies.

In New Order, there are no beaches but crime is present. The film came out 2 years before the eat-the-rich films Triangle of Sadness (2022) and The Meal (2022). However, unlike those films, New Order takes the poor vs rich depiction and extends that into an actual revolution which morphs into a fascist society. No time period is highlighted in the film yet it feels like a time in the not so distant future. Given the way things have been unraveling in the world over last few years, the film may be considered a documentary one day. The brutal killings, torture and abuse shown in New Order are those that have taken place in countless countries around the world over the last few decades especially in several Latin American nations. Perhaps, there are already some parts of the world where things exist exactly like that shown in the film.

A beach is present in Sundown but so is crime. Although, the crime takes place a lot later in the film. At first, the motives of the main character Neil Bennett (Tim Roth) appear vague and hard to understand until a few memories and snippets of dialogue indicate that his family fortune has been made in the meat processing industry: the killing of animals for profit was part of the Bennett family business handed down to Neil. He never questioned the business and became part of the empire, made money and lived a luxurious life. Yet, somewhere within his psyche he likely felt a sense of guilt and horror when watching animals get killed. Those buried feelings surface in the warm weather of Acapulco when Neil has easy access to beaches, cold beer and women. So instead of leaving Mexico with his family to visit his dying mother in UK, Neil finds an excuse to stay behind, do nothing but watch the sunset on the beach. The film is a mix of dry humour and satire yet the most visible signpost of this style is the character of Alice Bennett (Charlotte Gainsbourg), Neil’s sister, who is aghast at her brother’s lack of empathy and concern. Her behaviour is clearly a sign for how one should interpret the film. As Neil continues to spend time on the Mexican beach, drinking a bucket of beer on a daily basis, his sister continues to manage the family business back in UK after the passing of their mother. Slowly it becomes clear to others around him that Neil has money and that sets in motion a series of criminal events.

Both New Order and Sundown depict class divide in Mexican society but with varying degrees of violence and tone. New Order shows a much starker version which dials up the crime while Sundown lets things quietly idle away saving the violence for the final third.