Save The Green Planet! (Jigureul Jikyeora!)
(2003, Korea, 116 min)
Written and Directed by: Jang Jun-Hwan
Starring: Ha-kyun Shin, Yun-shik Baek, Jeong-min Hwang, Jae-yong Lee, Ju-hyeon Lee, and Ju-bong Gi
www.savethegreenplanetmovie.com
Trailer: All Resolutions

If you haven't heard of Save the Green Planet before, well, not many people have. Released in Korea in 2003, it was a critical and financial failure. Much of the blame can be laid on the fact that it was marketed as a comedy when it really cannot be categorized as one particular genre. Director Jang Jun Hwan boldly and effectively combined several genres (most notably science fiction, suspense, comedy and romance) in such a way I have yet to see done so effectively. Perhaps the Korean audiences were not ready for the great leap Jang took with making this film but hopefully American audiences will be able to appreciate his fresh innovative vision.

The film starts off simple enough with Byeong Gu (Shin Ha Gyun), a lonesome bee wrangler and his circus performer girlfriend Suni, played with cherubic sweetness by Hwang Jung-Min, plotting to kidnap Kang Man Shik (Baek Yun Shik), the head of Yuje Chemicals. Byeong Ju believes that the powerful businessman, who also just happens to be his former employer, is an alien from the planet Andromeda and is a part of a galactic plan to destroy Earth. In order to save his beloved planet from destruction, Byeong Ju must make sure that Mr. Kang does not make contact with Andromeda's Crown Prince before an impending lunar eclipse.

Paying homage to such films such as Misery, The Matrix, Silence of the Lambs, Jang Jun Hwan takes us on a thrilling ride where the audience is left to wonder whether or not Kang Man Shik really is a denizen of Andromeda or the victim of a paranoid madman's crazy theories. Halfway through the film, however, trying to guess if Kang Man Shik is indeed an evil Andromedan becomes secondary as the story of Byeong Gu unfolds.

Contrary to how it initially comes across however, Save The Green Planet is not a science fiction film about aliens out to attack Earth. Nor is the film simply a thriller that has the audience on the edge of their seats wondering if Kang Man Shik will ever be rescued. The true essence of the film is captured in the story of a man who cannot live in the present nor accept a happy future because of his inability to come to grips with a painful past.

But mixing several genres to tell this story was not a mere attempt made by the director to experiment creatively or artistically. Instead, Jang uses this device to reveal the different facets of the main character, Byeong Gu, played sympathetically and at times, hilariously, by Shin Ha Gyun (Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance). The seemingly absurdity of Byeong Ju's beliefs that could expectedly only exist in a science fiction world reflects his tenacity and passion as an individual. The bittersweet love story reveals Byeong Ju's tender side and shows us that he doesn't possess a cruel heart. His ability to outwit cunning detectives ala a cop-drama indicates that despite his simple nature, he is not a fool.

This fresh approach to storytelling effectively allows the audience to gain a deeper understanding of this man as well as empathize with the demons from his past and come away feeling as though they have just seen the depths of Byeong Gu's soul.

Kudos must be given to the near perfect casting. Shin Ha Gyun provides the right mix of maniacal fanaticism and wounded soul to Byeong Gu. Baek Yun Shik (of KBS and MBC mini-series fame) plays Kang Man Shik with the cocky dignity that only he can pull off even when his character is accused of being an alien from outer space. Another shout out has to made for Lee Jae Yong, who plays Detective Chu, the wrongfully shamed yet brilliant detective who helps a young up-and-coming officer try to find the kidnapped businessman. He hams it up as the "always-one-step-ahead" lone wolf detective and steals every scene he appears in.

For all those that expect the sci-fi aspects of the film to impress, it must be known that Jang Jun Hwan was only granted four million dollars to make the film. Considering the low budget, he does a fine job of making every cent count so if certain visuals seem "cheesy", try to keep in mind he didn't have access to unlimited resources to create such scenes as modern day Hollywood budget films. Even so, the low budget special effects add a campiness to the movie that is reminiscent of Monty Python.

If truth be known, I hated this film the first time I saw it on DVD format. It was choppy and seemed overly ambitious in its attempt to combine several different genres into one film. It starts off as a comedy, leads into science fiction, suspense, romance and rolls into drama. I couldn't make sense of the film but was curious to see how Jang Jun-Hwan would follow up with it. Luckily, the allure of a free screening lead me to view Save the Green Planet a second time and never before have I felt so off the mark when it came to my assessment of a film. After a second viewing, I realized I was watching this gem of a movie all wrong the first time.

Compare it to Pulp Fiction when expecting what kind of movie to see-don't expect anything you have ever seen before.

—underthebambootree@yahoo.com