Moebius

So you love your kid, but you will hurt him so cruelly just to get back at your cheating husband? As I always try to do: no spoilers on this review, because you got to see it for yourself, but fairly warned, this Korean movie is not for the squeamish! I felt compelled to stop watching, I felt my face with a cringing gesture, because I don't know if the writer is in the borderline of insanity and perversion. Is not an easy watch, and to make it more difficult for the viewer the lack of music and dialog, yes there is not a single spoken word from the protagonists, and there's nudity and rape scene so you are warned again. When I was a eight years old, the grownups talked about a shocking movie, that none of us the kids were allowed to see or discuss, as I grew up I watched the movie and read the novel "Los Cachorros" by Mario Vargas Llosa, wow! I never forgot the story and undoubtedly the film in question takes on a different "remake" from the Mexican film and the Peruvian novel, with some added twists and shocks! watching the first part of "Moebius" gave me a shiver, and made me remember "Fatal Attraction", I could mention Lorena Bobbitt but if you don't know who she is don't Google her, not before watching this movie! And remember do not mess up with an angry woman! I hope you get curious because I am writing nothing else, if you are brave enough, watch it if not yourself with a grownup, in no way whatsoever this can be a movie for young audience, anyway, whatever your judgment is, you may fell compelled on watching some innocent cartons to recover from "Moebius"

On a close look at this film, director Kim Ki Duk cannot be blamed for making a controversial fiction film about the taboo subject of 'Incest'. It is not the depiction of the social evil but the manner in which this topic is handled is strange. In the recent history of South Korean cinema, Moebius might be one of the few films where a South Korean family especially the parents are shown in an extremely bad light. The biggest problem about this film is that it does not have any dialogs. The actors are shown to perform their roles without uttering much. This has given rise to a lot of confusion as viewers might have hard time understanding the real motive of different characters. At a time when most joint families are collapsing due to irresponsible attitude of individual members, Moebius is surreal depiction of the total collapse of a family due to the neglect of the family by the male member. Kim Ki Duk's controversial film "Moebius" got a second lease of life when a ban on its showing in South Korea was lifted. There is hardly anything strange in this development as most of his films have failed to achieve popularity with domestic audiences in South Korea.Moebius is a good link to the chain of controversial films started by directors Bernardo Bertolucci and Louis Malle.

Enough 1-word descriptors? If not, read below if you're still on the fence about watching this film.

In a by-gone era of silent films, Ki-duk continues to impress by eking out just the right amount of raw emotion from his actors to keep the viewer immersed in the story. He is notorious for this as he continues to make the kind of films he 'wants' and not just fulfill the wishes of the production companies.

This is far from a masterpiece, yet it is still worth watching. Be prepared for something way different than you're used to. In fact, if you're watching a Ki-Duk movie, then I think you're likely ready for the ride you're about to go on... ;)

Have you ever watched a film that brings your endurance to explicit (even sick!) blood and sex violence to its very limit while at the same time makes you laugh and depicts with smart (yet explicit!) cleverness one of the basic essentials of Buddhism?... No, I'm not trying to bring opposite worlds together, but Kim Ki-Duk did, in his film Moebius.

A truly masterpiece of cinema in its pure essence, compelling and with an stunning economy of resources: few settings, few actors, even the two female roles are played by the same actress (Eun-woo Lee) in an outstanding performance. Moebius tells a story with deep metaphysical symbolism using just images (there is no dialogs) and focusing exclusively and with dazzling clarity on the points important for the story and its meaning, namely the search for physical pleasure concomitant to the nature of every human being, and the main protagonist of this: a part of the male anatomy known as "penis".

Only after the last scene, when the young protagonist bows before Buddha, one can understand the whole meaning of the film, every piece fits then perfectly in the puzzle (emotional puzzle, we are not talking about crime and mystery here). Then we understand that pleasure (the main, maybe the only important one: sexual pleasure) comes always at a price in this world; pleasure involves pain one way or another. Not once in the film pleasure brings any kind of satisfaction or happiness, instead it causes distress, sorrow, guilt, pain, immediate or in the long term; many of the scenes in the film show the attainment of pleasure directly through pain, and with more pain as a consequence.

CAVEAT - SPOILER IN THIS LAST PARAGRAPH

But then, in the end, the young protagonist frees himself from this tie, through the most direct way: castration (well, there are actually several of these throughout the film, so WARNING for sensitive viewers!), and later, bowing before Buddha, he does something he had not done even once during the film: he SMILES, as Buddha did. He is released now from human passions, no longer slave of his desires, no longer subject to the inescapable search for pleasure of the physical body. He is now FREE

Most directors become less experimental or transgressive once they've made a name for themselves. Kim Ki-duk is one of the most notable exceptions. Being Korea's most notorious film maker isn't an easy accomplishment in the first place, given that no other country produces so many veritable authors of cinema. But being able to increase the radicality of one's cinematic language while maintaining the same themes is quite a feat indeed.

Kim's Golden Lion-winning previous work 'Pieta' was already almost silent; with 'Moebius' he has not only succeeded in making an entertaining silent film which isn't a reminiscence of a bygone era, but actually managed to push the limits of film as a medium a bit further ahead. The closest film which could compare is 'Themroc', not just because there's no dialog apart from lascivious or painful grunts, but because it almost seems to be a parody of that film's social critique: 'Moebius' quite on the contrary admits to its own silliness.

Many reviewers seem to take the symbols too seriously. The Buddha heads, knifes used for castration and masturbation and of course the body part which is the main plot device (as well as what the title may ironically refer to) - they may all mean something, but they certainly don't have to. There may be tons of allusions to Greek mythology, but it's entirely possible that this is just what you want - or do not want - to read into the film. If these metaphors were any clearer - then this would make 'Moebius' a lot less brilliant. I prefer to think that, as in many of Kim's previous films, it's the effect which is the meaning, and there's not much of a meaning hidden underneath the effect.

Which is why I think of 'Moebius' as one of this year's very few 'must-sees' - unless one suffers from castration anxiety.