MovieChat Forums > Bimong (2008) Discussion > Am I the only one who watched this film ...

Am I the only one who watched this film all around the world?

posted 16 years ago by missstackhouse
9 replies | jump to latest

Since this was my first experience with Kim Ki-Duk, I do not want to be so cruel, but does a film really supposed to be this depressing?

In the beginning, as it’s a movie about dreams and how they bring two complete strangers together, you get excited, you begin to wonder about the characters, what they do in life, how they are connected through their dreams. But as time passes, no detail is given about these young people. You suppose that the girl is a designer but no clue about the boy other than he scratches some phrases or words on brick-like little stones and paint them and print them onto paper, that’s what he does through the whole movie.

It feels like the two are the only ones left in the world (other than the freaking policemen who were really annoying, their loud voices, impatience). I’m not very much into Korean lifestyle and culture; is it always this empty that it feels like an abadoned city?I mean the streets, the temples..Also do people in Korea leave their houses’ doors open and go to bathroom so comfortably so that a stranger can come into the house and take anything he wants?

I won’t be saying anything about the end, cause I was trying not to scream in the theater! Also if you’re afraid of lunatic people (esp.girls who giggle around and help you hang yourself!) KEEP YOUR EYES CLOSED FOR THE LAST 15 MINUTES!

There are so many question marks in my mind about this movie; but the biggest one is why did I choose to see this movie amongst other beautiful and meaningful ones?

[–] volkan-turan 15 years ago

All I can say that you're not the only one who saw this movie :))

About the movie, for me, not great & not bad but not Kim ki-duk style too. More dialogues, less creative visionary mind, not perfect characters, not perfect scripts and not perfect light-shadow games... Good ending. Only the soundtracks are perfect but I can give 7 stars easly to this 15th Kim movie...

I must watch it again at home anyway :)

[–] a-z-i-z 15 years ago

Bi-mong means sad dream i guess. You just started to dream with kim ki duk. There are many other dreams which are connected somehow.

[–] abstract_daddy 15 years ago

Since this was my first experience with Kim Ki-Duk, I do not want to be so cruel, but does a film really supposed to be this depressing?

Kim Ki-duk is best known for movies like this (but he has made movies that are considerably less grim). Beautiful, released this year and written by Ki-duk, is even more depressing (don't watch it by the way, it sucks).

It feels like the two are the only ones left in the world (other than the freaking policemen who were really annoying, their loud voices, impatience).

It adds to the dreamlike atmosphere of the movie. You might have also noticed that nearly all the locations in the movie look very old and traditional, even the police station in the beginning. I don't know why that is, but it also contributes to the atmosphere. The average Korean in a city like Seoul doesn't live in buildings like that.

I’m not very much into Korean lifestyle and culture; is it always this empty that it feels like an abadoned city?I mean the streets, the temples.

The movie does not reflect reality, and that's true for most if not all of Ki-duk's movies.

There are so many question marks in my mind about this movie; but the biggest one is why did I choose to see this movie amongst other beautiful and meaningful ones?

This is not a very good movie, or a very good Kim Ki-duk movie. The idea is excellent and so is the cast, but the script is a complete mess. Towards the end I was rolling my eyes so hard that they almost fell out of their sockets, and I didn't care about anything that happened.

If you want to see Lee Na-young in a much better movie, watch Someone Special. Odagiri has obviously been in better movies too.

[–] ingenue82 15 years ago

if the movie is not depressing, then it's not Ki Duk's movie

http://www.imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=25080181

[–] seek83 15 years ago

Depressing isn't really the word, not for this film. Others are more gut-wrenchingly heartbreaking. This time around I felt actually refreshed :D It may sound silly considering how this film plays out, but it's more conventional than usual. I welcomed that imo.

And damn, hurray for the characters having the power of speach in this one ! :D

[–] clarioncall 15 years ago

I would choose the word "disturbing"- maybe still does not fit well but anyway...
Moreover, I think the excessive number of dialogs was the common thing that surprised Kim Ki-duk fans since we are used to see extra silent characters in his movies. Anyway I liked the characters that way too. They give the complete emotion to the viewer and those characters still mirror his style.
After all, this movie is not at the very top but at top 5 of my kim ki-duk ranking :).

[–] nnmko 15 years ago

Found the movie expresses in an extremely poetic way the determination of killing oneself's "unwanted" drive/wish/dream; I would say it's painful and sad, but not depressing...
This might no be my favorite kkd movie, but it's not less interesting and inspiring.

[–] marka_dogg 15 years ago

I'm sorry that you had such a negative first impression of Kim Ki-duk. His films definitely aren't for everyone, but I will say that you might be taking this movie a tad too literal when it isn't meant to be. Western cinema is very plot-driven, and it isn't really fair to apply that viewpoint to movies from other places and cultures. Ki-duk films in particular are driven more by the concept and the execution, where the cinematography, the music, the setting and props, the situation, the "negative space" (i.e. what isn't being said or isn't being done) all take equal footing in conveying a message. It's kind of more analogous to looking at abstract art; it's about feeling something.

Character development in Ki-duk movies never really happen through exposition, so things like past events or occupations aren't really relevant (although I thought it was pretty clear that Ran was a designer/seamstress and that Jin was a stamp maker). It's more about who the characters are as a bundle of emotions and thoughts that conduct the events of the story. So in this film we have Jin who is obsessed with his ex-girlfriend but puts both her and himself aside in order to help this strange new girl who so suddenly and immediately needed him. It kind of seems like love comes out of nowhere but I think that their bond with and care for one another is very understandable. Even relatable, maybe. We can be ignorant about the background facts of the characters and still know who they are. I will say, however, that the female lead in every Ki-duk film I've seen is kind of the same person; a semi-insane, semi-enigmatic, unconventionally-attractive, strong-personality, male-dependent, sometimes-feisty kuudere. It usually works.

And the relative isolation of the characters contribute to the dream-like feel of the film, although Ki-duk's works have that even when it isn't pertinent to the subject matter. I also liked how you sort of felt the characters loneliness and how it lent credibility to their relationship, because it's as if they were the only two people in the world (except for the exes, who are obviously out of the question). With Ki-duk there's also usually a WTF?!? factor present as well as one or two WTF?!? scenes that serve as pivot points. I also agree that this was definitely not Ki-duk's best work, but I enjoyed it. If you want to give him another chance, I really think 3-Iron would be most accessible to you.

[–] enlil01 11 years ago

I've watched this movie yesterday and I liked it, but I guess I can understand some of your dislikes. I've watched almost all Ki-Duk's movies and I can see some of the features that I love in his movies represented here too. That bittersweet aura, the isolation of the characters. I loved the way how they were connected despite opposites, that was shown with simple things like their cloths - he was always in dark clothes and she was in lighter colors. I found it really beautiful how in the end she was always sleeping peacefully and he was awake going through hell.

Ofc there were things that I didin't like, specially in the way the characters try to resolve their problem. Why wouldn't they sleep in turns? Why couldn't he cuff her to the bed or lock the doors? Why would he leave the cuff key right in front of her? All seemed a poor excuse to reach the intended finale.

Anyway it's an interesting moving movie.

Don't dream it: be it!