TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
No man is an island theme in new movies
Two movies from South Korea and Japan will hit the big screen in the upcoming week, both sharing a theme rarely found in Indonesian films
Change Size
T
em>Two movies from South Korea and Japan will hit the big screen in the upcoming week, both sharing a theme rarely found in Indonesian films.
Korea’s Part-Time Spy is an action comedy with an unexpectedly heartfelt storyline involving two females working in a voice-phishing company. This is the second film from 30-year-old director and scriptwriter Kim Deok-soo after Dad for Rent in 2014.
While it must have been a difficult decision to portray a sisterly bond on screen as opposed to a bromance, which apparently has a higher appeal in South Korea and universally, Kim creates outlier characters who build their own ecosystem in a tough environment.
Meanwhile, Kyoto Animation’s A Silent Voice, directed by Naoko Yamada, aside from the film genre, is not a perfect opposite to the aforementioned film.
An adaption of popular comic series The Shape of a Voice by Yoshitoki Oima, the film is more of a coming-of-age film, but with a deeper psychological discussion on bullying. It tries to explore how anyone can turn into a bully and later on a victim, why being a bystander is never a good choice and that time alone cannot heal the scars.
Both films have been well received in each home country on account of their themes, which showcase the harsh realities of society onto the big screen.
A Silent Voice, released in September last year and internationally in February, was a hit at the Japanese box office alongside Makoto Shinkai’s Your Name and named the 10th highest-grossing Japanese film of the year, tied with live action psychological thriller Death Note: Light Up the New World.
These films are great choices among the many Hollywood blockbusters coming to the theaters. They are entertaining without over exaggerating or being overly preachy.
Part-Time Spy and A Silent Voice will be released on May 3 with both English and Indonesian subtitles.
‘A Silent Voice’
A rendevouz: A scene from A Silent Voice.
The story revolves around Shoya Ishida and his classmates in an elementary school where Shoya and his friends are affected by new student Shoko Nishimiya.
Shoko is deaf and while she uses a hearing aid, she prefers to communicate through her notebook. She is used to apologizing in any situation and soon she is bullied.
There is a scene where a school counselor encourages the class to learn sign language to be able to communicate better with Shoko, but only one volunteers.
Although the whole class can be considered accountable in making Shoko an outcast, all fingers are pointed at Shoya, the class delinquent, as the main reason Shoko transfers schools.
Suffering from “social punishment”, Shoya is bullied and ostracized well into high school until he reaches the point where he decides that there is no point in having friends.
The film starts with Shoya considering suicide as he has no plans for the future, but he realizes that he has to apologize to Shoko.
Finding her again, still without friends, Shoya realizes that both of them are suffering due to the past events. To redeem his past mistakes, Shoya tries to reconnect Shoko with their old classmates to give her another chance to have friends.
Shoya then finds his own friends and regains a zest for life.
The film is quite long with background stories on Shoya and Shoko. The presence of Shoko’s little sister, who has a knack for taking pictures of dead animals, and the character development of the friends makes the story a bit complicated, but it blends nicely toward the end.
The film, previewed on Friday in Jakarta with the attendance of the young members of the Sehjira Foundation, which focuses on advocating for deaf or hard-of-hearing people, is a reminder that most of the time people should listen to be heard.
— Photos courtesy of Kyoto Animation
______________________________
A Silent Voice
(School drama, 129 minutes)
Production: Kyoto Animation
Director: Naoko Yamada
Scriptwriter: Reiko Yoshida
Voice actors: Miyu Irino, Saori Hayami, Aoi Yuki, Kensho Ono
Rating: 13+
‘Part-Time Spy’
The story is built around a major issue in South Korea: the job crunch. It follows Young-sil (Gang Ye-won), a 35-year-old woman who desperately needs a full time job despite the many skills and certificates she has collected, including military training.
She eventually receives a call from the national security agency to be an intern, but her joy is only momentary as she is dismissed too soon.
However, she accidentally discovers that the agency’s deputy department head, Park (Jo Jae-yun), has fallen victim to a voice-phishing scam. To protect his reputation, Park hires Young-sil as an undercover spy at the voice-phishing company and promises her a full job time at the agency if she returns the money.
Unfortunately, the police have planted their own female detective, Na Jung-an (Han Chae-Ah), as one of the call operators in a mission to catch the real owner of the company managed by Director Min-suk (Nam Gung-min) and department head Yang (Kim Min-kyo).
The police and agency officer Park finally agree to work together, but Young-sil, who tries to make friends with everyone in the workplace, finds it difficult to cooperate with Jung-an because of the latter’s dirty mouth and harsh attitude.
The film shows just how rampant scams are. However, director/writer Kim Deok-soo does not steer the film into an investigation drama.
He keeps a controlled pace in showcasing the titular character’s skills and the character arc development of Jung-an and the male characters.
The cast is good, although most of the male actors are known for their roles on TV drama series.
Part-Time Spy is a satire comedy that does not try too hard to look silly, packed with action scenes that are actually thrilling.
— Photos courtesy of Storm Pictures Korea
______________________________
Part-Time Spy
(Action comedy, 117 minutes)
Production: Storm Pictures Korea
Director/Screenwriter: Kim Deok-soo
Cast: Gang Ye-won, Han Chae-ah, Nam Gung-min, Jo Jae-yun, Kim Min-kyo
Rating: 17+
