The Unforgiven

To forget, not to forget, or to live and let live.









The Unforgiven is a gripping cinematic experience brought to screen by an exceptional first time talent, Yoon Jong-bin, who managed with a small budget and a whole lot of ingenuity to craft out a sensibly edited, sensitively acted and strikingly directed feature film debut. Tackling disparate subjects ranging from latent impulses to institutionalised violence, from rationalised repression to the blurring lines of masculinity, The Unforgiven will challenge your sense and sensibilities, it will force you to re-examine evoked memories of your own past experiences, and it will shake the very foundation of your respective moral barometers. In short, this is not a film you will easily forget.

On a warm night out on leave, Seung-young, still dressed in army fatigues, asks to meet up with his high school classmate, Tae-jung. Tae-jung, who has since completed serving his National service, used to look out for Seung-young when they re-united in army. Tae-joung was a sergeant near the end of his service, while Seung-young, who deferred due to college, entered army as a fresh and junior private. The reasons for this present-day meeting are not made clear but Seung-young mentions he has important things to tell Tae-jung. This meeting seems like an awkward affair. Despite Tae-jung's accommodating ways, there is a latent air of tension compounded by Seung-young's reserved but mysteriously grave demeanor. The Unforgiven hence chronicles this eventful night juxtaposed with the flashback days when Tae-jung first re-unites with Seung-young through Seung-young's eventual army days after Tae-jung's departure from service. The details as to what happened in the past and what will happen on this night, I shall leave to your discovery.

I am impressed that the forceful ensemble performances of The Unforgiven are able to realistically flesh out its protagonists' idiosyncrasies with courage, openness and stunning consistency. The pacing near its end could have done with a little fine-tuning but this is a mere quibble when considering director Yoon (who also has a role in this movie, but as whom I shall not divulge) has managed to tell a compelling story with concisely plotted situations and incisively drawn characters. These in turn culminate seamlessly and help to generate an ending which is intellectually thought-provoking and yet dramatically resonant. Yoon's handling of the actors (most of them newcomers themselves), and his decision to deftly alternate the story between flashbacks and the present is most intuitive, for besides not losing sight of the narrative flow, he has conjured up a situational, behavioural and emotional synergy much needed for the audience to connect with the film's intended themes.

For a first time effort, The Unforgiven is an assuredly made film. It has valuable things to say and it says them well. Some critical opinions I have read so far point to the film being an attack on the system of mandatory National Service in Korea, which breeds a vicious cycle of institutionalised aggression and victimisations. To a certain degree, I agree with this interpretation, but I also believe this film attempts to shed an illuminating light and non-judgemental presentation on national service being a representation of any hierarchical social system. To me, the "army" experience is the same wherever you go and will only get more complex as one progresses in career and in life. By showing how different men behave or react within these systems, I thought the film's most revealing focus is more psychological; as it offers telling insights into the differing emotional landscapes of men, in exploring who will possess the willingness and ability to survive under the compounding regiment of life, and who won't.

We may not be able to resist the temptation of judging some of the characters in this film, but I strongly urge all to look at their strengths and weaknesses, to consider the ways they interact with one another and the actions they take within the system, due to their respective natures. That said, we should not overly sympathise with them either, because their relative abilities to function with the situations dealt to them or the questionable moral/ideological compromises they might have taken in order to survive, only serve to mirror our own reflections on how we choose to live our lives.

In this film's universe, there are people who think they are clever and those who think they are stupid. There are those who are strong, there are those who are weak, those who are loyal and those considered too fanatic. However, there is no denying that whatever feelings these people have unleashed on screen, they are viscerally palpable. The intensity of its emotional undercurrents sweeping throughout is in fact one of The Unforgiven's most captivating qualities. The repression of guilt, hurt, rage, and other unshapely dark emotions seep into the protagonists' tainted psyche, and into their conscience, it cuts deep. I am hence deeply intrigued. How we choose to absolve ourselves or deny it shows up the measure of our life views. Lighten up, some would say, but it's easier said than done for others. Ultimately, this film does not preach the best ways to untangle the knots we may have accumulated in our time, it just observes that to let go or to hold on, is dependant on our ultimate willingness to live and let live.

The Unforgiven opens in Singapore on 6 July 2006.

The King and the Clown

"...For all sad words of tongue and pen, the saddest are these, 'It might have been...' " - John Greenleaf Whittier

The people in The King and the Clown care a lot, but their cares are different in some ways yet similar in others.

For instance, three street entertainers care for their survival, as their stomachs are empty and their options limited. They are common folks eking out a living, and will do whatever it is necessary to guarantee food and shelter. But nowhere in this film portrays this inseparable trio as miserable beings, for they can count on their fellow buddies to bask in the ups and endure the downs, and they seek to enjoy their time here as long as it lasts. There is something almost pure and admirable about their sensibilities, in fact. The laugh when they are tickled and cry when they have to. Their emotions are true and the friendship they share with one and other, open and caring. They are like a surrogate family, pure and simple. Alas, as fate would have it, into their circle, two other runaway minstrels intrude.

The older minstrel, strong and resourceful, takes care of his younger charge. Other than that, the older man seems to have no care for the world. He refuses to relinquish willing subservience to any sacred concepts or symbols of authority, and he has no worries that he is leading an impoverished existence. He only comes alive when he walks the tightrope of performing to his cheering audience, showcasing his skills as an acrobat and revelling them with the wit of a jester. However, in closer scrutiny, there is a milder side to this untamed creature. He often softens in simple contentment, when in the quiet company of his young companion. His only care in this world, lies in sharing the good and bad times with this man and protecting the unbreakable bond of this complex friendship.

The younger man, blessed with an alluring androgyny, is an effete and sensitive creature. He is weak in will and physicality. He seems to care for many things, his older friend and mentor, the people around him, what they think of him. And when circumstances force the minstrels' entry into palatial grounds, the young man cares for the king too, for he is privy to both sides of that broken man.

The King has a lot of love to give but he does not know where to put it. He may be too far gone, forever lost in his own madness to properly care for himself. But he does care, it appears, for an alternate reality where the past is unjust and irreconcilable, where the present is his "payback playground" for him to exact vengeful games. His wilful rage, his tyrannical cruelty and his abysmal insanity belies the psyche of a broken man, one who pursues desperately to unlock the tortured child within. This "boy" seeks for a
sanctuary of comfort from a select few people who may wean him off his maelstrom of torment, albeit temporarily.

One of these people is a eunuch, serving the King in faithful silence. His intentions may be benign but he is no less treacherous and scheming. However, he cares for his king with a hint of paternity, unlike most of the king's men. Those ministerial subjects care more for the official legacy of the previous king's rule and the preservation of the government. Unbeknownst to himself, he is to be instrumental in fueling the trajectory of this sweeping tragedy. Sadly, like the angels in Wim Wender's Wings of desire, this sagely eunuch is ultimately a bystander. He may know how it all ends but he can do nothing about it. That is the worst predicament that can be inflicted upon any human being.

The last person worthy of mention in this most intricate of human studies, is that of the King's concubine. Looking like a manipulative femme fatale who mollycoddles the King's sometimes childish desires, the woman is revealed to be one who defies popular opinion of her outwardly skanky persona. A telling blink-and-you-miss scene involves the King, half smitten with his new object of desire (the androgynous minstrel), but summoning his once favoured muse (the concubine) to offer him alternate satisfaction. However, the fickle King callously rejects his concubine's carefully tailored advances. With his back facing the woman, we see traces of immediate realisation and sinking hurt that she is no longer in the King's favour. Panic, anger and abject despair flash before her coiffured facade. It is in this very instant that one realised the woman's love and affection for the King runs deeper than prior assumptions. She may in fact be the one who cares for the King, the most.

The central characters in The King and the Clown broke their backs scaling insurmountable mountains. They chase after what they want, not realising what they need is more important. In the process, some will bid farewell to king and concubines, others to friends, or lovers. There are hidden secrets kept due to sundry fears and loathing. There are schemes set into motion by good or bad intentions. There are blatant lies told with compelling reasons, but for most of which, is love.

Stripped of the social and political fabric dressing this movie, and we have some of the most evocative aspects of love demonstrated by The King and the Clown's myriad characters, where each of them stakes a claim in its wide emotional spectrum. By observing and understanding these practitioners of love via their telling/ nuanced behaviors, the resonating power of this film's finale hence crescendo into a frenzy, for we have seen the respective arcs of the main protagonists' journey culminate, reaching a thrillingly intense fever pitch.

But what exactly, is love? And what can it do?

Love can transcend hunger for power, desires for carnality and greed for material pleasures. Love may be sought after for a rare moment of comfort, dissolving away pains when they are most tortuous. Love, which demands our understanding that to give, and not expect it in return, is its purest representation. This love is ingrained in all humans, from parents to children and vice versa, from amongst friends to siblings, from slaves to their masters, from those whom you hold dear, your true beloveds. Indeed, we are all capable of love, but this capacity is equally adept to create or to destroy, as this film evocatively illustrates.

In retrospect, The King and the Clown has spun a tale which laments with Shakespearean sentience. It observes its characters like games people play. It lets them be who they are, but it plots their paths along a Greek-tragic spiral, pushing their descending slides toward an inevitable destination. Their lives are already written, but their respective ends not revealed to them. The players hence behave as mere mortals do, without foresight, unprepared to deal with the forces of their respective destinies. The irony being that, the truths could have been unravelled earlier, if they had delved a little deeper. Feelings could have been reconciled faster, if they had bothered to look each other in the eye.
(Note to readers: The "eyes" in this movie deserve our unblinking stares for they speak more effectively than "mouths" do.)

That said, there is a purpose to this cruel study, for it serves to test the limits of amour. We weep not because of a tragic end, for in this world of missed opportunities and twists of fate, we are heartened that the humanity of its characters remains intact. Beyond its constricting environment and cultural mores, The King and the Clown demonstrates that love is pure. Love has the innate potential of providing us all, comfort, closure and contented acceptance of this mortal coil. Lives may be surrendered but love wins in the end. An innocent notion perhaps, but in my book, it's worth each and everyone's subscription.

Blessed with crisp direction, an engrossing story and one of the best ensemble performances of the year, The King and the Clown is packed with a viscerally forceful energy which carves deep into our emotional landscapes. Its quiet hopes (perhaps) are to heighten our sensitivity towards our strengths and failings, to illustrate the universality of human nature. We may live in different times and places, we may be impoverished or privileged, but our basic needs for love is homogeneous. Once we understand what we do is affected by who we are, then I think the film has accomplished its most sincere aim.

The King and the Clown opens in Singapore cinemas on 22 June 2006. Watch out for it.