Synopsis
The applications of folktales or myths are truly boundless. The omnibus film Show Me is a collection of three 20 minute digital short films using the folktale as its foundation, and demonstrating that the ‘folktale’s imagination’ is uniquely creative and diverse. The first episode uses mythological motive of murdering one’s parents to connect to the true event happened in 2000 in Korea. Park Hae-il plays the son with a stare filled with the want of love and the suppression of a madness that eventually explodes violently. The director requires only a few blood drops to rouse the horror of the crime scene. (Plus the yodelling couple who appear as the vision of the parent’s!) NAM’s short film, Time of the Gang is based on a supposition that Daedongyeojido, the famous ancient map of Korea had a supplement of treasure map, a combination of the director’s imagination and factual history. It incorporates a parody of the Creator in 2001: A Space Odyssey, imitations of John Woo’s action scenes and Kill Bill’s Uma Thurman in an extensive reading. Experimental filmmaker LIM’s So Far So Close uses the motif of ‘Fairy and the Woodcutter’ folktale but without any resemblance to its narrative. He dramatically reduces the and uses images and illusions to create a vague poetic space. Without being stuck on telling who is fairy and who is woodcutter, the film more productively touches on previously unseen aspects of folktales. (KIM Hyung-suk)