Synopsis
Byung-goo, a simple young man who raises bees for a living, firmly believes that aliens are conspiring to invade the earth and that everything is doomed if he does not meet the Prince of Andromeda before the total eclipse of the moon. Along with his girlfriend Soon-i, Byung-goo kidnaps Kang Man-shik, the president of Yuje Chemical Company, locks him up in his basement, and interrogates him relentlessly, for he believes Kang is the leader of the aliens. President Kang is also believed to be the only alien with a ‘royal gene’ that allows him to communicate with the Prince. The police tighten their search but there are only four hours left until the eclipse. Can Byung-goo save this beautiful planet? with its not-quite fresh theme of the invasion of the aliens is the first feature film of director Jang Jun-hwan. It is an extension of (1994), which deals with issues such as the tragedy of a troubled family and psychotic illusions resulting from a schizophrenic personality seen from an unusual social standpoint. A tragic cult movie with dark humor and violence rarely seen in Korean films, and a plot that oozes Sci-fi B flicks, the film was unfortunately packaged by the production company as “a comic cosmic kidnapping that exceeds even the wildest imagination”. Despite rave reviews from critics, it was a box office flop. The performance of the leading actors Shin Ha-kyun and Back Yun-shik is worthy of praise, and the way the director controls the technical aspects of the film including the cinematography is also worth looking at. This is an excellent piece of work with historical value for Korean cinema in that it shows a glimpse of what a good SF film can present to the audience.(Kim Sang-hoon)