It is no secret that Jero Yun champions the cause of North Korean refugees. This is evident from his shorts like “Hitchhiker” and his feature-length documentaries “Looking for North Koreans” and “Mrs. B: A North Korean Woman”. His debut fictional feature “Beautiful Days”, which debuted at and opened the Busan International Film Festival in 2018, also told a tale of a refugee. Now, he is back with his sophomore fictional feature “FIGHTER”, which also saw its premiere at the Busan International Film Festival, winning itself the NETPAC Award and its star Lim Sung-mi the Best Actress award.
“Fighter” is screening at Five Flavours Asian Film Festival
Ji-na is a North Korean refugee who has just finished her social adjustment training and has been moved into a government-allocated studio apartment. She has but one aim in mind: earn enough money to get her father, who has already defected from the North and is waiting in China, a safe passage into South Korea. Her self-esteem refuses to let her extend a hand towards her mother, who defected years ago and is now living a happy life with a new family. So she picks up a job at a restaurant but when that isn't enough, she takes a cleaning job at a boxing gym. Tae-soo, who works at the gym, notices her fascination with females taking up boxing and sees Ji-na's evident talent at the sport but her adamant refusal to take it up perplexes both him and the gym's coach. But when she assaults someone to protect herself, she is stuck with the lengthy hospital bill and decides to take up the sport to help make some money.
Jero Yun uses his extensive experience with North Korean refugees into his script to give a well-informed character study of one such individual and her struggles not only in adapting to the new world around her but also to live a fulfilling, dignified life for herself and her father. The title “FIGHTER” really tells best of her struggles, with Ji-na proving to be a fighter in more ways than one. In addition to being a fighter in the ring, she fights a prejudiced vision of the South Korean people towards those from the North every day, to be accepted and seen as an equal. Of course there are several cultural clashes that Yun portrays well- seeing a fully tattooed arm, women in gym outfits or even a man casually asking to walk her home- but Ji-na fights through those to try to adapt and live a normal life.
In that sense, “FIGHTER” is not really about boxing, nor is it a sports film in the traditional sense either. The backdrop of boxing exists purely to further the protagonist's story, just like picking up the sport is a means to an end for Ji-na and this is probably one of the biggest strengths of the narrative and how it sets itself apart from the countless productions on the sport that have come in the past. Furthermore, parents who have separated from their children at a young age moving to a better life without them is a theme Yun explored in his debut fictional feature “Beautiful Days” and here too, this forms the crux of Ji-na's emotional journey.
The story of “FIGHTER” never leaves Ji-na's side and with Lim Sung-mi, the character is in very formidable hands. The character goes through a wide range of emotions that demand a lot from the actress and Lim portrays them perfectly, managing to bring several variations in her expressions with effortless ease. Take the look on her face as she wrestles with the thought of sparring with another fighter in the gym on the Coach's insistence, for example.There's also this brilliant scene where Ji-na reacts to a bit of news she's given by Tae-soo while drinking and having dinner at the gym. The camera doesn't move away from her face before, during or after receiving the news and the changes that pass over it are commendable. Ancillary characters do, however, suffer a bit from development. This hurts the Coach the most, who does seem to have an interesting backstory to him that never gets revealed, but it's always nice to see character actor Oh Kwang-rok on-screen.
Technically, the feature has a pleasant feel to it. Lim Chang-wook gives a fresh and appealing look with his cinematography, which tries nothing fancy but his camera rarely leaves actress Lim Sung-mi. Oh Su-jin's music ticks all the right boxes and is equal parts uplifting and poignant as required. Jero Yun edits the feature himself and while the edit may seem a bit indulgent at times to some, it actually succeeds in showing the mundanity of the lives of most such refugees.
Yun may be too focused on his central character to build up those around her, but this is ultimately the story of Ji-na and other North Korean refugees like her and in telling that, he does not take any missteps nor does he stumble, making this a very ably written and directed character study. “FIGHTER” goes to prove that he can be just as proficient in the feature length format as he is in short form and is a talent that is primed for breaking out.
