The amalgam of fiction and documentary that is the mockumentary has recently given us a number of rather entertaining Asian films, with “Buddha.mov” and “Top Knot Detective” being the first that come to mind. First time feature director Kim Sang-hoon makes his own effort in the category with “Immortal” a film that also includes some of the elements of the Korean Weird Wave.
“Immortal” is screening at Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival
Ye-jin looks like she is in her 20s, and is beautiful enough to work as a model. Actually, though, she is in her mid-70s, and is a survivor of the atomic bomb in Hiroshima which resulted in her, her family, and a number of other people presenting an ‘illness' that has them aging very very slowly. It is due to this capacity that a documentary crew from a Japanese TV station approaches her to document her daily life, revealing the discrimination she experiences as much as a horrific story of her life as a kid in a concentration camp among other Immortals, as the government actually calls the people of her kind. As the crew delves deeper, a number of other secrets come to the fore.
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With the allegory about the way immigrants were and are being treated throughout the world surrounding the narrative, Kim Sang-hoo creates a captivating mockumentary that highlights how prejudice and racism essentially become not just social phenomena, but also systemic practices. As we watch Ye-jin trying to fit in by helping people but being repeatedly turned away, or worse, when she is refused service in the market or people even assault her verbally on the street, the portrait of the aforementioned concepts is created in the darkest colors. Even worse, when the crew goes with her to the concentration camp she and her family were forced to live in, memories of torture, particularly from the locals who did not want the Immortals to leave their camp in any way, also surface. Furthermore, Ye-jin also seems to hint in events of abuse by her family, although the filmmakers do not manage to get that out of her.
As soon as her brother approaches them, however, the narrative changes completely, as he seems to paint a totally different picture than she did, although his state and overall demeanor do not deem him exactly trustworthy. In that fashion, an equally appealing sense of mystery is also included in the narrative, which gets even more entertaining. And while everything is going smoothly for the movie, the ending somewhat disappoints, both for its cliched approach and also for the way it works for the whole immigration metaphor.
With that being said, despite its evident low budget, everything else in the mockumentary seems to be working quite nicely. The crew is rarely shown on screen, primarily represented through their voices, while the focus remains on Ye-jin as she emotes towards Kim Sang-hoon's camera in response to various circumstances. Kang Seo-ha delivers an excellent performance, skillfully portraying the multifaceted layers of her character with a naturalness that enhances the documentary-like feel. Additionally, her striking beauty serves the story well, lending credibility to her role as a model and providing an intriguing commentary on the transient nature of the modeling industry, where the ‘expiration date' of the people working in it is quite limited. The deliberate choice to keep her brother blurred and never fully depicted adds an element of mystery to the narrative. Lastly, Kim's editing contributes to a relatively fast pace, further enhancing the overall entertainment value of the movie.
Despite the faulty ending, Kim Sang-hoon gives a lesson in low-budget filmmaking, in a movie that is both entertaining throughout (including the ending actually) and manages to make a number of sociopolitical comments.
