When a drugged up, factory worker, part time bee-keeper and all round crackpot named Byeong-gu researches the background of a powerful Korean industrialist called Kang he can draw only one conclusion, Kang is an alien from Andromeda who plans on taking control of Earth on the next lunar eclipse. Byeong-gu then does what any self respecting paranoid, drug addled lunatic would do, kidnap the man, tie him up in his basement, and torture the truth out of him. In between his quest to get the truth out of Kang, he robs banks to take care of his comatose mother, cares for his bees and builds mannequins, and if all that isn't weird enough, the tone of the film wildly changes direction from surreal comedy, to extreme violence to edge of the seat suspense, alternating as quickly and disorientating as possible, and as strange as it seems it all works very well. It's not a perfect film by any means, but the truth is that it's so inventive and original you'll forgive its shortcomings, and not since Stephen Chow's superb 'Kung Fu Hustle' have I seen so many genres crammed into one film. Be warned though, this is not a film for the squeamish; the torture scenes which take up a large bulk of the film are horrific, plentiful, and realistic. If you can stomach the scenes of torture and gore, and enjoy something out of the ordinary then 'Save The Green Planet' is great fun. Looking forward to what director Jun-hwan Jeong comes up with next!
One of the things I usually love about South Korean films is that the directors have all seen lots of American movies so whilst the culture and language are very different, many of the situations in their films are familiar and some scenes are clearly affectionate tributes to Hollywood hits. Director Jang Jun-hwan simply can’t decide which movie reference to jam in next in this film and it despite the manic energy of his cast, “Save the Green Planet” ends up feeling a bit empty and derivative. Take your pick from “Saw”, “The X-Files”, any bungling kidnapper movie, any washed-up cop movie- they’re all in there- throw in a frankly risible Star Trek-type ending and it’s disappointment all round.