Beautiful Youth, Ugly Grown-ups

En Kärlekshistoria/A Swedish Love Story (1970) - Andersson
the IT moment

One can still see Roy Andersson (Songs from the Second Floor, You, the Living)'s penchant for wry, absurd humor that he's known for in his later works, even back then. What's obvious is his adoration for youth and hatred for ugly life of grown-ups. People in the theater (including me) who were expecting more of a sweet love story, the film was disappointing that there weren't more on-screen time for the attractive young leads. But that's quite all right. I had some hearty laughs at the end. I craved for some crayfish and vodka after the screening.

Obliquely Bleak

With a Girl of Black Soil (2007) - Jeon







The film falls between Spirit of the Beehive and Morvern Callar. It takes place in a wintry small mining town in rural Korea. A miner finds out that he has a lung disease. He gets laid off. He has a retarded boy and a young girl to look after and the coal company is planning to demolish their shack. Talk about bleakness. The bright eyed girl is adorable. She tries to make the best out of the poverty stricken life. After all, she's still a child and doesn't really know anything other than her surroundings. Or does she?

Things get progressively worse. Her brother does stupid things to make life more difficult and papa drinks to forget his troubles. The girl has to resort to stealing ramen and soju from a local convenient store. Even with little hints here and there, I was still surprised by the powerful ending. There are many amazing scenes of tenderness with beautiful, natural photography in this independent feature by Jeon Soo-il. However objectionable her actions may seem, as the title suggests, we go through the experience with her without judgment.