WatchSeeLookView At The LFF 2019 - Maggie

You’ve had the pre-game preamble so let’s get into the main event. Basically strap in as we’ve got a fair few of these to get through...

Maggie (2019)
Dir. Yi Ok-seop / Dur. 88 mins / Country. South Korea
Festival Strand:- Cult
In A Nutshell:- A x-ray of hospital workers having sex sets a young nurse off on a path to understand if human beings are worth believing. Oh and it’s narrated by a catfish.

The Good:- It’s certainly firmly in the “quirky” camp. I’m not sure the nutshell description really encapsulates it. It doesn’t really have anything resembling a plot, more of a series of events occurring to a selection of characters. It has a nice sense of humour about it with a usage of cutaway/flashback humour that puts me in mind of Spaced and Scrubs (and I am a big fan of cutaway humour). There’s also a sensibility and feel to it that put me in mind of Amelie. It’s not as heightened or stylised as Jeunet’s work, it’s more deadpan than that, but there was a sense of whimsy about it that put me in mind of the French film.

The Bad:- I’m not sure about the ending one hundred percent. There was a deterioration and escalation of hostility in a relationship that seemed to come a bit out of nowhere to me. It could be that I misread the intent behind certain earlier scenes. I also often find with South Korean films in particular that I sometimes feel like I’m missing a cultural element - there were a couple of times during the screening when a selection of the audience laughed at something that I didn’t see as a joke.

The Verdict:- A good start to the festival. An offbeat and funny film with it’s own distinctive style and deadpan feel, coupled with strong performances from Lee Ju-young and Moon So-ri. While I’m not sure what to make of the ending, that could be down to a combination of cultural differences and tiredness on my part! If you’re looking for a charming, fun and whimsical film, this might just fit the bill.

The Venue / Intro / Q&A:- This screening was at cinema in the Institute Of Contemporary Arts on Pall Mall which I’ve not been to before (I’ve been to the ICA many, many moons ago, just not the cinema part). It’s a nice compact screen and has a definite arthouse feel in that they don;t have reserved seats. The only niggle I have is in the way the seats are laid out. They’re angled in such a way that I had to keep moving my head around to read the subtitles as they were blocked by the head of the guy in front (and I imagine mine was blocking the person behind). I;ve only got one more screening here (I think) so will be making a beeline for the front row next time. No Q&A sadly as the director couldn;t make it over but an intro from one of the programmers instead to cue up what was one of the first screenings of the festival. And we’re off!