"You're from Andromeda, aren't you?" · 2:21am Mar 20th, 2017
In the Writeoff chat, Cold in Gardez likes to say that story quality is inversely proportional to the number of genre tags. In general I agree, it's better to stay focused. Even if the quality doesn't suffer, the story becomes more specialized. Each genre becomes another barrier that turns some potential readers off.
But sometimes good writers can pull it off. The combination of genres adds up to more than the sum of its parts. It makes the story stronger, instead of limiting its scope or diluting the original vision. Sometimes it's genres that you never thought would go well together, like the horror-comedy of Shaun of the Dead or The Host.
This is about a movie that mashes up so many genres, it's impossible to classify it. Are you interested in a sci-fi + horror + comedy + thriller? With some romance and martial arts thrown in? Of course you are. 
Save the Green Planet! was written and directed by Jang Joon-hwan in 2003. It didn't do well financially, but it became a cult favorite, highly regarded by critics. It's been a while, so I watched it again the other day to see if it still held up.
It's still one of the weirdest movies I've ever seen. Not confusing like an art film, but unpredictable. It's exciting in a very uncomfortable way. The genre mashing comes across as tonally dissident, but that just might be intentional.
A really strong movie, and there's nothing else quite like it. I actually feel kinda guilty recommending it, but I'll explain that later. Moderate spoilers ahead.
On the left is the original theatrical poster. I like its design, but the US DVD cover on the right might be more accurate...
Lee Byeong-gu has figured out the conspiracy. Aliens from Andromeda have been infiltrating human society, preparing for a full-scale invasion. Their leader is disguised as Kang Mang-shik, chairman of a big pharmaceutical company. Aided only by his circus-performer girlfriend Sooni, Lee plans to kidnap Kang and torture a confession out of him, before the invasion fleet arrives on the next lunar eclipse.
The writer/director was heavily inspired by Stephen King's Misery, but thought it would be more interesting to show that kind of story from the kidnapper's point of view.
I know what you're thinking. The comedic twist is that the CEO really is an alien, right? 
Ha ha. Everyone assumes the same thing when I describe the premise to them. Jang Joon-hwan sidesteps the obvious story path, and goes somewhere much more interesting...
Actually, let me start over. 
The kidnapping is finished quickly, by the opening credits. It's funny in how it almost goes wrong, and there's some great physical acting in the struggle. At this point the pair lock Kang in his chair and begin the interrogation. In a comedy, here's where the tone feels like it should get sillier, with Kang reacting to these bizarre alien theories and accusations. Humor in making light of the torture. Instead, the torture scenes are directed to look painful, not ridiculous. It's not making light of this subject matter, though the uncomfortable comedy might be in how zealous Lee and Sooni are fulfilling this crazy mission.
These aren't exploitative scenes full of gratuitous gore, don't worry. It's somewhere in the middle. Not bloody enough to be exciting, but too painful to laugh at.
Mixed in are scenes showing Lee carrying on his daily normal life, and it's shown he suffers heavily from anxiety and depression. He turns into a completely different person when returning to his secret lab, confident and cruel.
Here's where the movie makes its unexpected twist. Kang recognizes Lee. He knows this young man used to work for him as an employee. He knows all the tragic things that happened to Lee's family. This isn't about aliens; Lee is unfairly blaming Kang, and using the conspiracy as a pretense to get revenge on everyone he hates from his past. This is Kang's accusation.
Lee's nerve breaks, and he becomes an anxious wreck. He keeps slapping himself, taking his drugs, and forces himself to believe in his alien theory again, so he can continue the torture. We the audience know his goal, but it's hard to judge why he wants it. Does he seriously believe Kang is an alien? Or is he pretending to be insane? Is it both, depending on his mood (and drug consumption) at the time?
Likewise, Chairman Kang is shown to be a snobby rich asshole. Logically, we know we're supposed feel sorry for him, as the innocent victim whose life is in danger. Emotionally, we don't like him that much, because he's cruel and merciless and earned his wealth through some shady business. He has no qualms about being cold-blooded and heartless to escape, and sometimes you might feel more sorry for Lee, being manipulated in his weaker states.
This is a seriously dark movie at its core. The violence isn't thrilling. And yet it's still so very funny!
Like in Misery, the scenario becomes a battle of wits between the kidnapper and victim. Unlike King's story, we're not meant to fully empathize with the victim, nor completely hate the kidnapper. Neither of them are role models, but it works as a comedy because we can admire the depths both of them are willing to go to win over the other. This is the part that feels less like a creepy dreadful horror, and more like an exuberant comedy of errors, because they both keep underestimating each other's capabilities. We're cheering for both of them, because they're both so clever and determined, but don't really want anyone to win.
Another similarity to Misery, a detective comes snooping around in his investigation. The comedy becomes a 3-way battle: Kang tries to alert the detective, Lee tries to hide all the evidence. It turns out Lee's very good at acting like a nutjob... of the peaceful hippie type. He goes on about how benevolent aliens visit Earth as messengers of love & peace, and the detective wonders if this guy is for real. This goes back to the original question: if Lee is faking this, how much is he faking his conspiracy theory?
It's strange when you realize you're rooting for a character who disgusted you a few minutes earlier. And a few minutes later you might be reminded of the horror all over again. Do you have to approve of a character's morals to want to be like them, just a little?
Even the ending feels quite vague. Not as "what happened?" but as "what should I be feeling?" moment. Is it a positive or negative ending? I'm still not sure myself. The film doesn't give a direct answer but challenges you. It lets you question why you reacted to the madness with both horror and laughter. Maybe it ultimately doesn't matter if Lee's theory was honesty or hypocrisy. Maybe it's that his actions revealed what he genuinely cared about, which can't be hidden behind acting/being crazy.
Some people proudly enjoy black comedy or gallows humor. It's like a hot pepper eating contest, they enjoy showing off that this stuff doesn't hurt them. I agree that it can be very fun, but I'm starting to think it's too easy to make black comedy. It seems like everyone does it these days. When it gets widely celebrated as biting satire, is it really all that taboo? I'm not knocking it, just pondering if it's all been over-rated. 
This is why I mentioned feeling a little guilty in the beginning. Save the Green Planet! is not black comedy. You'll be disappointed if that's what you're looking for. You don't get to sit back and laugh at terrible things. This movie wants to challenge you, while still letting you laugh.
The closest thing I can think of is comparing this to Reservoir Dogs. You know the famous scene where Mr Blonde cuts off an ear? Or maybe the Pulp Fiction scene where Vincent needs to plunge adrenaline into Mia's heart? Those scenes are horrifying yet funny, and not because they're making fun of the subject matter. Maybe it's because they're uncomfortable yet relatable. That's Save the Green Planet!, multiplied out across the whole movie.
For that reason, it's not for everyone, much like how Reservoir Dogs became retroactively famous but is still more of a critic favorite. It was too violent at the time, though that became the norm in the 90s (probably thanks to Pulp Fiction's success). Similar to Tarantino, Jang Joon-hwan actually avoids showing the most violent moments, but makes it feel more intense through careful direction and the character reactions.
StGP's Korean marketing suggested a quirky black comedy, so it makes sense that audiences were turned off by a film so dark and challenging. Maybe it was a little too early for its time, since the 00s had all those Saw movies turning torture exploitation into profit. 
Maybe Jang Joon-hwan can make a follow-up success similar to Pulp Fiction, using all his ideas and talent (and influence mash-ups) for a film with mass broad appeal. He finally did release his second movie in 2013, Hwayi: A Monster Boy, and it performed well. I haven't had a chance to see it yet.
Fascinating. I've been reflecting a lot on a blog I read recently that had Knighty talking about the statistics behind the tag to quality phenomenon you describe, but for the life of me I haven't been able to find it again. I've actually hesitated to add an additional genre tag to a story that deserves it because I don't want to fall afoul of this.
The movie sounds strange but interesting. I'm glad to read your review, as I might not have heard of it otherwise.
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it does seem common that newer writers will use too many tags. but I do wonder if they have statistics on if that affects view -- do readers avoid those when browsing the front page? and I wonder how many big popular stories on FimFic are exceptions to the rule.
I found this movie by accident long ago, when I was bored and kept renting random things from the foreign section of the video store
. I discovered that modern Japanese movies are pretty terrible, but Korean movies were quite exciting and innovative.
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Is this the blog of which you speak?
4467244 It is! Thanks!