Thursday, July 05, 2007

I'm a Cyborg

I'm a Cyborg But That's Ok (DVD)

Genre: Romantic Comedy
Starring:
Su-jeong Lim ... Cha Young-goon
Rain ... Park Il-sun


















I felt a bit kooky watching this initially. I almost go bonkers trying to grapple with what this movie is about. Frankly, I was very much befuddled.

I thought it's like a patchwork quilt, with different pieces of cloth sewed side-by-side and it distract me greatly. Then again, when viewed with an open mind, this movie is like a patchwork quilt, allright. A myriad of contrasting colours and textures when seen up-close, but a beautiful piece of art when seen from afar.

What do you expect, when the characters were patients in a mental asylum and the movie was supposedly set in one? You watch this as a sane adult, it's of no surprise you have a hard time figuring out the story!

I'm not saying you should go insane before you can understand it. Just open up your mind a little. Broaden your horizon. You'll see the full picture, eventually. This movie can easily be categorised as odd. Like those artistic foreign films. Very layered. You need lots of (active) imagination for it (think Gus Van Sant). But they're good aren't they?

I know that there are many of those who complain about not understanding the ending. Like how we were supposedly left wondering as to what the grandma's take as to what "The Meaning Of Existance..." was. What exactly happened to the characters in the end? How do things turn out that way? What was the plot about exactly?

Simple. Here's a girl who grew up with an off-centre granny (who thought she was a mouse and only eat radishes) and a mother who was too busy for her. The mother was so worried that she thinks herself as a mouse, too when in fact, she thinks herself as a cyborg instead. She only 'recharges' herself by licking batteries, communicated with the vending machine, radio, lights and other what nots. Anything except REALLY eating (that's just SO human!).

Then there's Rain, who believed that he can 'steal' one's personality (he can hypnotise, you see but does anybody realise that??). In my opinion, he's not exactly off-centre. In fact he admitted that he stayed there to avoid being jailed (for stealing). Hence, he was the only one who was supposedly sane and YET have as understanding of all the fellow patients' quirkiness (he spent time following and observing them before 'stealing' their personalities).

And if you think some parts don't seem to make sense, just account that to the erratic minds of the characters (in fact I almost thought that I'm watching Willy Wonka's chocolate factory).

When asked by Su-Jeong's character to 'steal' a part of her personality, he had to follow her around and learn of her habits. However, he was alarmed to see that she had not been eating (another patient helped to 'clean' her plate).

So he got on a mission to make her eat. And eventually fall for her. Easy as that.

**SPOILER ALERT!!!**
And yes, she did eat eventually. And from the last few scenes, we can see that she preferred her food wet. Yes, quirky still but at least she starts eating again!

And there's Rain with her. We may not know what her grandma's take on the 'Meaning of Existence' but we know that the meaning of HER existence is to be by her loved one - Rain.

And it's not their imagination that they're outside. Only in the last scene did the camera zoom out to show that. It only means that they've been discharged. YAY!

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