An enigmatic mystery that follows a tormented car accident survivor haunted by visions of murder, this dreamlike thriller is a challenging audience puzzle.
You may be completely seduced by it, or you may be completely confounded (or, more than likely, both), but at the very least, it's unlikely you've seen anything quite like the boldly experimental thriller Spider Forest. Director Song Il-gon follows up his acclaimed 2001 debut Flower Island with this strange, mesmerizing mystery that presents the fragmented remnants of one man's violent, tragic past as puzzle pieces that each audience member must collate and interpret. The result is a complex meditation on memory and grief that plays like an Asian ghost story as filtered through Alain Robbe-Grillet. Regaining consciousness following an auto accident, television news producer Min (Kam Woo-sung) tells his police detective friend that a couple was murdered in the forest where Min's crash occurred. There are indeed two bodies there . . . but what else does Min's disjointed memory recall? As his recollections gradually come back, Min reflects back on why he originally journeyed to that cottage in the woods, and how this relates to his wife's earlier death, a demise that Min foresaw in a vision. Are these events of a supernatural origin, or just psychological torment located entirely within Min's mind? Or both? As the mystery unravels, writer-director Song layers on additional narrative density and possible interpretations; Korean shockers like A Tale of Two Sisters look positively linear by comparison. This visually arresting thriller explores how loss and grief can shape one's consciousness, and its intricacies will leave you discussing and debating for days. (Korean with English subtitles) -- Travis Crawford
[23:45] will: what the fuck man
[23:46] will: i'm buying you a plane ticket to seoul
[23:46] will: and you're going to tell the director of 'spider forest' to write a fucking ending
[23:46] korean dave: lol
[23:46] will: what the fuck. the ending was nothing but frustration.
[23:47] will: there was no "ending"
[23:52] dave: so other than ending
[23:52] dave: how as it
[23:54] will: it was a good movie
[23:54] will: it's just that the plot became recursive as it went on. revealing more and more of the truth and hints.
[23:55] will: but the problem was that the truth and hints pointed back towards itself
[23:55] dave: lol
[23:55] will: i'm not quite sure what i saw
[23:58] will: i'm using part of this conversation for my spider forest blog
it was a good movie. like mulholland drive. excellent direction and production. kinda predictable from the start. lots of plot twists, turns, and little details make this really enjoyable to solve and piece together as the movie went on.
for my first time at the festival, there was no clapping at the end of the movie. just a lot of omgwtf$10lolwtf.
seriously, i need director notes or commentary or screenplay or cliffnotes or something. I NEED SOMEBODY SMARTER THAN ME TO INTERPRET THE MOVIE AND TELL ME WHAT THE DEAL IS. 3.92/5.0
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