Director
Yeon Sang-ho
Composer
Been Eom
Cast
Yang Ik-joon, Oh Jeong-Se, Kim Hye-na
Edition 2022
97'
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2011
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Drama, Animated film, Thriller
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Dialogue:
Korean
Before he made the zombie fest Train to Busan, Yeon Sang-ho surprised with this animated film about the devastating effects of bullying at school, an arena where extreme brutality and social inequality prevail, reflecting Korean society in general.
Yeon Sang-ho, best known as the director of the zombie fest Train to Busan, made his debut with this remarkable animated film about school bullying, exploring the darkest sides of tormented adolescence. The out-of-control humiliations of the bullies create a tragedy which haunts the teenagers in their adult lives and dominates, even destroys, their entire existence. Without overstating the symbolism of his fable, the filmmaker makes it clear that the school arena – where extreme brutality, social inequality and injustice reign – is also a microcosm of Korean society. The sparse animation style and narrative ambition leans less towards the animated films made in Hollywood than towards Japanese anime, but with one noticeable difference: the characters are not given standard neutral facial features. Instead they are given an expressive morphology.
"As its fragmented narrative unfolds, the simple 'bullying-is-bad' story morphs into a darker, more complex allegory that examines societal problems, power dynamics and the human capacity for malevolence. It plays like a modern companion-piece to Lord of the Flies where the kids aren't the only ones who aren't alright." - ScreenAnarchy
Image gallery
Credits
Directors
Yeon Sang-ho
Composers
Been Eom
Cast
Yang Ik-joon, Oh Jeong-Se, Kim Hye-na
Scenario
Yeon Sang-ho
Editors
Lee Yeon-jeong, Yeon Sang-ho
Producers
Cho Young-kag
Production studios
Studio Dadashow
More info
Dialogue
Korean
Countries of production
South Korea
Year
2011
Filmography
Yeon Sang-ho
Megalomania of D (short, 1997), D-Day (short, 2000), The Hell (short, 2002), The Hell (Two Kinds of Life) (short, 2006), Indie Anibox: Selma's Protein Coffee (2008), The King of Pigs (2011), The Window (short, 2012), The Fake (2013), Train to Busan (2016), Seoul Station (2016), The Way Home (short, 2016), Psychokinesis (2018), Peninsula (2020)