DIRECTOR: TAE-HWA EOM
STARRING: LEE BYUNG-HUN, PARK SEO-JUN, PARK BO-YOUNG
RUNNING TIME: 2 HRS 10 MINUTES
Survivors from a massive earthquake struggle for a new life in Seoul.
STARRING: LEE BYUNG-HUN, PARK SEO-JUN, PARK BO-YOUNG
RUNNING TIME: 2 HRS 10 MINUTES
Survivors from a massive earthquake struggle for a new life in Seoul.
FILM REVIEW:
(This review contains spoilers.)
“Let’s all live well together!”
Concrete Utopia is the International Feature submission for South Korea. The film is a post-apocalyptic parable centred on a massive earthquake that destroys Seoul, leaving the entire city in complete disarray. Every single building is gone, except for one high-rise apartment complex: the Hwang Gung Apartments. There are 219 people that survived the tremor that currently live in this building including Min-Seong and his wife Myeong-Hwa, a happily married couple who met in university during a blind date.
In an effort to establish order, the residents of the apartment building elect Yeong-Tak as their leader, the president, and the one who makes the final say with the rules and regulations in the complex. Yeong-Tak elects Min-Seong as the leader of the anti-crime task force. As resources, including food and water, begin to dwindle, the residents collectively decide that it is in their best interest to only allow residents to remain in their apartments which effectively evicts everyone else. After a massive brawl between residents and non-residents occur, the evicted are forced to leave. This verdict is the beginning of violent consequences as Yeong-Tak and Min-Seong attempt to protect its haven.
Concrete Utopia is a social critique on class disparity and it shows the extreme lengths people will go to ensure their survival. The leaders proclaim that there’s no difference anymore between a pastor and a murderer, that there’s no rich or poor, and that everyone is equal, but the lucky few who’re living in the Hwang Gung Apartments begin to feel like they’re on top of the world because of the resources that they bear. While the rest of Seoul is struggling to find shelter, find food, find water, find basic human necessities, the other 219 individuals are living in luxury. Life may have been reset, but the social divide remains the same.
This dystopian film manifests humanity’s worst qualities. And it further emphasizes the ignorance of humans and how the wealthy few choose to ignore the harsh realities of the outsiders and their living conditions. They don’t really know how terrible the world has become because they rarely step outside of their bubble. They’ve lost awareness of the atrocities and horrors of Seoul. Morals are put to the test, greed becomes more and more dominant, and bloodshed is the only outcome when the non-residents have had enough.
Despite all of this, in this concrete jungle, and in this upside-down world, there will always be people who despite not have anything, will always help a fellow human being while creating a little utopia from nothing.
REVIEW: B+
(This review contains spoilers.)
“Let’s all live well together!”
Concrete Utopia is the International Feature submission for South Korea. The film is a post-apocalyptic parable centred on a massive earthquake that destroys Seoul, leaving the entire city in complete disarray. Every single building is gone, except for one high-rise apartment complex: the Hwang Gung Apartments. There are 219 people that survived the tremor that currently live in this building including Min-Seong and his wife Myeong-Hwa, a happily married couple who met in university during a blind date.
In an effort to establish order, the residents of the apartment building elect Yeong-Tak as their leader, the president, and the one who makes the final say with the rules and regulations in the complex. Yeong-Tak elects Min-Seong as the leader of the anti-crime task force. As resources, including food and water, begin to dwindle, the residents collectively decide that it is in their best interest to only allow residents to remain in their apartments which effectively evicts everyone else. After a massive brawl between residents and non-residents occur, the evicted are forced to leave. This verdict is the beginning of violent consequences as Yeong-Tak and Min-Seong attempt to protect its haven.
Concrete Utopia is a social critique on class disparity and it shows the extreme lengths people will go to ensure their survival. The leaders proclaim that there’s no difference anymore between a pastor and a murderer, that there’s no rich or poor, and that everyone is equal, but the lucky few who’re living in the Hwang Gung Apartments begin to feel like they’re on top of the world because of the resources that they bear. While the rest of Seoul is struggling to find shelter, find food, find water, find basic human necessities, the other 219 individuals are living in luxury. Life may have been reset, but the social divide remains the same.
This dystopian film manifests humanity’s worst qualities. And it further emphasizes the ignorance of humans and how the wealthy few choose to ignore the harsh realities of the outsiders and their living conditions. They don’t really know how terrible the world has become because they rarely step outside of their bubble. They’ve lost awareness of the atrocities and horrors of Seoul. Morals are put to the test, greed becomes more and more dominant, and bloodshed is the only outcome when the non-residents have had enough.
Despite all of this, in this concrete jungle, and in this upside-down world, there will always be people who despite not have anything, will always help a fellow human being while creating a little utopia from nothing.
REVIEW: B+
