A Shark (DVD) (Korea Version) DVD Region All

The film takes place in a small town called Daegu on a hot summer's day, as the lives of three characters intersect in unexpected fashion. A fisherman called Yeong Cheol (Koo Seong Hwan, recently in the excellent horror GP506) arrives on the train, carrying with him a bag containing a small dead shark which he caught and which he intends to show to his disbelieving friend Jun Gu. After Jun Gu fails to turn up, being stuck in the middling of a gambling session, he wanders the streets and while sitting in a park meets Yu Su, a lost, lonely man who has just been released from prison. Chatting in the park they are spotted by Eun Suk, a mad woman with a tragic past, who thinks that the shark is her long dead baby. When Yeong Cheol and Yu Su leave the park she follows them, demanding that they return her child.

Given the above synopsis, it should be obvious that A Shark is a quirky, unconventional affair. Whilst this is true, Kim, who also scripted, does not use the odd premise as a cheap gimmick, and although the shark in the bag does make for a few bizarre scenes, and though it may well be symbolic, he refrains from anything too pretentious. At its heart, the film is a character piece that explores the lives of a set of interesting, isolated people, none of whom seem to have any particular drive. Kim allows the story to unfold in a pleasingly unforced manner, taking a low-key approach and bringing the characters together quietly, and without reliance on coincidence or narrative trickery. As a result, the film is believable, has a matter of fact feel, and although a fair amount of the running time is taken up with people simply either sitting or walking around and talking, the characters are all interesting and unpredictable. The story does meander in places, and not every aspect of it works, with a sub plot involving Jun Gu's elderly landlord seems too disconnected from the rest of the film - though this may well have been the intention. However, this anecdotal style fits well with the film's ambitions, and it works as a deceptively intricate and skilful piece of storytelling which pulls the viewer in slowly and subtly.

Kim directs with a naturalistic style, giving the proceedings a suitably down to earth feel, and although the film's budget was obviously low it is well made and transcends its lowly production values. Thankfully, he manages to keep his nerve and to eschew the kind of surreal visual touches which many first time art house directors seem to think are necessary to hammer home symbolism or thematic points. Such unnecessary flourishes would certainly in this case have only distracted from the story and the essential human drama of the film, and his careful sense of shot composition is arguably more effective. By choosing odd angles and less obvious framing devices, he gives everyday objects and scenes an eccentric feel, and as such the film is both grounded and vaguely fantastic. Through some tight, though not obtrusive editing he ensures that the film moves along at a good pace, and towards the end builds up a reasonable amount of dramatic tension.

Crucially, this means that any artistic or thematic aims aside, A Shark succeeds as an entertaining and engaging piece of human drama. By not distancing the viewer from the characters or the story, and by avoiding the pretentious excesses of the form, Kim weaves a fascinating tale of modern angst that is all the more effective for its strange, though thankfully not overplayed premise.

by James Mudge - BeyondHollywood.com