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 oliday
" is based upon an actual incident whose
roots lie in the Korean government's preparations
for the 1988 Olympics, which saw them destroy
countless neighbourhoods to make way for new
developments in order to impress foreign visitors.
In most cases, these neighbourhoods were squatter
settlements whose inhabitants were forcibly cast
onto the streets. This story is brought
passionately to life by director Yang Yun-ho
("Fighter
in the Wind"), who crafts it into a
moving and violent tale of inequality.
The film's plot follows Ji
Kang Hyuk (Lee Song Jae, also in "Public
Enemy"), whose best friend is gunned down
during one of the clearances, and who is himself
sent to prison. Here, he has the misfortune to
fall under the care of Ahn Seok (played by Choi
Min Soo, who starred in the director's "Libera
Me"), who just happens to be the man who
killed his friend. After suffering under Ahn's
brutal regime, Ji and a motley gang of other
inmates manage to escape, planning to draw
attention to the oppressive and corrupt laws which
have ruined so many lives.
"
Holiday
" certainly benefits from its real-life
origins, and is believable throughout, giving the
story an emotional punch. Although there is an air
of doom hanging over the characters, and anyone
familiar with the story will know in advance how
it ends, the film retains a bitter, almost defiant
feeling of hope, and the viewer comes to share the
characters' rage at the injustice inherent in the
system which has treated them as animals. The
escapees are a good mixture of characters, none of
whom are the usual stereotypes which usually pop
up in such films, and thankfully the director
steers away from whitewashing their criminal
backgrounds and tendencies. Although the fact that
they have all received weighty prison sentences
for relatively minor offences is frequently cited,
the film pulls no punches about the basic fact
they are capable of violence and immoral acts.
Lee Song Jae in particular is
effective as Ji, a man who has had an unfortunate
life of hardship and betrayal, and who the
audience comes to root for without ever being
pushed to like or sympathise with him through
cheap emotional tricks. Unfortunately, Choi Min
Soo gives a completely over the top performance as
the hateful, borderline psychotic Ahn, wide-eyed
and grimacing in cartoon fashion, standing out
from the rest of the cast in an almost surreal
fashion. Despite his efforts, "
Holiday
" works well as a genuine piece of social
commentary and avoids most of the clichés which
have plagued similar efforts.
Although slow moving, the
film is frequently quite violent, in a realistic
fashion and mostly in the form of vicious beatings
or characters going down in a bloody hail of
bullets. Unfortunately, most of the death scenes
go on for far too long, with the dying men being
afforded enough time to wax philosophical on the
harshness of life for several minutes before
finally expiring. These melodramatic scenes are
somewhat at odds with the rest of the film and do
tend to blunt its effectiveness somewhat.
There is a vein of bitter
humour running throughout "
Holiday
", some of which does make for the odd laugh,
but the overall tone of the film is decidedly
melancholy and bitter, giving it a similar feel to
Woo Suk Kang's classic "Sil
Mi Do". The themes of corruption and
justice, summed up by Ji's immortal statement,
"The wealthy are always innocent, while the
poor are always guilty", are apparent
throughout, and though the film does wallow
somewhat in this, it certainly manages to get its
point across.
"
Holiday
" does not make for particularly cheerful
viewing, and is more likely to be enjoyed by those
seeking a gritty, depressing slice of Korean
social history rather than the usual police
thrillers. Although a little overlong and
painfully earnest in places, it is certainly
gripping, and though perhaps admirable rather than
enjoyable, it stands as a worthy, well crafted
piece of heartfelt and politically-charged cinema.
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