Jul

31

2008

Beautiful (Arumdabda)

Posted by luna6

10 Comments so far

1. 10 kes Says: August 28, 2008

   Thank you both for discussing this movie.
   I had so many questions that I didn’t kew where to start. After reading your discussion I feel that I understand a whole lot.
   Its always nice and exciting to hear other ppl mind.

2. 9 luna6 Says: August 9, 2008

   Hey Tracey…

   >> I don‘t think the film puts any kind of guilt on the woman.

   The scene where the two police officers went through the videotape her attacker secretly filmed of her. I remember Police Officer “A” said specifically he understood better why the rapist raped her after watching the videotape, he may have wanted to do that himself and went on to say something about the way she dressed may have been a contributing factor.

   >>I felt the story didn’t let her blame herself. She punishes her beauty which she experiences as something other than who she really is. She doesn’t identify with her beauty.

   I’m guessing from your name (Tracey) that you’re a girl so you may have better insight into this than me. With that said, I certainly believe she identified with her beauty and recognized that quality to be part of her person.

   Reference the bathroom scene between her and her girlfriend’s boyfriend. He comes on to her in the bathroom (at the cafe) and she tells him straight up “don’t you realize your beneath me?”

   Also somewhere in the beginning of the film she mentions all the problems that comes with her beauty — being misunderstood, jealousy, questioning true motives of others, wanting to be left alone…etc.

   >>I hope you won’t mind, I’d like to take the ideas we discussed here to my blog an AnD?!

   sure feel free. I’m not sure if I read it right but is “an AnD” your blog’s name or does that refer to something else I’m not aware of? Regardless feel free to use these chats, link back is appreciated as I can read it myself later. cheers….

3. 8 Tracey Says: August 8, 2008

   Luna6:
   You wrote: “And the rape scene in particular which you used to make your point. The compassion in that scene, from my point of view, is purely illusionary.”

   It is. On the story level, for sure. The police officer‘s self-sacrifice - in his own eyes an act of compassion/love - is in essence just another appropriation (of her body, of her state of mind) and a paternalistic transgression because he ignores her right to self-determination (even if this includes self-abuse).

   You wrote: “The problem? She’s set free, implying she was guilty of something in the first place.”

   I don‘t think the film puts any kind of guilt on the woman. It even portrays her as someone with high ethical standards (contrasted by those of her friends). Hm. Maybe I used the wrong word… what I meant is the therapeutic moment of liberation when auto-aggression turns into anger against the outside world.

   You wrote: “And in the story, after the woman does get raped, the woman is scripted to blame herself …”

   I felt the story didn’t let her blame herself. She punishes her beauty which she experiences as something other than who she really is. She doesn’t identify with her beauty.

   You wrote: “…and is scripted to finally free herself because of the help …. of another obsessed man.”

   True, there is a strong ambivalence in the officer‘s motivation and in his „solution“ but it does work - the man actually has enough insight into her emotional world to come up with something that rips her out of her self-destructive stupor - which eventually gets her killed, which could be safety in death, only that it isn‘t - and so on, ambivalence, ad nauseam. In Kim‘s and Jeon‘s world, there is no happy-ever-after, not even temporary relief.
   .
   On then filmmaker level, Jeon builds on this moment of UNDERSTANDING and depicts the motivation behind it as love, even care - maybe not in deviation from Kim‘s scripted dialogue but surely by using the non-verbal space of actions and images. He emphasizes the woman‘s suffering by off-setting it with a cruel world dedicated to male wish fulfillment and let’s his heroine – stuck in a classic dead end – go out in one blazing ball of fury. I felt this is the filmmaker‘s compassion (and respect) for her – giving her battling death traditionally reserved for male tragic heroes. Kim would have left us out in the cold with an officer most likely blood-related to the near-catatonic protagonist in Breath or the emotionally impoverished Bad Guy and a succumbing heroine going out in a whimper.

   Kim‘s films (and Jeon‘s here) to me often toss (fleshed) exemplifications of a concept in a bubble into a cinematic environment of images. A lot of his stuff could easily be done on a naked theatre stage, for sure. What made Beautiful particularly disconcerting for me - the tension between the „irreality“ of the exemplifying characters (which I‘m used to from Kim) and heavy „realism“ of the (mysogynist) environment where we see Jeon‘s hand.

   You wrote: “I could have went along with that premise better if the story was told through the police officer’s eyes (the skewed viewpoint would have made more sense). But instead, we have a screenplay written by a man, but told from the viewpoint of a woman.”

   LOL! Agreed, another male filmmaker wearing baby-blue glasses believing that what he sees is the color of the world. But to stay fair, Jeon makes an effort. It’s just that almost all female film characters reveal more about the scriptwriter/director’s vision of women than about women. Their male characters generally are more diverse, dynamic, and ambivalent. (Maybe that’s why I identify with them much easier - I’m always Peter Pan, who in a sane mind would want to be Wendy? :-P )

   Another long one. *guilt
   But thank you for replying. This type of dialogue always helps me clarify a lot :-) Thank you!!!
   I hope you won’t mind, I’d like to take the ideas we discussed here to my blog an AnD?!

4. 7 luna6 Says: August 7, 2008

   Tracey:
   Thanks for your very insightful views on the film. You brought up some points that didn’t even cross my mind. A lot of the feelings I had during the movie were negative, but I couldn’t precisely pin point why. I just felt this suffocating tone of anger against beautiful women. I can at least internalize it better from your comments.

   Specifically, you mentioned how “Beautiful” shows a level of compassion not seen in Kim’s films before. I thought about that.

   And the rape scene in particular which you used to make your point. The compassion in that scene, from my point of view, is purely illusionary. The problem? She’s set free, implying she was guilty of something in the first place. Slight difference but to me its important. Particularly in the context of “Beautiful” where the main character is a women, but the director and screenwriter are men.

   I could have went along with that premise better if the story was told through the police officer’s eyes (the skewed viewpoint would have made more sense). But instead, we have a screenplay written by a man, but told from the viewpoint of a woman. In the story, the woman is constantly objectified as a sex object to the point where guys will rape her if they can’t have her. And in the story, after the woman does get raped, the woman is scripted to blame herself and is scripted to finally free herself because of the help …. of another obsessed man.

   I don’t see this as compassion. Rather, I find the whole premise a sly smokescreen to convey the filmmaker’s conscious or subconscious true beliefs, which fall in line with the beliefs of the men in the movie rather than the beautiful lady.

5. 6 Tracey Says: August 7, 2008

   I can see where you’re coming from in your review. HOwever, there are some points where I can’t agree with you.
   I’ve seen maybe seven or eight of Kim’s films, and the vibe in beautiful is decidedly different. There’s an element of compassion that have yet to see in Kim’s work.
   There are similarities subjectwise in terms of projection, disintegration of moral code through obsession leading to transgression, appropriation through violation, and victimization.

   In Beautiful, the officer, in a self-sacrifycing act of love (and again selfish appropriation), forces the rape victim to shoot him. But by becoming a stand-in for the rapist and, literally, putting into her hands the means to defend herself, he sets her free - he enables her to no longer direct her anger against herself but turn against those who objectified her.
   The bleak (and graphic) end - that even in death women can not evade objectification - merely points to the fact that in reality an escape/salvation is just as illusionary.

   Whereas the mysogynist aspect in Kim’s work, I feel, stems from his firmly rooted male/subject-woman/object set up, often cherry-topped by the woman’s final submission into the given power structure, Jeon focuses on making the woman’s down-spiralling journey of misery accessible to the viewer (pity/compation, clearly defined role of victim)and eventually has her strike back. Not very Kim Ki-Duk’ish, I think. Sorry, this got inappriately long. My apologies.

   As an aside: I really enjoy your work!

6. 5 Rico Says: August 6, 2008

   1 KRRJNN Says: August 4, 2008 In the movie, nearly all men are obssessed with Eun-young’s outer beauty the very moment they lay eyes on her. Then, the next second they want is to make a pass at her. Are men this shallow and sex-driven when they see a woman as stunningly beautiful as Eun-young?!

   But isnt this the case in almost every Kim di duk movie ?!
   So its probably his own way of thinking…

7. 4 PrincelyLuna Says: August 5, 2008

   as much as i like watching Kim Ki Duk’s movies, most of them left me grasping for comprehension either as to their ending / conclusion or the actions (i.e. the motives or the reasons behind) of the characters in the movies.

   i haven’t seen this movie yet but judging from your comments, this one is going to boggle my mind too. despite of it all, i wouldn’t miss watching anything from or ‘related’ to Kim Ki Duk though.

8. 3 KRRJNN Says: August 5, 2008

   To me, the MOST disturbing scene in this movie is the very final one. I just cannot comprehend - despite Eun-young’s “state of condition”, that man still gets spell-bound by her beauty and wants to sexually harrass her??? I wonder what message the director wanted to convey or what state of mind he had when he wrote the script….

   I have no background information on Ki-duk Kim and therefore, cannot share your views. I did see “Time” some time ago. I think the female protagonist is not very mentally stable… The man finds her insane when he finds out the truth, but then, why does he go to have a plastic surgery himself too?? What he does left me scratch my head…

9. 2 luna6 Says: August 5, 2008

   I think I had similar problems with “Beautiful” as you did KRRJNN. I found the movie disturbing in that the point of view seemed to be told through the main character, a women, but in actuality seemed to come from the various men that surrounded her. All of whom were obsessed with her beauty and angered when they couldn’t have that for themselves.

   On another note, Ki-duk Kim did write and produce this film, but let someone else direct it. Who knows exactly why he didn’t direct it himself, but if I had to guess, I would say it goes back to the hoopla Ki-duk Kim caused when he spoke negatively about “The Host” and the lack of positive recognition he received in his home country. This caused a strong backlash against him and he went on to apologize for those comments and acknowledged the lukewarm reception may have had something to do with his bleak / disturbing points of view in his past films. He also mentioned he would steer clear of this type of material. Maybe that’s why he passed on directing “Beautiful” but still wanted the film released?

10. 1 KRRJNN Says: August 4, 2008

    In the movie, nearly all men are obssessed with Eun-young’s outer beauty the very moment they lay eyes on her. Then, the next second they want is to make a pass at her. Are men this shallow and sex-driven when they see a woman as stunningly beautiful as Eun-young?!

    I first felt sorry for Officer Choi who feels agony at heart to see Eun-young suffer. However, towards the end, I found him being nothing but a pathetic soul with no sense. Before he does what he does at the end, why cannot he simply be sensible to bring her to see a psychiastrist!! What he does only aggravates the situation…..