Son of a Chef

We went to see 파묘 (Exhuma) last weekend. It was very exciting. For me, it was the first time I went to the theater to see a Korean movie without any subtitles. That was a challenge but I mostly followed along.

I had been hoping to find some inspiration in the film to make images. It looked like it would be full of ideas. There were a lot of interesting and well filmed scenes. Some that I want to recreate but I’m not sure how or when I’ll be able to do it.

Of course, everyone that knows of the film now knows of the shots with the hanja written across one’s face. I think it looks really interesting and could make for some interesting photos in the right context. However, it does seem there was a bit of an issue with this on Chinese media. I don’t know the full details there.

The movie had a lot of green tones. I’ve been working with green tones lately, so that was easy to slide into and reproduce.

There were a lot of tall building shots, shots from windows, shots inside looking out and outside looking in. These are thoughts that will likely stick with me for a while. I’ll be mindful of how to portray these types of spaces.

The thing that was maybe most impacting to me was the use of red or orange. Some of these orange hue scenes were so striking and powerful. The establishing shot of the tree near the end of the movie is one that I’d love to have on my wall. I want to recreate it in some way or another but I’m not sure how to get that much fog outside of good luck.

Then there are the temple shots that were also awesome. Lots of low angle shots empowering the Buddhist deities or otherwise empowering the mystical.

Goodness, writing this, I want to see the film again already. I should’ve taken a notebook with me to write down what I liked best but maybe that’s not the best date mentality. I guess I could find some time to go see it again.

The movie was sufficiently creepy. The pacing was great. It moved along in a way that kept me engaged despite being a little longer. I was satisfied with the ending.

I’m sure the film is subtitled for American audiences and I would say that’s not something to worry too much about. A lot of the film is eye candy and it’s relatively easy to tell what’s going on with some knowledge of Korean culture.

One of my coworkers was so excited for me to see it. She told me, “oh, you’re gonna love this scene. You’re gonna want to take photos of it.” She was right but where I’ll find a practicing geomancer and shaman for Korea’s wealthy elite to photograph, I’ve no idea.

In the end, go see it. It was a strong film with good imagery. It was good to hear that it unseated Wonka and Dune 2 over here. Domestic production should do well. In a sea of sequels and remakes with the same actor, we always root for original stories.

As a note, I took all these photos inspired by the film. I hope you enjoy them and my short review. Go see it already!