Why do I like Korean movies? I just watched Gwoemul, which is a combined disaster/monster movie, a genre I'm usually not fond of comprised of two genres I'm not that fond of individually either. It wasn't particularly fast-paced, which I've previously thought was a trait that made Korean movies tend to appeal to me. It didn't do very much in the way of comedy (it did make me laugh several times, with things that were probably intentionally funny, but not lots of times). Despite this, I still found it an enjoyable movie that was mostly able to hold my attention. Why?
New hypotheses, given that pacing and comedy have been shot down by this. Subtitles? No, Japanese movies are subtitled and often very boring. Acting? Possibly. Everyone is very exaggeratedly expressive. Korean voices? Maybe, they are also exaggeratedly expressive, while also being mostly English-familiar phonemes. Likeable characters, perhaps. Maybe it's a big melange of all of these things, and also the tendency of Korean movies to deviate from genre clichés and overlap their genres. It makes me wonder whether Korea itself is different in the same way - would I find it strangely compelling instead of tedious and hateful like everywhere else?
Anyway. Gwoemul. Recommended for people who like, hm, the old "The Blob", "The Stuff" and "Godzilla" (not the Hollywood one obviously). Not recommended for people who like any stereotypical French movies, or movies of the genre "suspense thriller".
[02:33]
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