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(Movie Review) Alien or human, marital trouble universal in sci-fi romance
By Shin Hae-in
SEOUL, Sept. 8 (Yonhap) -- How does one distinguish between the norm and abnormality? If snow falls in the middle of August, can you still call it a summer day?
"How to Live on Earth" examines this boundary between the usual and the weird through the eyes of a lonely, poetry-writing alien named Yeon-woo (Park Byeong-eun), whose marriage is falling apart. Each morning he wakes up feeling lost in his Seoul apartment, uncertain of who he is, where his home is, and finding himself increasingly attracted to another woman who may also be from outer space.
What Yeon-woo does not know is that his wife Hae-rin (Jo Si-nae) is an undercover agent who married him purely for the purpose surveillance. But despite their tedious relationship, the couple becomes unexpectedly jealous upon learning of each other's secret affairs -- a typical "human" feeling that is key to this bizarre and intriguing story.
Director Ahn Seul-ki hopes that what viewers will see is how these strange circumstances are similar to their own lives -- and, in that, how normality can be strange to outsiders.
"I wanted to make something unusual appear to be the norm," he said after the movie's Seoul preview Monday. "Despite the unusual setting, this story reflects regular middle-aged people and their marriages."
The third feature from Ahn, who debuted with the Lyon Film Festival-winner "Five is Too Many" in 2005, "…on Earth" won the committee prize at the Seoul Independent Film Festival last year and has been invited to the Syracuse International Film and Video Festival, the Barcelona Asian Film Festival and the Jeju Film Festival, among others.
Currently teaching film at Seoul Polytechnic School, Ahn majored in mathematics in college, an educational background that shows in the theories he has mixed into his work, including his short "Inflexible Vending Machines (1999)."
Though "…on Earth" sags at moments, Ahn's unique approach generally succeeds, skillfully mixing domestic drama into a science-fiction thriller. Setting Earth as the "prison" to which aliens are banished after sinning, the filmmaker portrays aspects of human beings that make them "humane," if not normal. In this world, they are a species that feels sympathy, jealousy, anger and affection -- creatures that are special through their flaws.
While the Yeon-woo has a key inside his head that will allow him to escape Earth, the wife has a gun that can kill the woman who fell for her husband. In this tense balance, they hesitate to make their next move, not only because they are afraid of the consequences but because they do not want to betray and hurt their spouses -- just like any "ordinary" couple.
The movie was made with the support from the Korea Film Council. It hits local theaters Sept. 24.
hayney@yna.co.kr
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