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Okja - Movie Review

5 beersWant to see something beautiful?  Inspiring?  Want to also bawl your eyes out until they turn permanently red and you become vegetarian?  Okja is the movie for you.  I’ve just seen it and I can’t really talk.  The lump in the throat is too big.  I shouldn’t even be typing at the keyboard, but I must.  The power and the passion of Okja compel me to do so. 

I’m also reexamining my diet…and I love me some bacon.  After all, where does your food come from?

Okja, about a genetically modified BIG pig and her caretaker/companion, Mija (An Seo Hyun), shouldn’t be seen as an updated version of Babe.  The parallels begin and end with the inclusion (and spelling) of P-I-G.  Had it not have a needle stabbed straight toward the eyes of corporate capitalism, you might be justified in thinking that this fantastical tale might be Babe 2.0.  The animal in this feature thankfully does not talk (does whispering count?), but there is a sort of harsh modern day fairy tale vibe in this science fiction narrative about a really, really big pig – genetically modified to grow 8-feet tall, 13-feet long and weigh over six tons – made to taste “fucking good” and provide a solution to world hunger. 

Directed by Bong Joon Ho (Snowpiercer, The Host) and featuring hilariously “mad” and over-the-top performances from both Tilda Swinton as the CEO responsible for the pigs and Jake Gyllenhaal as a hack zoologist turned TV personality, Okja begins – after thrusting us into the weird world of family-owned multinational conglomerate Mirando Corporation – sweetly enough as a girl and her pig become the best of friends. 

Living in South Korea, away from the cares of the modern world, they are all they have and, apparently, all they need.  Okja even saves Mija’s life.  It’s a perfectly drawn slice of heaven as the two souls grow up together.  For Mija, who has lost her parents and has only her grandfather (Bong regular Byun Heebong) for human interaction, Okja is more than just a pet: she’s family.

It is indeed a cruel, cruel world that Okja is delivered into.  After successfully raising one of the modified pigs, Mija is shocked to discover that Mirando, arriving alongside the famous Dr. Johnny Wilcox (Gyllenhaal) to her faraway home in the mountains, wants its animal back … to measure, weigh, chop up, and eat.  Nom-nom-nom.  It’s the beginning pangs of a heartbreak that won’t soon leave.  Audiences, you knew this was going to happen and, yes, the world - especially as depicted by Joon Ho who holds NOTHING back (for those young and sensitive viewers out there) – is indeed a piece of shit.

With no other choice, Mija leaves the leafy wild of her remote home for New York City.  The dirt beneath her feet becomes cement in her quest for the pig.   She will stop at nothing to get back the animal she loves.  She’ll wind up joining forces with the chaotic and criminal world of extreme animal activists – led by performances from Paul Dano and Steven Yeun – and match the childlike wonder of her life with Okja in the South Korean wild with the sturdy resolve of a woman left scorned in the big, bad city.  She’ll risk it all, blind to the consequences, because Okja is not to eat, but to love. 

An Seo Hyun turns in a wonderfully articulate performance that is not to be overlooked due to her age.  She’s absolutely engaged and delivers a performance full of beauty and grace.  While the narrative certainly runs the gamut as far as genres are concerned, the central note – the bond between animal and man – is unwavering and, in her hands, becomes an emotional rollercoaster.  As a result, Okja is served at the place where hilarity and horror come together. 

Joon Ho handles the layered vision in Okja’s world with skill and temperance.  This is the first time a child lands a leading role for him.  He does not disappoint the balance between the two – young and old – worldviews.  Once again, his dedication to storytelling remains true to its initial approach in understanding AND controlling the message, no matter how violent and ugly it becomes.  With solid effects from Life of Pi’s visual effects supervisor Erik-Jan de Boer, designer Hee Chul Jang’s creation is brought to its weighty existence with grace and beauty.

Joon Ho’s film debuts worldwide on Netflix on Wednesday, June 28, 2017 and is indeed a game changer for distribution deals as it will also play in select theaters in New York and Los Angeles. 

Okja is a creature feature satire that will definitely raise your quality of food and conversation at the kitchen table.  It is not to be missed.

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Okja - Movie Review

MPAA Rating:
Runtime:
118 mins
Director
: Bong Joon Ho
Writer:
Bong Joon Ho
Cast:
Tilda Swinton, Paul Dano, Seo-Hyun Ahn
Genre
: Adventure | Sci-fi
Tagline:
Okja
Memorable Movie Quote:
Distributor:
Netflix
Official Site: https://www.netflix.com/title/80091936
Release Date:
June 28, 2017
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date:

Synopsis: Meet Mija, a young girl who risks everything to prevent a powerful, multi-national company from kidnapping her best friend - a massive animal named Okja.

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Okja - Movie Review

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