Fun Spider Forest (Geomi sup): re-visit; re-think; re-spond

[sitenoise]

Now that I've seen the ending where they morph Cop Buddy's face in with Min's as he's closing the door going into the tunnel and Cop Buddy looks all sad, and then is gone as Min looks back -- what does that mean? One of these reviews mentioned the sorry "fate" of Cop Buddy. Will the spider web of intrigue with this flick never end?

I get why they morphed Su-young's face onto Su-in near the end in the cabin (I think). Min wanted to be "forgiven".

 

[clayton-12]

One of these reviews mentioned the sorry "fate" of Cop Buddy. Will the spider web of intrigue with this flick never end?

Confession time: When reviewing the film, I started scanning the faces of the children in the school and on the report cards, looking for some clue that one of them was the cop.

I think you're right. The spider’s web is a metaphor for the relationship the film has with the viewer – catching them so that no matter how much they twist and turn and struggle, they will never be able to break free of the question “WTF actually happened?”

 

[plsletitrain]

Now that I'm going through everyone's posts, I didn't know I've missed a lot (like how So-young bid has dad bye at the airport, or the one shoe missing).

The reason why I thought that the little girl at the end is a girl is I thought she wore a bonnet, which might mean she has cancer and then I correlated it to mean that she was like the young Su-in (didn't they say she was illed??). Or I'm putting color when there's none.

 

[plsletitrain]

And for some reason, I think we'll find a "gem" on those old photographs on the wall. I just need some magnifying glass..................

 

[sitenoise]

The reason why I thought that the little girl at the end is a girl is I thought she wore a bonnet, which might mean she has cancer and then I correlated it to mean that she was like the young Su-in (didn't they say she was illed??). Or I'm putting color when there's none.

that could be true. the school teacher said she died of a disease and thought it was pneumonia. So again we have a possibility of something that wrestles with the other notion that the youngster might represent a young Kang Min.

 

[sitenoise]

I started scanning the faces of the children in the school and on the report cards, looking for some clue that one of them was the cop.

I think there are major clues to be found in the pictures. They are like "the gun on the table". You don't show it unless somebody is going to use it. Also, which ones are missing when Min goes back. Big chore tackling that.

 

[clayton-12]

Also, which ones are missing when Min goes back.

I'm pretty sure one of the ones that wasn't missing was the group shot hanging in the teacher's office

 

[plsletitrain]

I'm pretty sure one of the ones that wasn't missing was the group shot hanging in the teacher's office

And the old man/woman solo pic. And there's a duo shot too but I really can't make of the faces but I'm sure its a boy and a girl.

 

[plsletitrain]

Confession time: When reviewing the film, I started scanning the faces of the children in the school and on the report cards, looking for some clue that one of them was the cop.

I think the cop has to have a story for him to be relevant. Because quite honestly, the movie could do without him unless there's a story behind his sad face in the tunnel.

 

[clayton-12]

The reason why I thought that the little girl at the end is a girl is I thought she wore a bonnet, which might mean she has cancer and then I correlated it to mean that she was like the young Su-in (didn't they say she was illed??). Or I'm putting color when there's none.

that could be true. the school teacher said she died of a disease and thought it was pneumonia. So again we have a possibility of something that wrestles with the other notion that the youngster might represent a young Kang Min.

My initial impression on the first viewing was that the child was the young Su-in - although I didn't have the benefit of the clues that the old man was Min's father.

Interesting that throughout the film, Min appears to be oblivious to (or doesn't remember) his father, who was supposed to have passed away recently - he doesn't recognise him in the hospital, he doesn't recognise the store. (Although when he sees the old man pass away, Min reacts by saying urgently that he must get back to the spider forest, and then on the way in, Min sees the old man leaving the forest - was that the father being freed because the son had remembered him?)

If it's correct that Min had forgotten/did not remember his father (for example, they were estranged) then there would be a link between the old man as the father and the young child as Su-in - they're both deceased people that Min does not remember.

 

[plsletitrain]

If it's correct that Min had forgotten/did not remember his father (for example, they were estranged) then there would be a link between the old man as the father and the young child as Su-in - they're both deceased people that Min does not remember.

That's quite plausible (although its quite challenging as the movie isn't only opaque, but the character himself has unreliable memory which makes the task more daunting for us viewers).

By the way, I took another look at the cop friend in the end. I observed the way he looked at Kang Min and he might have elicited a "you found the end of the tunnel, you'll see yourself dead" look. It was more of a relief with worry kind of look as opposed to "I have a dark secret" kind of look.

 

[sitenoise]

(Although when he sees the old man pass away, Min reacts by saying urgently that he must get back to the spider forest, and then on the way in, Min sees the old man leaving the forest - was that the father being freed because the son had remembered him?)

If it's correct that Min had forgotten/did not remember his father (for example, they were estranged) then there would be a link between the old man as the father and the young child as Su-in - they're both deceased people that Min does not remember.

Holy Crap! You're on to something here. So lets assume that's 100% correct. We still have to ask ourselves ... "well ... okay, what does that tell us?" My head hurts

The pic at the teacher's wall is still hanging when Min goes back. I just looked.

It was more of a relief with worry kind of look as opposed to "I have a dark secret" kind of look.

I agree. I think it's meant to signify they are the same person, or that cop buddy was just Min's comatose memory's imagination. I still think Min's dead and everything after he gets hit by the truck is dead stuff.

 

[plsletitrain]

There's a counterargument to the "young girl in the hospital is Su-in" theory. The nurse saw her and talked to her. So she was existing in the same time and space that the injured Kang Min is. That's hard to believe especially that Su-in existed a long time ago and I believe it was confirmed that she died of an illness.

If there's any implication of all of this (assuming that the old man is the dad and the young girl is Su-in), I think it would a bold and brave statement and would go against what we have established so far: that he wasn't in the hospital at all, that even his hospital experiences were nothing but part of the "forest" and he died instantaneously in the tunnel.

I don't know if I made sense. I'm really getting confused too.

 

[sitenoise]

That made as much sense as the movie lol. I get what you're saying. But I think once you accept the fact that he died at the beginning of the movie, anything is possible.

I'm getting more stuck by this passage from the director's interview:

Song Il-gon: I started to write about one man’s real story: how he killed two people, how he grew up, what happened with his wife, what he saw when he was young, his first girlfriend. The second story is when he wakes up. It’s another story, about how he desires and how he wants to be. It’s like his dream. Desire changes the reality … into the unreal. That’s why I had the idea to write two stories about this character. And then I started to mix what was real and what was his dream, what he really wants. I started to make it a mystery as well. But we have to know about his unconscious, that’s why I had to transfer or take out the real facts and start to re-mix the stories.

Lets break this down:

one man’s real story: how he killed two people, how he grew up, what happened with his wife, what he saw when he was young, his first girlfriend.

So that stuff all really happened. (I've been willing to entertain he didn't really kill two people, but I'll let it go).

But what is this about:

The second story is when he wakes up. It’s another story, about how he desires and how he wants to be. It’s like his dream.

Wakes up from what/where? The coma?

But what's really got me wondering is what the heck does he mean with the "desires and how he wants to be"? I never had any sense that Min was acting out of desire. Unless, for example, the red-nosed Eu-ah kitchen scene was a dream of how he desired to remember his wife and not how it really was.

What does he mean "his dream, what he really wants"? I have no sense of what Min wanted. If Min had a lick of sense he would have wanted, and desired Su-in. She's hot and mysterious, and he shouldn't have gone off on a killing spree right when things were heating up between them.

 

[plsletitrain]

But what is this about:

Wakes up from what/where? The coma?

It could be of two things. First could be literally, the coma. The other one is metaphorical awakening. I wanted to say the coma at first, but notice how he said on the first part: one man's real story, how he killed, when he was young, his first girlfriend, etc. All of these, except on the killing part, we knew of, after the coma. But he intentionally and specifically separated it, he classified it as the second story (which should not be included in the first group: one man's real story).

But what's really got me wondering is what the heck does he mean with the "desires and how he wants to be"? I never had any sense that Min was acting out of desire. Unless, for example, the red-nosed Eu-ah kitchen scene was a dream of how he desired to remember his wife and not how it really was.

What does he mean "his dream, what he really wants"? I have no sense of what Min wanted.

I have an AHA! moment now. I think what he meant with how he desires and how he wants to be, like his dream, is to change the course of events. He was given his time to recount the events that transpired prior to his killing yet it still fell short of coming out alive. He desired, he wanted, he dreamed to be alive. But he couldn't change his fate. He wanted his wife to be alive, but he still wasn't able to change that.

If Min had a lick of sense he would have wanted, and desired Su-in. She's hot and mysterious, and he shouldn't have gone off on a killing spree right when things were heating up between them.

Haha you are so cute you're still not over why he dumped Su-in for So-young!!! (This has got to be the second time you called that out). Can't blame you though, Jung Suh really is hot and mysterious, she's effortlessly sexy. Let's just believe he dumped Su-in because Su-in is set to find an Asian cinephile who goes by the name sitenoise and marry him. Hehehehe.

Seriously now, I think their relationship wasn't meant to be romantic.

 

[sitenoise]

All of these, except on the killing part, we knew of, after the coma.

Not sure what you mean by that. Everything took place before the coma. "How he killed" is part of the man's real story. I must just be misreading you.

At the end, when he's in the cabin and he tells Su-in he wants to be forgiven, he "wanted to start over". I kind of assume he meant with Soo-young, but he could mean with everything--his first marriage, his job, etc. Imagine his heartbreak, if he really did love Soo-young (which I find hard to accept--especially with Su-in waiting in the wings (even though I agree with you their relationship wasn't meant to be romantic)), imagine his heartbreak when he looked in the cabin and saw her with Boss Hog. It's her fault. She should be convicted of her own murder.

Another thing out of the blue that always troubled my understanding: when Cop Buddy tells Boss Cop that if Min had killed those two people he would have buried the bodies, not left them there to rot for two weeks. He knows Min got attacked and hit by a car. That's why Min didn't bury them.

Q: How is it that sometimes some people more or less just drive up to the cabin deep in the woods, and other times they take a ski lift shortcut?
A: Only dead people take the ski lift

I answered my own question and I totally rocked it!

 

[plsletitrain]

Not sure what you mean by that. Everything took place before the coma. "How he killed" is part of the man's real story. I must just be misreading you.

Sorry, I meant the first coma. Not the end coma. Well, he wasn't in coma at first but I meant after the hit and run where he underwent surgery. What I was actually trying to say is, the awakening must not be the second life he was given but rather a metaphorical awakening of what he perceived his life to be, otherwise, he would lump the awakening part on the man's real story part. That means the awakening must not be part of the actual things that happened. (You know what, forget I ever said anything. Believe me, I don't understand myself either. lol)

Another thing out of the blue that always troubled my understanding: when Cop Buddy tells Boss Cop that if Min had killed those two people he would have buried the bodies, not left them there to rot for two weeks. He knows Min got attacked and hit by a car. That's why Min didn't bury them.

Did he really know that? If I'm not mistaken, he did not categorically tell the buddy cop that someone hacked him and he got hit by a car. The film just told us (or the cop for that matter) as the film moves on, as he recounts the events but I don't remember him telling the buddy cop right after the incident.

Q: How is it that sometimes some people more or less just drive up to the cabin deep in the woods, and other times they take a ski lift shortcut?
A: Only dead people take the ski lift

I answered my own question and I totally rocked it!

Ha! Kang Min is alive!!!!! By the way, I never thought of the ski lift as a mode of transportation for them. It was more of a tourist attraction rather than a mode of transpo (I may be speaking from the POV of a citizen of a third world country).

 

[plsletitrain]

Funny we're almost at 100 posts, and at 5 pages at that and we're still filled with so many question marks. *pulls own hair*

 

[sitenoise]

Did he really know that? If I'm not mistaken, he did not categorically tell the buddy cop that someone hacked him and he got hit by a car. The film just told us (or the cop for that matter) as the film moves on, as he recounts the events but I don't remember him telling the buddy cop right after the incident.

They don't show Min telling Buddy Cop this detail during his first bedside visit, but after the cops are doing the crime scene and Top Cop suggests to Buddy Cop that since one of the victims was Min's GF it was likely a crime of passion, Buddy Cop tells Top Cop that Min said he saw someone running out of the house. I guess I would assume Min also mentioned he gave chase and got whacked, but who knows? I guess I also assume, given where Min's body was, that he got hit by a car would go without saying. But Min could have wondered (<--See what I did there? lol) into the tunnel looking for a shovel to bury the bodies and got hit by a car.

Funny we're almost at 100 posts, and at 5 pages at that and we're still filled with so many question marks. *pulls own hair*

Probably time to lay this one to rest.

Shall we team watch another? Something old, something new? For some reason this film brought another quasi-korean horror to mind: ‎The Uninvited. Stars [URL='https://letterboxd.com/actor/jun-ji-hyun/']Jun Ji-hyun [/URL]and has an amnesia theme.

 

[plsletitrain]

Shall we team watch another? Something old, something new? For some reason this film brought another quasi-korean horror to mind: ‎The Uninvited. Stars Jun Ji-hyun and has an amnesia theme.

I'm all for amnesia-themed and a psychological thriller at that (I won't complain, that's my favorite genre). But ahem, its the queen of overacting. Is her acting here fine-tuned or one that will make my eyebrows skyrocket to the heavens again?