Movie Melting Pot…’I’m a Cyborg, But That’s Okay’ (South Korea, 2006)

Park Chan-Wook is most notable for his revenge films. ‘Oldboy’ is what really put him on the map of movie fan-dom, but the other two films in the “Vengeance Trilogy” were met with equal enjoyment. His follow up directing effort after the last film of the trilogy, ‘Sympathy for Lady Vengeance’, was something that surprised movie geeks all around the world.

‘I’m a Cyborg, But That’s OK’, is a romantic comedy about a young woman (Im Su-jeong) who thinks she is, in fact, a cyborg. Institutionalized, the girl refuses to eat, claiming that the only nourishment her body needs is from sucking on batteries and giving herself electric shocks. In the mental hospital, the girl meets a young man (Korean pop singer, Rain) who believes he can steal people’s souls. From her lack of real nourishment, the girl begins to physically deteriorate, and the boy must figure out a way to help her.

When ‘I’m a Cyborg’ was released in South Korea in December of 2006, it opened at number one with almost $2.5 million. Unfortunately, it didn’t favor very well the second weekend, dropping 76%. The film was virtually pulled from theaters by the time Christmas rolled around. The film was considered a major disappointment by Park’s standards, where his previous films sold millions of ticket sales. When all was said and done, ‘I’m a Cyborg’ grossed a little over $4 million in its own country. It played as SXSW in 2007, but never got an official release in the US.

The film was nominated for several awards including Best Actress at the 2007 Asian Film Awards. It also won several awards including Best Actor for Rain at the Asian Film Awards, the Alfred Bauer Prize for Park at the Berlin International Film Festival and Best Screenplay at Sitges. It was selected as the opening film at the Hong Kong International Film Awards.

‘I’m a Cyborg, But That’s OK’ is a great film as strange as its title suggests. It’s a very original love story that should shock absolutely no one who is familiar with Park’s work. It is very sweet, but certain moments bring out the familiar territory Park is known for. At one point, the girl get shock treatment, and she believes she has been recharged. Believing herself to be a combat cyborg, she fantasizes that she can fire bullets from her mouth, and proceeds to take out the entire hospital staff. It’s a bloody scene, but knowing that it all really isn’t happening helps the hilarity of the situation come out.

This is a film that fans of Park Chan-Wook should definitely seek out. It is available only on a Region 3 format DVD from Tartan Films. A definite campaign should be made to get Tartan to release this in the US under their Tartan Asia Extreme banner.