Okja (2017) Review!!

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

My Take – Watch these brilliant films – Memories of Murder (2003), The Host (2006), Mother (2009) and of course Snowpiercer (2013), and you would know the reason behind all the hype surrounding South Korean director Bong Joon Ho latest venture, which Netflix both produced & distributed. Director Bong Joon Ho is without a doubt one of the exceptional & marvelous directors today, mainly as when it comes to juggling genre and tone almost no one is his equal. Here, marking its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival this year, with an all-star international cast, this maligned Eco-concerned super pig drama maybe be one of the most original films in recent memory and one of the best films so far this year, plus it also helps that the film maker has made this his most accessible film yet; however, some may also consider it kind of bizarre! It’s funny, it’s sad; there are happy moments, and deep emotional ones, but despite the drama and comedy going on in this, it also addresses problems going on in our world, and really made me think about these issues. This film delves into the dark side of the corporate livestock industry, this is something that we’ve all seen countless times on documentaries about the industry but here director Bong Joon Ho dramatizes it and takes the stakes to a whole new level by giving us a reason to sympathize with the characters and emotional impacts. I wouldn’t call it a piece of vegetarian propaganda, though I can see why people find it too preachy to be entertaining. For me, this film is more of a portrait of political cinema, on how the cycle of abuse works in the industry, and how the corporation has two faces: the smiling, jubilant heads they show to the public and the dirty, notorious brains they have, grabbing for money, behind the screen. The story follows Mija (Seo-hyun), a 14-year-old who has lived with her grandfather (Hee-Bong Byun), a farmer on the mountain side of South Korea for most of her life with Okja, an intelligent genetically modified super pig gifted to them by the Mirando Corporation as part of a competition.

Ten years ago, the then newly appointed CEO Lucy Mirando (Tilda Swinton) in an effort to revamp the failing image of her family company announced a competition between 26 of their best super piglets which were developed in their labs as a non-GMO food source to help fight hunger. All this years, Okja has been under Mija’s care, playing together, plucking out fruits & fishing together. However, things go awry when the corporation and super pig judge Johnny Wilcox (Jake Gyllenhaal), a famous zoologist & TV personality comes to collect Okja, who is clearly the finest of the super pigs in the world, and send her back to New York, USA to get her ready for the competition & ultimately be consumed. Discontent with the decision, Mija picks up whatever saving she & her grandfather had collected all this years, and follows them to Seoul, in an attempt to get her best friend back, and comes up against the corporation thugs who claim their rights on Okja and a group of animal rights activists called Animal Liberation Front aka ALF, consisting of K (Steven Yeun), Red (Lily Collins), Silver (Devon Bostick), Blond (Daniel Henshall) and led by Jay (Paul Dano), who want to help Mija & expose Mirando Corporation for the evil it is. Thus, follows a series of events set forth by Mija’s determination to rescue Okja from the fate of being slaughtered to feed an overpopulated, starving and consumer-filled world. If you’re a fan of the director’s previous work, especially “The Host,” then you won’t be disappointed, even if you’re not familiar with his work, you won’t be disappointed, f you can get past the slight weirdness of this film (which might not fit everyone’s taste), I can promise you that you won’t regret watching this. Similar to Bong‘s 2006 breakout film “The Host,” a monster film about a doltish dad who will do anything to rescue his daughter, this film plays to family themes (a girl and her pet) but presents them through a mature, adult lens (corporate greed, environmentalism, genetic science). Here director Joon-Ho further demonstrates his mastery of his filmmaking craft, effortlessly juggling tones and genres, composing scenes that brim with drama and excitement, and leaving audiences with another multi-layered commentary on capitalism. Blending the lyrical, moody fantasy kid’s films like Pete’s Dragon with over-the- top corporate satire straight out of a PETA propaganda, this film might be his extreme example of said thesis yet. It’s a film that’s both emotionally resonant, hilarious, and at times both at the same time. It may be a few beats short of a classic like his other films, but is a hell of a testament of his talent. The film’s tonal sifts are elliptical to say the least, transitioning between outdoor adventure scenes, to low key drama, to high octane madcap chases, to blistering satire, to emotionally grueling drama, and at one point between heart wrenching thought provoking drama to slapstick comedy within the same scene. For a film that seems so painfully predictable on the spectrum of save the environment film genre, there’s surprisingly a lot to unpack here. For example, Mija just wants to save her big piggy friend, not overall stop the corporate machine. The revolutionaries have a well-intentioned motive but go through very slimy and demented options to get there. Heck, even though Mirando is doing a lot of evil to our adorable super pigs, they’re never seen as evil to others; they’re just too busy wondering why this super meat taste so good! Sure, it takes obvious jabs at the meat industry (even as far as to make Okja a literal species straight from a LAB!) but Bong is too smart to fall under cheap trappings. His ultimate saying actually, is that no matter how much damage capitalist economy does to nature in general, it’ll probably never be stopped. But all that matters is not about “who’s gonna stop it?” Or “save our animals” but rather to preserve the love of two odd friendship between a girl and her big animal friend. If the socio-political commentary content here feels like a stretch, the film still functions well on a story/character level.

Director Bong Joon-ho takes steps to ensure that empathy is achieved with the characters, specifically for Mija and Okja. The scene early on in which Okja saves Mija from falling off the cliff works really well in doing this. We see not only Okja’s ability to empathize here, but her ability to think and problem solve, driving the viewer to empathize with Okja as we would a human. Mija is shown caring for Okja as well, solidifying two emotionally agreeable protagonists in the film. This actually helps put the audience in the third-party perspective over the primary dichotomy. Director Bong has such a specific perspective on society that comes through in way subtle as he brilliantly whittles the story down to one pivotal moment at the end, and the outcome of all this chaos suggests he’s neither pessimistic nor optimistic. Perhaps he would argue that it’s not his business to come down one way or another, but simply to use a giant hippo-like pig to at least prove that our world is majorly – and maybe unnecessarily – complicated. Near the end of the film, we are shown the truth about the Super Pig program and are shown an awful sight of electric fences keeping these large animals together in crowded and cramped spaces across acres of land. I also liked that the film also focuses on the group of animal activists and played with the idea of ethical considerations that not only these major corporations have to think about but is something that even the ‘liberators’ have to consider and go through. Indeed, ethics was a major theme of the film and how the modern corporate society only cares about the profitability over the ethic of choices and action. The film also explores the believability of marketing and advertisements, and makes consumers question our own choices and beliefs based on what we are told and fed by these marketing campaigns. Hilarious and deeply disturbing, violent but also quite warm, Bong has created another distinctive film that makes him one of the most interesting filmmakers that not enough people are talking about. Obviously, the film is not perfect, the CGI of the titular creature Okja in its clear majority of scenes does not seem real, always standing out more than the environment. So, do not get me wrong, the CGI is good, I understand that it is extremely difficult to do, especially when it has to be done in so long screen time, and with a minute budget ($50 million) for such kind of a film, but in the day sequences, the CGI does not convince. What most caught my attention here is the acting, particularly Seo Hung in her first leading role. She keeps the emotional component grounded throughout the film and provides the most resonating moments. The kid expresses helplessness & a sense of heroism, with astonishing results. Her affecting relationship with Okja is the emotional core of the film. Tilda Swinton, in dual roles, is at her vicious best. As 2 ruthless sisters/businesswomen, Swinton portrays her parts with gut-wrenching sharpness. Paul Dano is a scene-stealer, yet again! As the non-violent animal-activist, Dano blows up the screen with a virtuoso performance. Jake Gyllenhaal goes all-out (maybe a bit too much) in his portrayal of an eccentric zoologist and falling TV personality. Gyllenhaal crawls your skin, and for the most part, for the right reasons. Lily Collins, as a fellow animal-activist, leaves a solid impression. In supporting roles, Byun Hee-bong, Steven Yeun, Giancarlo Esposito, Daniel Henshall, Devon Bostick and Shirley Henderson. On the whole, ‘Okja’ is definitely a film that is worth a watch for its incredible performances, exciting, heartwarming moments & intriguing storyline.