JULY 18, 2017
I can say without fear of contradiction that “Okja” is like nothing you’ve ever seen before.
“Okja” is all at once a comedy, a scathing satire, a chase movie, an expose, and a warm bonding film (a la “E.T.”) between a child and a strange creature.
The creature in question is Okja, a “superpig,” one of 26 swine that the Monsanto Corporation…oh, excuse me, I mean the Mirando Corporation…has placed with farmers around the world. It’s a corporate ploy to put an adorable face on their plan to create genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in place of food, a plan touted as humanitarian by company CEO Lucy Mirando (Tilda Swinton), who pushed aside the former CEO, her sister Nancy (also Swinton), to put her plan into place.
Big flashy satire is one thing that Bong does well, as in his very first scene, Swinton as Lucy struts onto a stage with all the corporate confidence of Faye Dunaway in “Network,” complete with flashy graphics and expert stagecraft. Yet Bong gives us a moment when we can see that, underneath all the hoopla of her big superpig announcement, Lucy is absolutely petrified that she can’t live up to the legacy of her sister.
Cut to a quiet forest in South Korea ten years later, where we meet one of the 26 super pigs, Okja, who has been loved and cared for by a 13 year-old girl named Mija (Ahn Seo-Hyun in a wonderful performance). In a lengthy, nearly-wordless sequence, we see the beast and the girl romping in the forest, with love for one another present in every frame.
Speaking of Okja, I know that I continue to rag on CGI in these pages, especially in comic book movies where bad computer generated images run rampant, especially in third-act robot battles. But the CGI work on Okja is absolutely gorgeous (in the picture above, look at the detail work on the texture of Okja’s skin — just remarkable). This movie wouldn’t have had a chance of working if audiences didn’t buy that Okja was a real beast, and the quality of the CGI helps to accomplish that.
Unbeknownst to Mija, she and her grandfather Heebong (Byun Hee-bong) only have had ten years to raise Okja, after which time the superpig will be returned to Mirando to an unfortunate fate. One day, the public face of Mirando, zoologist and TV animal-show host Dr. Johnny Wilcox (Jake Gyllenhall, with whom, I promise, we’ll deal later) climbs the steep hillside to announce that Okja is the best of the 26 superpigs and will be taken to New York for an elaborate Mirando ceremony.
While Mija is visiting her parents’ graves, Dr. Johnny loads Okja into a huge van for the trip to Seoul and eventually to New York. When Mija returns to find Okja gone, she gives chase and, as young girls tend to do in these films, catches up to it. While clinging to the roof, the van containing Okja is hijacked by animal activist Jay (Paul Dano) and other members of the Animal Liberation Front (ALF), which plants a camera behind the superpig’s ear to capture just how inhumanely Mirando treats the animals. (Bong has no shortage of targets to satirize.)
Then it’s off to New York for an event that…let’s just say, doesn’t go as planned.
Bong has always been particularly good with actors, and here he has a cast working in all kinds of acting modes. Ahn Seo-Syun and Byun Hee-bong as granddaughter and grandfather are acting in a very heart-tugging realistic mode, which is key for “Okja” to work because their storyline constitutes the heart and soul of the film. Paul Dano is also working in this mode which helps to prove to the audience that, despite the fact that the ALF is being satirized, he is utterly sincere in his desire to save Okja.
With a glorious career filled with eccentric performances, Oscar-winner Tilda Swinton has blossomed in this, her second film with Bong. In her first, 2013’s “Snowpiercer,” she played an outrageously buck-toothed villain who never lost believability, while being both hilarious and menacing at the same time. Here her Lucy is vulnerably insecure while putting on a brave face to the world, while Swinton’s Nancy is unbelievably cruel, but she, unlike Lucy, sure knows how to get things done. Another great dual performance from the ever-surprising Swinton.
Then there’s Jake Gyllenhaal. Even among the many critics who adore “Okja,” there’s a consensus that Gyllenhaal goes too far as Dr. Johnny Wilcox. Now I’m a big fan of overacting in the right circumstances and was particularly intrigued by Gyllenhaal indulging, as he is an actor whose most memorable performances have been very interior — “Brokeback Mountain” in film and this year’s “Sunday in the Park with George” on Broadway — so I was interested as to what an overacting Jake Gyllenhaal would look like.
Yikes! Even as an overacting fan, this is way beyond what any director would allow (and Gyllenhaal is obviously following Bong’s direction). His unhinged behavior makes it difficult to believe that Dr. Johnny has the kind of credibility that would legitimately allow him to be a credible television host. Decades from now when it’s lifetime achievement award time, “Okja” will likely not be on his highlight reel.
Other than the creature itself, the real star of “Okja” is writer/director Bong Joon Ho. The compositions of his shots are absolutely masterful, with much credit due to Iranian cinematographer Darius Khondji (“Se7en,” “Midnight in Paris”). And in almost every scene, Bong has created an unexpected moment, whether it’s a sidelong glance or a quirky response, that make his scenes distinctive and especially memorable. For me, at least, Bong is one of 2 or 3 most creative writer/directors out there, and “Okja” is yet another reaffirmation of his extraordinary brilliance.
If you live in New York or Los Angeles, Oscar-qualifying runs of “Okja” are being held in big-screen theaters, so that if you can, by all means see these beautiful compositions on the big screen! If you can’t, pop open a frosty one and treat yourself to “Okja” in the comfort of your own home. You won’t regret it.
GRADE: (without Gyllenhaal) A-. (with Gyllenhaal) B+
