By Matthew Moorcroft

Solid Recommendation

• Directed by Um Tae-hwa
• Starring Lee Byung-hun, Park Seo-joon, Park Bo-young, Kim Sun-young
• Not Rated

I find myself at a crossroads with Concrete Utopia. So much disaster media is focused on the actual end rather then the aftermath or the people that are affected by it that I find myself drawn Concrete Utopia‘s depiction of a post-disaster society immediately enthralling. And to Concrete Utopia‘s credit, it almost never deviates away from that initial pitch. The brief glimpses we get of the disaster, almost entirely in flashback sequences scattered throughout the picture, are quick and jittery. The vagueness of the disaster as well – it’s an earthquake but also one powerful enough to look more like a volcano eruption that sends skyscrapers to their knees – is clearly intentional, meant to invoke the feeling of the end of the world rather then a realistic version of the tragedy.

It’s just weird then that Concrete Utopia, with it’s look into the aftermath of the end, is also so focused on minutia. The society that does form in the wake of said disaster, made up of apartments residents of one of the few apartment buildings that was left standing, is so well defined that it comes off as it’s own built in, lived in world. With a ton of factions in the background, an outside world that seemingly has it’s own set of stories going on, and personal interplay between the cast that seems to extend to every resident, you would think that it would be too much and the film would collapse under it’s own weight by the end.

And it very nearly does, to be frank. Concrete Utopia is never bad mind you – it’s too well directed and acted, as well too entertaining, to be that – but it’s so packed to the brim with “stuff” that it almost becomes too much. You can tell, for better and for worse, that is based on a manhwa; it’s mythology is too defined and it’s overall sensibilities are laser designed to have nicknames for every little thing. Those inside the apartments are “residents”. Those outside are “vermin”. It’s both social commentary while also giving the entire world some form of texture.

It’s better off when it isn’t that though. For all of it’s attempts from the outside trying to be a big story in a big world, Concrete Utopia is ultimately more successful as a character drama. The excellent ensemble cast, led by some of Korea’s biggest actors in terms of star power, all have more going on they initially give away, particularly our two leading men who both have something to hide. After all, when push comes to shove, does the actions of the past prevent somebody from doing good in the now? Or do they simply just show their own hypocrisy?

And once the tale reaches it’s conclusion, Concrete Utopia’s own final thoughts on itself are ones that are humanistic and compassionate. There is a religious imagery abound in much of the latter half of the film and while I’m not sure all of it works, the call for shared, collective action over individualistic ideals point to an overall hopeful perspective that contrasts the bleak, almost nihilistic tone of much of the rest of the film. It’s an interesting note to end on, but it’s one that indicates that rewatches of the film will be particularly rewarding in terms of trying to see certain things coming ahead of time.

I don’t think Concrete Utopia is particularly revolutionary by any means – and it’s sheer size means it’s constantly about to fall over. But I will take ambition like this over anything else any day of the week, and it’s craft across the board, especially it’s inspired production design, means it’s a visual feast at the very least. Completely understand Korea’s decision to make this their pick for International Feature.