Fest Track On Sirk TV Film Review: DROWN [International Film Festival Rotterdam 2022 - Virtual]
The aspect of perception and mental health continues in textures of isolation in "Drown" [P&I Selection]. Do-woo (Lee Joong-Ok) runs a dilapidated motel with his sick mother on the edge of civilization as she battles dementia and he swirls in the essence of her mental blackness. The area of his life and the story of the surrounding area is draped in rain, green, gloom and the lingering tragedy or lucid forgetfulness of conflict and war. The movement of time seems to swirl especially since Do-Woo's restricted existence is simply being a punching bag for whoever comes through or a repository for their shortcomings or anger. The particular aspect of this film resides in its psych-anthropic structure (which also acts as a physical inhibitor of sorts for Do-Woo). As the film progresses, it is sometimes hard to discern what might actually be real and what might be facets in his head. Certain real world tragedies begin too permeate into his life and a mysterious stranger transfixes what might be Do-Woo's Id.
There are certain odes to "Fight Club" to be sure form a quarantine perspective where one is fighting with oneself. The hotel plays to a voyeuristic sensibility and stillness as well but all chambers start to represent different aspects of love, anger, lust, rage, etc. It is Do-Woo's limbo for sure but one where he is both the aggressor one would think and the victim at the same time. The only thing that seems to waif on the wayside is the notion of consequence. The overarching themes of a nearby lake which contains the bodies of the opposing force in the Korean War is a somber and yet macabre reminder of what rage lies beneath a cold surface. The dread builds but with the idea of what Do-Woo might become or what he already bathes funnels interpretation of certain ideas of religion and gossip. Joong-Ok plays Do-Woo with a gentle melancholy while the different actors that mull around him either preying on his weaknesses or feeding into his wants against his own wishes make "Drown" a perfect representation of pandemic psychology: lost in isolation with a texture of ambition waiting to show itself. B-
By Tim Wassberg
