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CAMEL(S)
6/10
Nakta
(dul) : South Korea 2001 : Ki-Yong Park : 92 mins
A
fortysomething man (Lee Dae-Yeon) collects a fortysomething woman (Park
Myung-Shin) from Seoul railway station in his car. They’re both married.
They don’t know each other very well – she works at the pharmacy where
he collects his prescriptions. They drive to a seaside resort, where they
have sex in their hotel room. Next day, they drive back to Seoul.
That’s
it. So little ‘happens’ in Camel(s) that the viewer must pay close
attention to every detail – though the couple’s conversation is ostensibly
as banal as the décor of the hotel room. Using black and white digital
video, Park observing the pair with long takes that will probably test
the patience of even the most adventurous arthouse audience. Though all
the dialogue is improvised, there’s nothing accidental here – everything
is careful, deliberate, steady in its remorseless neutrality, though Park
does break up his ‘action’ with a couple of jarringly effective, briefer
shots, including an enigmatic shot of the couple standing on steps that
lead down to the water.
It
should go without saying that the title is never explained, or even referred
to, although towards the end there is a reference to the ‘humps’
in the road that the man’s car has to negotiate. The director has said,
in interview, he chose the title because “Camels are said to be the only
mammals that can survive in harsh desert conditions, and I think only
humans can survive the complicated modern daily lide. The image of camels
strolling absent-mindedly through the endless desert was the key image
I thought of when making this film.”
Fair
enough – but, like almost everything in the film, all of this is a matter
of very restrained inference.
Many
will, undoubtedly, reject Camel(s) as meaningless, infuriating,
boring, self-indulgent and pretentious – the film is unashamedly closer
to conceptual art than conventional cinema, and the concept is, perhaps,
more intriguing than the execution. But those able and willing to adjust
to Park’s rhythms might possibly find this a rewarding hour and a half
– or, at the very least, a refreshing change of pace.
10th
March, 2002
(seen 10th February, Cinemaxx Berlin – Berlin
Film Festival)
by Neil
Young
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