Review: I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK (3/5)

Young-goon thinks she is a cyborg. Having been admitted to a sanitarium (sounds more like a ‘sanitary atrium’ than a ‘sanity atrium’, don’t you think?), she refuses to eat thinking that food intake will cause irreparable damage to her system. She licks batteries instead to replenish her energy. Meanwhile, Il-Sun (Rain), an anti-social and schizophrenic who thinks he can steal anything (including table tennis skills, politeness, and sympathy), befriends her and soon develops a crazy but deep affection for her.

Two big names are attached to this South Korean import. First is pop star Rain of “Full House” fame. Second is Park Chan-wook, the director of “The Vengeance Trilogy” featuring critically acclaimed films such as “Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance”, “Oldboy”, and “Sympathy For Lady Vengeance”. Having them together in the same film is unimaginable. I couldn’t see Rain basked in the sinister darkness that swaddle Park Chan-wook’s films, but “I’m a Cyborg, But That’s OK” is a refreshing change from the retaliation-centric films tailored by the director. Although there is still some of the darkness left (in particular, the hospital massacre scene where the nurses were all shot to death by Young-goon’s finger guns), it is undeniable that the overall mood of this film is painted with pastel colors and bright sunshine.

To divulge the nifty set pieces of this elaborate story would be spoiling half the fun. What I can tell you though is that Director Park Chan-wook is at his most inventive in coming up with characters who have peculiar but believable personalities. Their psychological conditions are way beyond crazy but remain consistent all throughout the film. These characteristics are not randomly designed in order to solicit laughter from the movie-going public but are meant to illustrate a bigger picture.

“I’m a Cyborg, But That’s OK” is a cute, adorable, and charming film. It can be silly sometimes, but that’s OK.