THE world of film is a worldwide industry, meaning that Hollywood, though the most popular, is certainly not the only film-producing body on the planet. If audiences were to open their eyes to the many other film industries in the world, new realms of entertainment are bound to be unearthed, new ways of viewing the world could be established, and a better understanding of the world itself can come about by exposing oneself to global film industries. Take South Korea, for example, and the stunning movies that have been coming out of that country.

Oldboy, The Handmaiden, and I saw the Devil are all examples of truly fantastic films functioning as both forms of visual art and mechanisms to be used for entertainment. However, the sad reality is that most of the local audience would be unaware of such films due to the way Hollywood has rooted itself into the minds of audiences, not only in Guyana but, all over the world.
Perhaps then, Bong Joon-Ho, one of South Korea’s most imminent and talented filmmakers has found the avenue for introducin

g his films to a wider audience, by utilising a company that is surely becoming an important component of the Hollywood machinery- Netflix- to distribute his newest film, Okja.

The film which premiered earlier at Cannes this year, has been referred to as an “international production”, probably due to the way both prominent Hollywood and South Korean actors were cast in the film, and the fact that it was shot in various locales around the world, in English and Korean. One can only hope that Bong’s newest feature finds a place in the hearts of the Western audience, because it certainly deserves such a place.
Okja tells the story of a girl named Mija (Ahn Seo-hyun), who, along with her farmer grandfather in the forested mountains of Korea, raises a genetically modified pig named Okja, a hybrid of several different animal types, created solely for the purposes of reproduction and consumption by the shady Mirando Corporation, run by pastel-clothed sociopath, Lucy Mirando (Tilda Swinton).

The bond between Mija and Okja is a strong one, established early on in the film in the natural, idyllic forest that the two idle in, spending their time eating and sleeping. Also early on, we get the impression that Okja’s intelligence is way above that of any other animal when we see how the pig managed to save Mija’s life. However, Mija and Okja’s peaceful existence are disrupted when Mirando dispatches Dr. Johnny Wilcox (Jake Gyllenhaal in his most eccentric performance ever), a drunkard and zoologist, to retrieve Okja and bring her to New York to be a part of Mirando’s machinations to sell genetically modified pig meat to oblivious consumers. After Okja is taken, Mija embarks on a quest to get back her pig – one that sees her traverse continents, liaise with radical animal rights activists, and bring down the entire Mirando Corporation.

Okja is full of heart and comedy and drama and this combination of genres, shifting and changing as the film moves along, makes it one of the most unusual movies of the year. While some have found the shifts in atmosphere and mood jarring, it is possible to view and appreciate this unusual blending within the film because, after all, isn’t life itself a mishmash of comedy, drama, splendour, love and horror? It works for some, but if that doesn’t do it for a particular set of audience members, there are other elements about Okja that simply cannot be denied. The creation of Okja, for example, is a wonder to behold. Not only does Okja work as the film’s central character, but, somehow, there existed a wonderful chemistry between the CGI pig and Mija, which can probably be attributed to Ahn Seo-hyun’s skills as an actress.

She is formidable on screen and gives an assured performance, even while sharing screen time with Tilda Swinton (fantastic, as always) and Jake Gyllenhaal (in an exaggerated but fun performance). Paul Dano, Lily Collins and Steven Yeun as the activists are all solid in their roles, but it is the Korean actor, Choi Woo-shik, as the detached and hilarious driver, who stands out, stealing every scene he is in with his wry one liners.
From a directing standpoint, Okja works really well.

The scene with Mija riding on Okja’s back, as the pig thunders through Seoul was amazing to watch and when matched with the emotional scenes, such as the moment when Mija saves Okja on the platform at the end, shows that Bong Joon-Ho is a director who knows the importance of both what is seen and what is felt in visual storytelling. Of course, there are important messages to the film (corporate greed, genetically modified food, the merits of veganism), but the main thing that people will remember after watching Okja is that it is a story about a girl and her pig, and maybe, if they were real, that is exactly the way Mija and Okja would want it to be.