THE UGLY Finds Beauty Through Artful Storytelling
Hey friends, Barbarella here. Have I ever told you how much I love Korean cinema? Of course I have. The Ugly is yet another example of how beautifully a story can be told without relying on the voice-over narration that so many films coming out these days are apt to do. Well Go USA released the award-nominated film digitally Tuesday, March 10, and it’s worth a watch if you enjoy good storytelling. It will land on BluRay and DVD exclusively through Amazon on May 26.
When Dong-hwan‘s mother’s remains are discovered after she’s been missing for forty years, he goes on a mission to find out what happened to her. Determined to uncover the truth of her disappearance, he embarks on a twisted odyssey through his family’s traumatic past, uncovering dark secrets along the way. He is joined by the documentary filmmaker who’d been doing a story on his blind father’s nearly miraculous ability to make incredibly beautiful stamps, but she may have her own motives for accompanying him.
Broken into “interviews,” the story takes its turns through the past, all while exposing family secrets, bad employers, and those special kinds of relatives that might make you laugh or maybe just cringe.
Everything is assembled so beautifully. The cinematography, the editing, the choices made to mask the mom’s face in scenes where she appears all elevate the film’s intrigue. Even though it’s not a fast-paced film, it proves riveting. Despite the fact that Dong-hwan is accompanied by a documentary crew, the film is not shot