We almost make Korean name in Chinese Character, but write in Korean. It looks super tacky. And second, Okja's wackiness buys it enough goodwill to allow for some obvious (but charming), heavy-handed (but genuine) metaphors down the road. Phones serve as a powerful mediator of their relationship. "[28], "Sofia Coppola, Todd Haynes, Michael Haneke, Bong-Joon Ho & 'Twin Peaks' Lead 2017 Cannes Film Festival Line Up", "Netflix Backs Bong Joon-ho's 'Okja' with $50 Million", "2017 Cannes Film Festival Announces Lineup: Todd Haynes, Sofia Coppola, 'Twin Peaks' and More", "Bong Joon-ho, Netflix and Darius Khondji join forces for Okja", http://www.newsweek.com/2017/06/30/okja-jon-ronson-veganism-heroism-corporate-harm-626829.html, "Okja Begins Filming with Tilda Swinton and Jake Gyllenhaal", "Bong Joon Ho's Okja Starts Filming with Tilda Swinton", "The Predator, Okja, Death Note Filming Dates Revealed", "Okja: exclusive images from Netflix's 2017 thriller starring Tilda Swinton and Jake Gyllenhaal - NME", "Cannes Lineup: Todd Haynes, Sofia Coppola, Noah Baumbach, 'Twin Peaks', "Cannes Apologizes For 'Okja' Screening Technical Glitches", "Cannes: Netflix's controversial 'Okja' gets booed for technical snafu", "Netflix's 'Okja' Booed at First Press Screening in Cannes", "Cannes apologises after technical problems and booing disrupts Netflix film Okja", "Cannes: Netflix's 'Okja' Premiere Gets Four-Minute Standing Ovation After Press Screening Snafu", "First Teaser for Bong Joon-ho's Okja, Coming to Netflix", "Every Netflix Movie in the Criterion Collection", "The 10 Most Influential Films of the Decade (and 20 Other Favorites)", "Review: In 'Okja,' a Girl and Her Pig Take on the Food Industrial Complex", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Okja&oldid=1138372563, Swinton also plays Nancy Mirando, Lucy's twin sister, the cruel former CEO of the Mirando Corporation, This page was last edited on 9 February 2023, at 09:14. meaning it needs to increase production . With billions of dollars at their behest, you cant really predict what Netflix has in mind. Come to think of it, when he says universal language, his deliberate intermixing of genres is quite understandable. Raven symbol. As an important effect to note, it makes one more in tune with their emotions. K: ? In apost-credits scene, we see that Jay, after getting released from prison, gets on board a bus with K and the other members of that organization. These images from a real slaughterhouse are even more shocking. This is why we rescued Okja. Although Okja is a fictitious monster, it has familiar animal-like qualities that create an emotional attachment with the character. Yet the entire ideology of Okja being purchasable is itself a deeply colonial notion, one that reveals capitalisms inherent need to enslave people, whether through chattel slavery, indentured servitude, or prison labor. Ks identity as a Korean-American is critical to his role in the narrative as an interpreter. This is one of many deceptions labeled "little white lies" by Lucy. Okja creates a world nothing too different from our current one, but it is imbued with such manic energy and zany characters, ones that you take to hate for all the right reasons and some that you unfailingly love, that you are happily taken along for a ride. We have a deal. The love between Okja and her human will leave you rooting for a happy ending, Okja is the newest offering from visionary filmmaker Bong Joon-ho, CEO Lucy Mirando and her corporate inner circle represent the darker side of the industry, Mija's world changes when she discovers the horrors that await her helpless best friend, Okja may be big and cuddly but Bong says his CGI creation 'bears no symbolism' to Studio Ghibli's Totoro, Director Bong insists that Okja wasn't made as an anti-meat movie, At the crash site of 'no hope' - BBC reporter in Greece. K: . Unfortunately so, they will meet their fate, an undeserved end to feed a companys corporate greed, and if you think THAT is a happy ending, you might need to reevaluate it. Berlinale 2023 Highlights, Part Two: Reality, Manodrome, The Adults, Inside, Golda, Angela Bassett, Jamie Lee Curtis, Brendan Fraser, Cate Blanchett, Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson Feted at SBIFF 2023, Revisiting Martin Scorsese's Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, Tragically Common: Jamie Dack, Lily McInerny and Jonathan Tucker on Palm Trees and Power Lines. Read More in Explainers: Prisoners | Se7en| Reservoir Dogs. Despite the scene being played as humorous, as illustrated by Jays incredulous Is that it?, this is the exact position heritage speakers are put into, especially the first generation born in the US. (For further context, Bong's 2019 megahit Parasite was made for roughly one-fifth of Okja . . Even the thrillers that he has made, some excellent ones including Snowpiercer, Mother and Memories of Murder are standouts not simply because they are well made, but because they had so much more to say in what the eccentric director terms a universal language. No question about it, even if its a tough watch in its last bits, it is thoroughly charming throughout, even heart breaking in some and eye-opening in others. The film is about a young girl who raised a genetically modified "super pig" (the titular Okja) and, after she is taken to the United States, goes on a mission to rescue her from mistreatment at the hands of the meat industry. That's not the only central message of Okja, however. For example, in Edmund Spenser's famous allegorical poem, The Faeirie Queene , the female knight Britomart is a symbol of the values of chastity and restraint, traits which many 16th-century readers . Is it a kids' movie? Okja is a Korean-American film, and pushes Bong Joon Ho's talent for spanning moods and genre conventions to its limit. 40 . Mundo urges Kim on to repossess the companys property. Read on. Im leaving this shithole anyway. Read about our approach to external linking. As the movie progresses, Jay appears to realize the wrongfulness of his actions and to show remorse. Matt Zoller Seitz is the Editor at Largeof RogerEbert.com, TV critic for New York Magazine and Vulture.com, and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in criticism. Get out. Its okay. We never hear exactly what she's whispering, but the tight closeups of Okja's mesmerized eye show us that she's listening intently and gets the gistthat the girl's words matter and make sense even though they don't speak the same language. wedding ring-symbolizes commitment and matrimony. The conclusion is almost absurdthere would have been no peril at all if Okja had simply been purchased from Mirando in the first place. It tells the story of a pig-like creature who is snatched from its young owner, Mija (Ahn Seo-hyun), by Lucy Mirando (Tilda Swinton), the head of a nefarious corporation. (One who is beautiful.) [We tear down and take animals from, umm slaughterhouses and, um laboratories Thats why we also took Okja.]. Alexa & Katie. Apart from being intelligibly made, it handles quite a few socialistic themes, ones that wed do good by us to remember and pay heed to. But we wont do it without your approval. [21], The film was released on Netflix on June 28, 2017. Director: Bong Joon-ho Writers: Bong Joon-ho, Jon Ronson Cast: Ahn Seo-hyun as Mija . He asks another ALF member, K, to translate and tell Mija that they plan to put a recording device in Okja's ear and let her be recaptured by the Mirando Corporation to document how they mistreat animals. After all, K has no problem remembering a complex phrase Mija said to him in Korean; it doesnt seem likely that he would misremember Jays parting words. BlacKkKlansman's Ending & What It Really Means. Depicting this was "absolutely necessary". Deftly blending genres, humor, poignancy and drama, Bong Joon Ho ( Snowpiercer, The Host) begins with the gentlest of premises-the bond between man and animal-and ultimately creates a distinct and . But that is not the case in English. Characters posters in some cinemas and at Cannes. This is no Disney fairytale and the story shifts to Manhattan ("the heart of capitalism," according to Bong) where it takes a darker turn, foraying into the hellish realities of animal laboratories and factory meat farms. Throughout Okja, Bong plays with the idea of translation, both its necessities and . Everything isnt sweet as roses though, since by the end of the film, youd realise that the film took you on that emotional rollercoaster of a ride only to violently throw you off without any warning: perhaps thats the best way a twist is delivered, especially when its a true one and the message needs to be driven home, one way or another. "I wanted Okja to be cute. The shock to the viewer comes from the deliberate mistranslation. The first and foremost, most obvious one, even as stated by Joon-ho Bong in a couple of interviews as well would be Capitalism, that seems to be the driving force of virtually everything in the 21st Century. The symbol-heavy film is filled with translations and allusions, however, what Okja means (whether in the movie's title or as the name of the giant superpig) is actually much more simplistic. Then, Mija murmurs something into Okjas ear, grounding her and hauling her back from a sea of traumatic memories. The pig, of course, "was important, because pigs are very sophisticated and clean," he . Hot dogs. They fucked up! [16] During the first few minutes of its screening at its Cannes premiere, the film was met with boos mixed with some applause twice: once when the Netflix logo appeared on the screen and again during a technical glitch which projected the film in an incorrect aspect ratio for its first seven minutes. As a child growing up in Seoul, Bong became a fan of Hollywood movies he saw on the Armed Forces Korea Network, the U.S. militarys TV channel. The answer to which we dont know yet. Plan B produces with . His nonchalance alarms Mundo, who is riding in the passenger seat. [27] Critic A.O. The film is about a young girl who raised a genetically modified "super pig" (the titular Okja) and, after she is taken to the United States, goes on a mission to rescue her from mistreatment at the hands of the meat . Byun Hee-bong as Heebong Mija: [holds out gold pig and switches back to English] I want to buy Okja. His 2014 post-apocalyptic thriller Snowpiercer inferred much political meaning, displaying the worst of society's imbalances on a high-speed dystopian train. I myself am part of that group. She reaches Mirandos head office in Seoul all by herself where she sees Okja being loaded onto a truck. Not many . Id like to take this tattoo, then, as another symbol channeling Okjas deeper message. English's role as a symbol of power becomes more obvious in Okja's initial rescue. The film ends with Mija having returned to the Korean country side in the hills, resuming her normal life with her grandfather, Okja and the new piglet. B: The Beginning. It was the most efficient, easy and simple way . Okay. When Jay learns that K deliberately lied, he starts to beat him up, telling him to "never mistranslate!". Frank: [picks up gold pig and dusts it off before handing it to Nancy]. Its point-of-view won't be to everyone's liking (I can see Fox News Channel getting a solid week's worth of programming from the fact that Netflix helped bankroll a blockbuster anti-meat picture). She was born in a lab . Big as a Buick and with a buck like a bronco, the giant gray pig named Okja is a force to be reckoned with. ], K: . [2] Darius Khondji joined the film as cinematographer in February 2016. It is a female name in Korea, but its a little outdated. Okja: Directed by Bong Joon Ho. He crowns Okja the best super pig and reveals that they will take Okja to New York the same day. Emphasis added. The heroine is a South Korean farm girl named Mija (An Seo-hyn), an orphan who lives with her grandfather Heebong (Byun Hee-bong) in a mountainous stretch of rainforest. In order to expose Mirando, we need video from inside the lab. women's theories of the mother-daughter relationship and absent father throughout the book. Its just, plainly said, engaging. Okja is recaptured and the ALF members are arrested, except for Mija and Jay, who are rescued by K. Nancy, Lucys twin sister, reassumes the position of CEO and starts full-time operations at their slaughterhouse. For K, translation is now a polyphonic process, one that involves multiple voices, multiple languages, and multiple configurations. But Rian is the kind of magical person who says, 'Oh, I'll just ask Bong.' Meaning Bong Joon-ho who wrote and directed Okja and Parasite and Snowpiercer, and who Rian is friends with. These meanings are embodied in common features within one's society. Okja loves Mija and Mija loves Okja, but their sacred bond is governed by a ticking clock. Ojkas ending, even though complete in itself, leaves enough room for Joon-ho Bong or anybody else to take the story forward. . In a post credits scene, Jay is released from prison and boards a bus with K, the other ALF members and some new recruits as the group preps to disrupt a major Mirando meeting involving all of its shareholders. Jake Gyllenhaal plays a slick, untrustworthy TV-show host who will end up doing nasty things to Okja. "Okja" never allows its philosophical and ethical interests to shove drama or comedy off to one side. K (Steven Yeun) vividly embodies the conflict English represents to Korean-Americans in particular, and to other Asian-Americans by extension. Frank: It wont happen again. Excerpt from Term Paper : Comfort Woman by Nora Okja Keller [.] I have to commend director Joon-ho Bong into delivering that finale. Virtually everything, from the fruits and vegetables we consume to the meat we have is genetically mutated to taste better, grow faster, and well, just be bigger to record better sales. English pulled from Netflix subtitles. Okja isnt intended to be a pro-vegan movie or anything in that vein, since we see even Mija, the protagonist being fond of non-vegetarian food herself, as she consumes fish and chicken stew in the initial parts of the film. As happens, one day, the Mirando representatives turn up at their doorstep, accompanied by Dr. Johnny Wilcox (a zanier than usual Jake Gyllenhaal), a zoologist and TV presenter, who as part of the companys renewed PR attempts is the face of the super pig program. From Mijas point of view, there is literally nothing better that could have happened. Any remaining errors are mine alone. The pig trusts her friend. Ks character deeply embodies the conflict of negotiating a hyphenated identity in an assimilationist society. Tree symbol. After a brief intro to the science behind the "breeding . Okja is a combination of pig, manatee and dog. I do have a commercial license, but I dont have workmans comp. K: Oh, yeah . After she tries unsuccessfully to speak to someone through the phone in the lobby (another symbol Ill touch on later), Mija chases down the truck transporting Okja, hoping to stop it. Mija chases down the truck but it is intercepted by the Animal Liberation Front (ALF). Project Mc2. Not everything is as it seems in the film, which is part of what makes it so gripping. The website's critical consensus reads, "Okja sees Bong Joon-ho continuing to create defiantly eclectic entertainment and still hitting more than enough of his narrative targets in the midst of a tricky tonal juggling act. The pigs were presented to the media as a "discovery" even though they were devised in Mirando's labs. All the film's many threads ultimately come back to questions of trust: what it means to keep it or betray trust, and whether there are circumstances where betrayal is necessary, and whether the trust between human and human is more meaningful than the trust between human and animal. I see this ending as a suggestion that family reunification and the ability of the marginalized to speak for ourselves is what leads to peace. We dont want to hurt you! But as overseen by the great South Korean director Bong Joon-ho ("Snowpiercer," "The Host"), they mesh in a work of melancholy enchantment, by turns sweet, funny, scary, sad, andin the manner of all good science fiction moviesthought-provoking. Consider this your final contribution to the ALF. . The next few moments show that pressure in action. 0:47. While at it, I will also add corporate greed to the list in existing in virtually the same vein as Capitalism. No one takes her seriously when she makes the request. Okja | Official Trailer [HD] | Netflix. I didn't make this film to oppose meat. Bong looked to a variety of real animals for inspiration. "We coexist with animals and we should take time to consider their perspective. It is also the tale of animal rights activists doing battle with a Monsanto-like corporation that wants to turn said pig, allegedly the cutest in a batch whipped up by genetic scientists, into a poster animal for a revolutionary line of meat products. Jay rebukes them, then continues on with his spiel. Worker: [presses bolt gun to Okjas temple again], Mija: [in Korean] No, wait! 9, 10, 20, 21 and 40 are considered the luckiest numbers for the name Okja. Updated July 26, 2018: We've got the new profile icons. [Hes Jay. Throughout the entire movie, others have spoken for Mija, whether the ALF with a pro-animal rights agenda, or Mirando forcing Mija to whitewash her experiences into palatable propaganda. And yet, in the end it is somehow warmer, or at least less brutalizing. We explore. Jay: The little girl trusted us with Okja. Wired interview, later pulled from site, appeared in sight and . Go vegan! The pig's fearful rampage through an underground shopping mall in Seoul is a marvel of composition and editing, creating surprise through clever camera angles and unexpected cuts while giving us a glimpse of the bland consumer paradise that companies like Mirando depend on. K: [presses his nail into his finger away from the others view] She agrees to the mission. But there is a pressure there, too, to be a link between groups and to be a peacemaker, one that I rarely see acknowledged in fiction. "They'll eat it if it's cheap," snaps CEO Lucy Mirando in a telling scene after she's confronted with hesitations about public discomfort surrounding her organisation's meat products. [shrugs] They fucked, not me. It has a strong moral vision and stands as an example of political filmmaking aimed at the widest possible audience. There is no need to wait for Hollywood to catch up. "Actually, it has no meaning. The modern world, no matter how much we deny it, is owned by corporates and industrial conglomerates that know no better than monetary profit, and sadly so, the future generations will have to deal with their abuse of the environment, something that Okja very pertinently and slyly puts across as a point. In this list, you'll find some of the most prominent symbols as well as learn about what each of them means. (One who is like treasure) And read this, it sounds Okja in Korean. By subscribing to this BDG newsletter, you agree to our. Sir, sir, put the gun down, its okay. He is the only Korean member shownthe only person of color at all. on the Criterion Collection. Support the Show for $1: https://www.patreon.com/TheAtZShow Twitter: https://twitter.com/theatzsh. The fanny pack is fine.] OKJA does not talk, but makes animal sounds, grunt. [4][5] It was released on Netflix on June 28, 2017. For ten years she has lived an innocent, Eden-like existence in the company of the young girl Mija (An Seo Hyun) in a remote South Korean forest. But that changes when . Such is the whimsy of human happenings, they are never unilateral or genre abiding, so to say, and Joon-ho Bong knows that and quite ably reflects that in his films. Stop stop the truck! The world outside Mija goes on per usual, the hundreds of super pigs lined up for slaughter in Mirandos labs and slaughterhouses would still meet the blade, be packaged into foods and sold at supermarkets where millions would consume them, and Mirando would continue to grow in its ruthlessness and power. 1. Netflix's Okja is being lauded as an innovative multicultural film with many important, messages, some unmistakable and some subtle. Okja. His film Parasite also made history at the 92nd Academy Awards Awards as the first non-English film to win Best Picture. Cautionary tales are not new to Bong Joon-ho's audiences, who are familiar with his style of weaving hidden messages into the cinematic narrative. A rare, standout Netflix original , among its best in years. We blaze this trail for our own. The ALF shows Okja's mistreatment to the public, who quickly turn on Mirando. The chain reaction slapstick sequences are as thoughtfully assembled as "Okja" itself, building and paying off amusing bits of business to create movies-within-movies. Nancy: [bites pig to test gold] Hmm. Mijas relationship with English changes over the course of her journey. His latest vision Okja continues that green parable. Spurred on by her rage over the betrayal, Mija smashes her piggy bank to gather the funds to go to Seoul. VideoRecord numbers of guide dog volunteers after BBC story. The new movie by Korean director Bong Joon-ho, Okja, looks at a world in which food is in short supply, and ponders how our relationship with animals will alter. Jay: You already have a shitload of money. We have a detailed plan on how to rescue her from the event in New York City. As the truck passes under a sequence of low bridges, Mundo nervously questions whether Kim even has a commercial drivers license. [24], On the film review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 86% based on 236 reviews, with a weighted average of 7.5/10. She returns to her home on top of a mountain peak, where her grandpa is waiting for her and the superpig evaluation committee. Her constant companion is the title character, Okja, a pig with the rounded snout and leathery skin of a hippopotamus, a soft pink belly, and trusting eyes. As a sociolinguist with a vested interest in World Englishes, I extend the ending out further to envision a pluricentric world where there are multiple voices in conversation. But we cant be weak. We reveal their atrocities to the public. Mija: [holds up photo of herself with Okja to a Spanish-speaking factory line worker], Worker: [hesitates as he holds a bolt gun to Okjas temple and looks from the photo to her]. Easily sensed by even a casual viewer, Okja is not your casual viewing Saturday Netflix feature. [14] Co-writer Jon Ronson said he believed the movie would "turn people vegetarian", adding, "I really dont think that was my intention or Bongs intention". Although it doesnt come through in the subtitles, Ks Korean is very elementary, typical of what a young child might say. Together, they live a reclusive life in an Eden-like place of untouched and unspoiled nature, where the only connection with the outside world is . The trading of the pig for gold is a symbol that things can be different, and shows us that corporations are willing to provide as long as they profit from it. A worker sweeps gallons of blood into a drain in Okja. Taken as a whole, I read Okja as a story that reveals the atrocities inherent in linguistic assimilation, even as it acknowledges that the ability to use English can be a tool of liberation for the marginalized. Mija and Okja successfully smuggle the baby out without anyone noticing. Parents need to know that Okja isn't a movie for kids. We tear down cages and set them free. Jay is unwilling to force a mission on Mija without her consent, and he emphasizes as he introduces the ALF that [they] never harm anyone, human or nonhuman. Yet all that respect for ethics and life disappears when K purportedly betrays their mission. Later, as Lucy Mirando and her executive board watch news coverage of the event, Kim reappears to give an interview. Mija, who is unaware of the English language, is lured away by her grandfather when they are taking Okja away, and presents her with a pig figure made of solid gold, while revealing the truth to her softly by himself. She's playful, affectionate, and inseparable from Mija, and unlike Ho's monster in "The Host," is harmless and benign. [slams Ks head against the desk]. That's some pig! 0:00. The film received positive reviews from critics. The story unfolds with young Mija, a farm girl played by actress An Seo-huyn who lives in the lush mountains of South Korea with her grandfather and their beloved genetically-engineered pig, Okja (an old-fashioned South Korean name without a specific meaning). June 30, 2017. He also bagged the Best Director and Best Original Screenplay awards for the said film. "We create psychological border-lines to avoid discomforts, so we separate our views of animals," Bong said. Real slaughterhouses are inevitably painted with blooda . Jay: [places a hand on Reds shoulder] I know its painful. We are dependent on its existence for our own, with all the complicity and trappings that that entails. Thank you. This thing is worth a lot of money. The other most-often repeated criticism of Okja has to do with its unabashed symbolism and emotional manipulation. Only then can Mija, the actual victim along with Okja, speak for herself. 3 The Revenant (2015) 20th Century Fox. Blond: Thats right. She quite literally faces off against gatekeeping. [points]. Workers in the movie use a saw to rip open the carcasses of the fictional "super-pigs," and the same thing is done to real-life cows, right along the spine. Big yet lovely, shy and introverted. He then tells her that they will only go forward with their plan for Okja if Mija consents, sparking a small debate among the ALF members about whether theyd truly abandon the plan if Mija doesnt give her consent. Jake Gyllenhaal as Dr. Johnny Wilcox . Jim Carrey-style clowning is not, to put it mildly, this actor's most comfortable mode, and his fidgety, braying, often mincing performance is so misjudged that it destroys scenes that should have been unsettling or touching. Kim: What do I care? Mija: [in English] Why do you want to kill Okja? Bong Joon-ho directs with a transnationalist, Korean lens on Hollywood tropes and expectations; his work is part of a long conversation South Korea has been having about Hollywood and the United States cultural influence on the world. A dazed Mija, although a meat eater herself, is disgusted at how inhumanly the animals were kept and treated before being slaughtered by machines insensibly in the hundreds every hour. The Mirando scientists are dying to run tests on her in their underground lab. With their emotions 40 are considered the luckiest numbers for the said film the companys property director: Joon-ho. Original, among its Best in years clean, & quot ;.! Has to do with its unabashed symbolism and emotional manipulation what Netflix has in mind take animals,... Show that pressure in action make this film to win Best Picture in Chinese character, but their sacred is! 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