Tropical Manila

The story is set against the background of a poor neighbourhood in Manila. It focuses on a father and his young son who are preparing for a great and violent conflict – a conflict that is announced primarily in a visual way in striking and occasionally gruesome details. The father is a Korean who fled the country almost 15 years ago after committing a murder. Now the crime has almost lapsed, he prepares to leave Manila. He wants to see his old mother again. His Filipino wife begs him to take their son with him to Korea. The conflict in the family gets deeper when the father refuses. He wants to leave his son behind. The confrontation between father and son gets completely out of hand, but eventually they are condemned to each other and have to carry on together against their wishes.
This visually powerful film mixes realistic images with very stylised ones. Apart from shots of violence, the film also includes powerful, explicit sexual images, but this is not purely for effect. Lee has obviously had a serious film training and works with the master film maker Kim Ki-Duk. For this first feature, the images are strikingly self-assured and the story and theme more than mature. (GjZ)