- Actors: Choi Min-sik, Jung Man-sik, Kim Sang-ho
- Director: Park Hoon-jung
- Format: Dolby, NTSC, Subtitled, THX, Widescreen
- Language: Korean
- Subtitles: English
- Region: Region A/1
- Number of discs: 1
- Rated: Unrated
- Studio: Well Go USA
- Release Date: August 9, 2016
- Run Time: 139 minutes
The screenplay
for The Tiger is like a delicate
balancing act, made possible by the tradition of effective melodrama in South
Korean cinema and by the carefully patient screenplay from Hoon-jung Park
(I Saw the Devil, New World). The film’s
basic premise requires the audience to sympathize for the non-human title
character, while also respecting the inevitable decision of the human
protagonist to hunt him. This may seem contradictory, but it never feels forced
within a simple but layered screenplay which is effectively executed thanks to
nuanced human performances and an impressively realistic CGI tiger.
Min-sik Choi
(Oldboy, Lucy) stars as an aging hunter named Man-Duk Chun, who has been living
in the same wilderness as a legendary tiger for years, making him the expert
the occupying Japanese forces first seek out in attempting to kill the beast.
Angered by the embarrassment the tiger has caused the Japanese forces unable to
kill him, a Japanese officer becomes single-mindedly obsessed with his defeat.
By hiring countless Korean poachers to pillage their own land to serve the
pride of Japan,
The Tiger subtly shows the way that
foreign occupation eroded national unity. Tigers are hunted to near extinction,
but Man-Duk refuses to help them find the one tiger that they really want,
hiding his own tragic past with the beast and the wilderness.
In the hands of
many other filmmakers, The Tiger
would feel contrived and manipulative. There is not a great deal of narrative
beyond this basic premise, but it is in the execution that the soul of the film
comes alive. Underlying themes provide layers of meaning beyond the surface
spectacle. But the spectacle also never overwhelms the narrative, instead
pacing out sequences of intense action with thoughtful drama and character
development. Even if we know that the aged hunter will eventually face the
tiger, there is no rush to force Man-Duk into this situation until it makes
sense for the character, and this takes nearly all of the 140-minute run-time.
Just as important as Man-Duk’s
motivations is the representation of the tiger itself. Ang Lee’s Life of Pi made incredible progress in
the development of an expressive CGI tiger character, and The Tiger builds upon these technological advances. But it is more
than just good special effects, though that certainly helps. The Tiger actually takes the time to
make the animal a character, and it becomes far easier to sympathize with the
beast when the tragedies he faces parallel those also occurring to Man-Duk. The
flaws in some special effects of the action can easily be forgiven because of
the film’s effectiveness in creating empathy for the CGI animal.
The Tiger is not a perfect film by any
means. The effects are good, but Korean CGI is still noticeably sub-par to what
Hollywood audiences have come to expect. The
melodrama is effective, though often shamelessly manipulative. There were many
times during the course of the film that my brain nearly rejected the content
of the film, but suspension of disbelief was made possible due to the effective
emotional impact of the melodrama. This is not atypical of narratives involving
animals, though it typically does not end with them being hunted. The Tiger is a simple and beautiful
film, but one which should have failed any number of ways.
The Blu-ray
release is the best choice for a special-effects-driven movie such as this.
Sadly, there are no special features to show the behind-the-screen process for
the movie’s technical achievements, but this is still a preferred release, if
only to appreciate the CGI tiger. All that is included in the extras is a
trailer.
Entertainment Value:
9/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 8.5/10
Historical
Significance: 6/10
Special Features: 1/10
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