Jeri Jacquin

Coming to theatres from director Um Tae-hwa, Lotte Entertainment and 815 Pictures comes a look at disaster and the unfolding of humanity after with CONCRETE UTOPIA.

Beginning with a quiet night in Seoul, everything is about to change. A powerful earthquake is shaking so badly that houses are collapsing and apartment buildings are falling – all except for the Hwang Gung Apartments. Surrounded by piles of rubble and destruction, the day brings people trying to find loved ones and how to survive until help arrives.

It becomes clear quickly that those who live in the surviving apartment building that protecting it must happen right away. Min-seong (Park Seo-joon) is a quiet civil servant who has a good heart and loves his wife Myeong-hwa (Park Bo-young) who is a nurse. They immediately want to be of help to anyone who needs it and takes in a woman and her child.

Knowing something has to be put together, Geum-ae (Kim Sun-young) tries to bring together a group to decide how it should be done. When a fire breaks out in one of the apartments, Yeong-tak (Lee Byung-hun) springs into action and Geum-ae sees him as a natural leader. That gives the group the idea that he would be more than capable of handling decisions about the complex.

The first thing Yeong-tak decides is that if a person isn’t a resident of the complex, they must vacate immediately. Gathering supplies like food and water is difficult enough to take care of residents. Things get a big ugly when the people outside who want in decide to push back but the complex residents push even harder keeping them out.

The work begins barricading and starting some semblance of a life when they realize that no help is coming. Groups of people go out to look for anything that will help them survive. But nurse Myeong-hwa isn’t happy with the way things are going and makes it clear to Min-seong that she suspects something about their elected leader Yeon-tak.

As with all uncertainty, chaos begins to take hold as secrets are revealed and outsiders do not forget!

Byung-hun as Yeong-tak is a clever man from the very beginning. Entering as shy, it doesn’t take long for the saying ‘absolute power corrupts absolutely’ comes into play. Everyone has their secrets and Byung-hun’s character is just like everybody else – or is he? What an great character to play with all the twists and turns slowly happening and the viewer is never quite sure what the truth is.

Seo-joon as Min-seong is a man who loves his wife and is not much of a boat rocker. He goes along to get along even if it makes him slightly uncomfortable. He doesn’t want to upset the status quo and yet he is upsetting his wife with every move he makes. That being said, he also wants to help as many people as he can putting himself in dangerous situations (for cake, you’ll see) to try and ease the uncertainty of survival.

Bo-young as Myeong-hwa is a woman that certainly isn’t going to be pushed around. Not loud in her opinions, she is less obvious about the moves she makes. Wanting to help those who are left behind, she is not of the same mind as her husband or Yeong-tak. Bo-young gives her character a stance that she holds on to from start to stunning finish and I was all in for her choices.

Ji-Hu as Hye-won takes the reigns from the beginning but doesn’t want the top job. She follows Yeong-tak, as does everyone else, and enjoys the benefits of cheering when things go right and backing the leader when things go wrong.

Other cast include Na Chul, Do-yoon Kim, Kim Hak-sun, Nam Jin-bok and Dong-gon Kim.

Lotte Entertainment is a fully-integrated leading entertainment company with film, distribution and production of over hundreds of films such as CATTLE RUN, STREAMING and SINGLE IN SEOUL. For more of what they have to offer please visit www.lotteent.com.

CONCRETE UTOPIA is a stripped-down look at humanity. There are no fancy sets to hide behind, no colorful costumes and zero bright bird chirping scenery. Instead, there is destruction, grey and dingy surroundings that offer no hope and little expectation of easy survival. Once that realization sets in, so does the predicament of who rules and how they rule.

Always in the midst of it all are kind hearted individuals who see the inequities and either do something that gets them in trouble or away from prying eyes. That’s what makes this cast so perfect at the story they are trying to tell. Director Tae-hwa offers faint glimpses at how humane this new world can be and then takes it all away by revealing the ugliness behind the desperation to survive.

Well told, well performed and well directed makes CONCRETE UTOPIA a worthy film to be considered on several levels in performance, casting and bringing it to the screen. Coming in at two hours and fifteen minutes, it is suspenseful from beginning to shocking end. Award season is on the horizon and this film is South Korea’s Official Oscar Submission.

In the end – obey or leave!

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