Okja (2017) — Bong Joon-ho
Netflix’s best superpig.
If the imaginary Mirando Corporation’s intention was to bring the world’s attention and support its new product , the “superpig” — a transgenic animal created with the sole purpose of slaughter — , Netflix’s attempt to bring its multicultural clientele closer in one film can be seen in “Okja”.
Corporate executives from Netflix found the best man possible to fulfill this task: director Bong Joon-ho, acclaimed not only in his homeland, South Korea, but also in the rest of the world for his films made with a high level of technique that make the entire difference when shooting his action scenes, for example. Although starting off as an art-sort of filmmaker, inspired by artists like Hou Hsiao-Hsien and Shorei Imamura, it was his commercial successes that brought him to fame and allowed him to actually achieve such a quality work. That is, Bong Joon-ho allies great films to great public, which is what Netflix looks for in its superpigs. Although different from his well-known “Memories of Murder” and “The Host”, which were suspense pictures, “Okja” brings some elements common to many of the director’s films, like the role of childhood’s innocence in teaching the world of grown-ups, or the centrality of family in the story plus the action scenes and dark humor. “Okja” tells the story of an already defined superpig, named Okja, and its human friend, Mija (Ahn Seo-hyun), a Korean girl who lives in the countryside, as Lucy Mirando (Tilda Swinton) and herMirando Corporation tries to take down Okja to sell its meat as it always intended to. With the help of activists Mija tries to get Okja back from the corporative slaughterhouse and faces all dangers and adventures.
With no spoiler intended, I move to mention a couple of topics interesting to discuss, such as the multicultural factor in this film, from the story and the characters to its production, release, direction and writing. “Okja” was a Korean-American production that involved professionals of various origins, which certainly has a positive consequence in making a film about a universal theme, such as the animal farming globalized industry. And it is merely a reflection of the future and the current trend of making films in cooperation with different parts of the world and different cultures. One of “Okja”’s most amusing and shocking scenes shows the leader of the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) violently scolding another activist for mistranslating what was said. “Translation is sacred”, he says, and it is indeed, since men depend on communication, which depends on language, which has to be properly translated. It is at this point that the importance of this scolded activist, who is a Korean-American, is understood, for he traverses between both English and Korean, which gives him essential power. Here’s a link for another interesting reading on the Korean-American issue addressed in the film.
Finally, it’s important to mention the environmental appeal of this piece of work. Bong Joon-ho’s filmography shows passion for what goes on behind the curtains of events, such as what happened in the serial killings depicted in “Memories of Murder”. The same thing goes for the other writer of “Okja”, Jon Ronson, who Wikipedia says is famous for “his informal but skeptical investigations of controversial fringe politics and science”. By the hands of these two talented men comes the story of a fictitious transgenic animal invented for the sake of selling in an attempt to be a more “green” company; a more animal-friendly slaughterhouse. They imagined that if companies didn’t kill the already existent animals but only the one kind created solely for this goal, killing massively, cruelly and greedily would be acceptable. It’s clearly a fantasy creepy tale, but it is so conceivable. Besides, it’s like what Nancy Mirando (also Tilda Swinton, but with braces) asserts: “If it is cheap, people will eat it”.
“Okja” is a film with a great deal of sensibility but a clear and firm plot line. It is recommended for all people, from those interested in watching a good film to those only looking to be entertained. Although this is not a good suggestion for the ones who can’t take the truth of animal cruelty — emphasis on the “truth” — .
