Fantasia is back!

Arahan
Originally uploaded by Oblivia.

"Arahan" is the first of a number of movies I will be seeing this year. This is a fun flick but don't take the description of "chi masters" from the Fantasia catalogue as "people blessed with extraordinary talents and supernatural skills" too seriously. Chi is a universal life energy that some are more able to access than others. The massage I was getting in Korea was from a chi master and trust me, this guy was no superman.

Much of the humour and spirit of this film comes from the way these chi masters are muddlers just like us guys; they're not having existential crises, they're mostly trying to figure out how to pay the gas bill...until this badass chi master shows up one day. The emphasis is away from instant transformation (part of the reason why I find superhero films so one-note) and toward dedication and understanding one's right motivation. How's that for a take home message!

The girl character, Eui-jin, is very cute for those who are interested in such things...but has the flattest ass I have ever witnessed on celluloid. She's the love interest and there is definitely some tension but there is no kiss, there is no love awakening. The villain in this film has that Ahn Jung-Hwan (soccer player) pretty boy look, pimped out. He looks like he could be a bass player with a Stone Temple Pilots soundalike. Judging by her reaction to the incredible but such a huge-downer-it-could-only-be-a-Korean-film "Musa the Warrior", Roomie T would like him, I'm sure.

Coming up: "Please Teach Me English" and "Another Public Enemy".