What They Say:
Byeong-wu (Ryoo Seung-bum, The Unjust) has left the world of professional baseball behind and found success as an insurance salesman. But when one of his clients commits suicide and there are questions about advice he provided to the insured, his own life spins out of control. As he prepares to defend himself against pending criminal and internal investigations, he remembers selling life insurance to three suicide survivors whose financial motives may be suspicious. Now Byeong-wu must scurry through the city in a frantic attempt to chase these people down. Can he convince them to change their plans – and that life may be worth living – before time runs out?
The Review:
Audio:
Presented in its original Korean language with English subtitles, we get a very nice audio presentation with the film. There really isn’t a lot to write home about because the film is a very quiet piece that consists of a lot of dialogue. I can’t really praise the audio presentation when there’s nothing bombastic about the film to make it stand out and be of note. The film sounds good and has a good mix where we always hear the dialogue.
Video:
Viewing the DVD through my Blu-Ray player, which upscales the video quality, is a perfectly pleasant experience. No video anomalies are made apparent and everything looks really nice without the extra bump of a high definition transfer.
Packaging:
I am not a fan of the packaging here, at all. The main image is a large and clunky photo that is extremely unappealing and gives off an extremely comedic tone. The same quirky nature and comedic tone carries over to the back side of the box and that image is far less clunky and is somewhat interesting in design. It just made me think I was about to watch something completely different from what I actually ended up watching.
Menu:
The main menu is a port over from the main image on the front of the packaging. It’s very plainly designed but not unattractive or poorly designed. I have complained a bit already that the comedic tone present in the packaging bothers me because of the actual content of the film, but it kind of work here in the main menu. It works simply because we have a big fun Jazz score playing in the background. It gives a very lively feel and I’m entirely certain that the irony of that was entirely intentional.
Extras:
The disc comes with a Behind the Scenes featurette that is really interesting. It is a group of discussions with the filmmakers and the way they discuss the movie and what their aims were are fascinating. Fascinating in that, what they discuss focuses on the subtlety of the humor that permeates the films and makes it seems as if they were making a straight comedy. There’s almost no mention of the serious subject matter and the depressing tone of the film. But perhaps that was just my pull from the film. The disc also features the original trailers and some text biographies of the cast and crew. Nothing stand out on the set but that featurette is definitely a welcome and nice touch.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Originally released in Korea in 2011, The Suicide Forecast marks the feature film directorial debut of music video/commercial director Cho Jin-mo. The premise follows former baseball player Byeong-wu, now a shameless life insurance salesman, during his final weeks at his current employer. The company he works for is currently under an extreme amount of pressure due to numerous payouts from clients committing suicide in unusually high numbers. One night, a client calls up Byeong-wu and requests a consultation. During this consultation, it is revealed that the client wishes to commit suicide and wants to know if his claim will be honored. Of course, any life insurance claims will not be rewarded in the case of suicide. However, the client continues to pressure Byeong-wu into telling him how he could die and still have the claim paid to his family. The scene ends with Byeong-wu simply asking, “Do you drink?”. It is then revealed that the client went out and consumed alcohol and committed suicide by leaping in front of a subway train. This event leads to both a lawsuit and an investigation against Byeong-wu and his company. During a meeting with his manager, and former baseball partner, Byeong-wu discloses that he sold life insurance to three individuals who have had a history of suicide attempts. The clincher is that all three of their policies mature in two weeks time and, following the previously explained pattern, that will likely be when they commit suicide. Byeong-wu’s objective is to try and convince these three individuals to either cancel their policies or change them from life insurance to a retirement plan.
This movie is hard sold to be a comedy. From the original Korean trailers, to 5 Pictures’ DVD art, and the basic premise. However, this movie is extremely depressing! In the opening scenes that setup the plot, we get one of the most shocking and horrific car accidents I’ve seen on film, near non-stop moments of characters going through hard times and personal trials, and a display of despicable greed that hits to the core of any decent human being who would feel appalled by their actions. Byeong-wu and his manager are not good people and the film does a great job of showing us how cold and callous they are and that business is all that matters. There are plenty of moments peppered throughout that are obviously intended as comedy and, yes they are kind of funny, but any humor is almost immediately drowned out by the actions taken on the screen.
How can we laugh and root for our hapless insurance salesman to rise victorious and clear his name in simple terms of legality when we see ourselves and everyone around us suffer. I don’t intend this as a negative review but the contrast between marketing, and the attempts to follow that marketing approach, and the reality is extremely jarring and prevents the film from finding a solid foundation for a good portion of the movie. Once the setup is established, we begin following Byeong-wu as he engages with each of the potentially suicidal clients. We learn about their lives and the circumstances in which they find themselves. Throughout the whole movie my heart continuously felt for these people. Life has dealt them a shitty hand from the beginning and they are doing everything they can to barely hang on.
The film presents to us, in these characters, reasons for committing suicide. How can we possibly want these people to carry on in the abysmal shitstorm that their lives have become when our only reason for doing so would be to appease greedy corporate desires and not for any of the right reasons? This is a tonal struggle that we deal with for approximately two-thirds of the film. Then the finale hit. In a single stroke, we are given the truth about Byeong-wu’s encounter with the client and the day of policy maturation arrives. Suddenly, we not only give a shit about Byeong-wu but we want everything to turn out okay. We’ve always wanted things to be okay but we wanted Byeong-wu to lose. The film works out a way to wrap up all of the plot threads in a terrifically powerful display. I will keep no secrets, I had tears flowing down the sides of my face for a solid ten minutes.
The Suicide Forecast is ultimately a true to its name “feel good” movie, but the journey through its two hour runtime is crushing. We despise the corporate cog of a protagonist, we empathize greatly with the clients, we see that life is always ready to make things even shittier than they have been already, and we just want everything to mean something. I declare it a testament to the methodical direction of Cho Jin-mo that we are kept on the fringes for so long and in one emotional burst get the meaning and purpose we have been needing. Paired with extremely competent choreography and terrific performances all around, The Suicide Forecast is a movie that I wholeheartedly recommend despite not wanting to recommend it for 90 minutes. The film is the rare exception where the journey isn’t everything, it’s the end that matters.
In Summary:
From the opening scene onward, The Suicide Forecast is not a rocking good time. It is crushingly real and extremely introspective in both how we look at our own lives and how we judge others. There is a ton of heart here and you feel it the entire time. Unfortunately the incessant need to try and pepper the film with comedy doesn’t work as well as it was intended. It’s not because those moments aren’t funny, it’s because everything else is so depressing, we feel bad for even thinking to laugh. But the emotional journey our protagonist goes through is both earned and rewarding for the viewer. Not a single moment in this film feels fake or forced. The technical merits of the film itself are also of note. Director Cho Jin-mo has an eye for style and each scene looks terrific but never encroaches into outlandish territories. Everything is consistently ground in reality and Jin-mo knows how to brings out the best in every shot. Those merits along with the pre-planned structure of the film make him a director I will keep an eye out for in the future. It’s not a easy film, and has the above mentioned issues, but I think it worth the watch; just stick through until the end no matter how shallow Byeong-wu gets.
Features: Korean Language, English Subtitles, The Defending Insurance-Sales King, Special Insurance: Behind the Scenes With Director Cho Jin-mo, Original South Korean Trailer, Cast and Crew Bios, Trailers.
Content Grade: B+
Audio Grade: B
Video Grade: A-
Packaging Grade: C
Menu Grade: B-
Extras Grade: A-
Released By: 5 Points Pictures
Release Date: March 19th, 2013
MSRP: $24.99
Running Time: 124 Minutes
Video Encoding: 480i/p MPEG-2
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Anamorphic Widescreen
Review Equipment:
Sony BRAVIA KDL55EX720 55-Inch 1080p 3D LED HDTV, Sony BDP-S580 Blu-Ray Player via HDMI cable set to Auto.
