Castaway on the Moon (Hae-jun Lee, 2009): South Korea

Reviewed by Nitsa Pomerleau. Viewed at Metro 4, Santa Barbara Film Festival

Castaway on the Moon is an eccentric and playful film by one of South Korea’s emerging writer/directors Hae-jun Lee Jae. The film brings light to the art of being an outcast—with a humor and honesty that is universally understood and remarkably personal. If you are at all curious as to what the “Indie Romantic Comedy” of South Korea could be, watch this one.

The story begins with Kim (played by Jeong Jae-yeong) a 30ish man whose amassing credit card debt provokes him to jump off a bridge.  Instead of death, he is washed upon an island that would be deserted if it were not positioned directly beneath a busy bridge in the middle of the Han River in Seoul. After failing to hang himself, Kim decides that compared to his past life in a superficial society, a struggle on the island is worth living.

Enter Kim #2 (Jeong Ryeo-weon). Kim is a young woman living in an apartment that overlooks the Han River. She hasn’t left her room for three years and lives in a virtual, internet reality supported by her parents’ kindness . Hidden behind her  beloved camera, Kim grows fascinated with the nearly nude “alien” romping about on the island. As she studies him from the comfort of her own island, Kim cultivates an illuminating affection for her fellow castaway (who, thankfully,  looks nothing like Tom Hanks).

This film, which is an escape in itself, explores the nature of isolation (be it deserted island or cramped apartment) in a contemporary context. Both Kims retreat to a place with little interruption from the urban mania— an instinct that has manifested in various forms on this overpopulated world. While watching Castaway on the Moon I was reminded of “ Shaking Tokyo” a segment of Michel Gondry’s collaborative 3-part film Tokyo! . The short film is directed by South Korea’s Bong Joon-ho and  features a male “hikikomori” who leads a lonely existence from within his own home. Which makes me wonder, could the urban recluse character be a trend amongst South Korean filmmakers?

We should hope so, for there is something strikingly personal about following a character in their private and removed domain. Visually, the bizarre design of Mr. Kim’s trinket-littered duck-boat house and Ms. Kim’s piles of canned corn and bubble-wrap bed tells us more about these characters than most dialogue could. Furthermore, the symmetry in the development of both Kims and their individual (even opposite) islands creates an attraction that the audience can’t help but fall for.

The film’s slow pace combines a little oddly with Mr. Kim’s overacting, which I suspect may be a layer of the South Korean sense of humor. While Ms. Kim (played by Jae – Yeong jeoun) adopts more subtlety—as befits her introverted nature. The comedy that survived the translation (and me) lies in the simple dialogue, grossly human behavior, and some impeccably timed close-ups. But it is the sensitive development of the two characters that gives the film its distinctively modern beauty.

Castaway on the Moon does not deliver an emotional upwelling or epiphany. It is uplifting and human and best of all—funny. One exults as Min’s struggle to die turns into a struggle to live (and I know that last bit sounds terribly cheesy but watch this and then wish you didn’t have a beautiful South Korean recluse with pink hair watching you on her zoom lens).