[BIFF 2023] Star directors unleash their monsters and beasts in gala films

Three gala presentation films were shown at this year's Busan International Film Festival (BIFF), Japanese auteur Hirokazu Kore-eda's "Monster," French director Bertrand Bonello's "The Beast" and "Green Night" by Shuai Han from Hong Kong.

A scene from Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda's film ″Monster,″ a film featured in the gala presentation section at this year's Busan International Film Festival. [BUSAN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL]

Three gala presentation films were shown at this year's Busan International Film Festival (BIFF), Japanese auteur Hirokazu Kore-eda's "Monster," French director Bertrand Bonello's "The Beast" and "Green Night" by Shuai Han from Hong Kong. Gala presentation films are works that the BIFF organizers are introducing as the most noteworthy films to watch out for during the festival.

Kore-eda’s “Monster” is yet another masterpiece from the director behind films such as “Nobody Knows” (2004), “Still Walking” (2008), “After the Storm” (2016) and “Like Father, Like Son” (2013).

The film is about a mother who starts probing into her familial and social environments after noticing hair-raising behavioral changes in her young son. It shifts between narratives from different points of view of the characters, ultimately telling a story about dysfunction, the dark sides of social media and harmful authority.

"This film is about what adults need to do for the children of our society," said Kore-eda during a press conference for "Monster" at the KNN Theater in Busan on Saturday. "'Monster' also contains many elements of direction that I have not tried before."

“Monster” was screened at the Cannes International Film Festival before its screening at this year’s BIFF, and won the Best Screenplay Award at the prestigious event. It is also the last film to be scored by the late maestro Ryuichi Sakamoto. “Monster” is considerably more layered and dark than Kore-eda’s previous films, and leaves the audience wondering what the title of the film is referring to — individual characters in the story, the situation or society of the background or a more metaphysical sense of the word.

A scene from Bertrand Bonello's film ″The Beast″ [BUSAN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL]

In a strong contrast to “Monster,” French Canadian director Bertrand Bonello’s film “The Beast” is a science fiction romantic drama inspired by Henry James’ 1903 novella “The Beast in the Jungle.” Starring Lea Seydoux and George MacKay, “The Beast” is set partially in a near future where people’s lives have fallen under the control of AI. Moving between three different time periods but featuring the same actors, the film tells the story of Gabrielle, played by Seydoux, who tries to get rid of “imperfections” in her DNA by “cleansing” her past lives.

"Fear and anguish are very frontal in 'The Beast,'" said Bonello during a press conference for the film last Friday. "So the film is complex but at the same time, I think it's my simplest film because the feelings expressed are so simple, so basic and so important simultaneously,"

French director Bertrand Bonello poses for a photo at the press conference for ″The Beast,″ a gala presentation section film, at the KNN Theater in Busan on Friday. [YONHAP]

An exotic and stylistically inspiring sci-fi with plenty of food for thought about the onset of AI and the effects of technology on contemporary life, “The Beast” has been hailed as one of Bonello’s best films to date, who is known for films such as “Something Organic” (1998), “Tiresia” (2003), “Cindy: The Doll is Mine” (2005), “Saint Laurent” (2014) and “Coma” (2022). While the film does not answer the questions that it raises, “The Beast” is a solid film that will delight moviegoers who crave something other than simple blockbusters or run-of-the-mill indie films.

Next, in an Asian collaborative film by director Shuai Han starring Fan Bingbing and Lee Joo-young, “Green Night” is a story about a Chinese woman trapped in a marriage with her violent Korean husband, who meets a green-haired girl and goes on a journey together. Fan plays the woman, in her first major role in five years, with Lee accompanying her in a film that is carried by the strong performances from the actors but does not live up to the other two gala presentation films’ mastery with its end result.

A scene from ″Green Night″ [BUSAN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL]

The portrayal of the relationship between Fan’s and Lee’s characters is puzzling at times, with the narrative and story not really explaining how the attraction and camaraderie between the two had been built up. The dark background of the criminal world into which the two women delve seems trite at times, with the secondary characters coming across as weak in development. However, “Green Night” may still engage viewers with Fan’s performance, and it was invited to this year’s Berlin International Film Festival.

The 28th BIFF continues until Oct. 13.

BY LIM JEONG-WON [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]