The blights of patriarchy, which seem to be quite prevalent even today in Korean society, have been examined a number of times recently, particularly by women filmmakers, both in fiction and documentaries. Another aspect of the issue though, that of the burden placed on men, is seldom (if ever) portrayed in the cinema of the country. Yun Do-yeong tries to fill the gap with his latest short, which takes place in a slaughterhouse.
Slaughter screened at Busan International Short Film Festival
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The movie begins with a style that points towards the documentary, as the camera follows a man inside a slaughterhouse. A rather brief but tense scene essentially begins the real narrative, highlighting the discomfort the protagonist, Sang-woo, feels, something that actually continues in the next scenes. The fact that he is being admonished by a colleague for not doing a good job cleaning the restrooms adds to his discomfort while highlighting how low in the “chain” he is. Soon, a higher up comes and takes him away to another job, where, with the help of some other men, he brings a somewhat unwilling cow into the pen.
The movie then moves back to the initial, tense scene, where the protagonist is tasked with killing a cow, with a shot on the animal’s brain. Expectedly, things do not go well. The man who was telling him about the toilets eats with him in the next scene, giving him some advice about the job, while surprising him with the fact that he is an Indian working in a cow slaughterhouse. Then he gets admonished for messing up once more, with his boss stating that the only reason he is there is because of his father. Things are not better in the dorm he is sharing with his colleagues, who obviously do not like him. Not having any other way out, he finds solace in the cow he is supposed to slaughter.
Through an approach that combines fiction with documentary, and with an occasional tension that frequently points towards the thriller, Yun Do-yeong makes a rather pointed comment about toxic masculinity and patriarchy. That the men are still expected to be the main financial supporters of their family becomes quite evident from the fact that most of the people who work in the slaughterhouse are there because they have to provide for their families. Sang-woo and Kumar are prominent samples, but the case does not seem to be particularly different with the rest of the employees.
At the same time, that killing an animal is part of the job description and that Sang-woo is mocked and essentially considered useless for not being able to do so also points towards toxic masculinity, with the whole slaughterhouse reminding of American fraternities in the way it functions. That the director chooses to end the movie with a daring action, instead of having his protagonist lash out in a violent way, works rather well for the film, as a surprising element since the whole thing was pointing towards the second case. That the only sunny and bright moments in the 26-minutes short are presented in this sequence is another comment in the same line with the aforementioned, and DP’s
Hwan Lee-ann’s overall excellent work’s highest point.
Another scene that follows could be perceived in a number of ways, as a glimpse in the future or the reason Sang-woo decided to do what he did, with the second case seeming the most probable, as it adds to the comment about his overall mentality. Yun Do-yeong and Jung Se-hoon’s editing results in a relatively fast pace that works nicely for the film, as do the slight back and forth in the timeline.
Kim Hong-kuk as Sang-woo gives a great performance, highlighting his inner struggle that he barely lets out in the best fashion, with his performance additionally being the main source of the tension that permeates the movie.
“Slaughter” is a competent short, well shot and acted, which manages to make its comments rather eloquently in a short time. The ending could have been handled a bit better, but this is just a small fault that gets lost in the overall quality of the film.