Is her dancing in the beginning of the movie a result of her doing the acupuncture on the bus, meaning does the end of the story start the movie? Or does the beginning (her in the field) symbolize that she's done this before, another time before the story?
I made a conclusion about this last night, but now I can't remember what I thought...
But no, the end does not start at the beginning, as she left her acupuncture kit at the burnt down house. So your second point is much better, and that may be what I thought when I watched it.
Now, in my view, the real point of that first scene is to set up the overall feel of the movie. One does not know whether to laugh or just watch as she starts to dance, which is exactly how the rest of the movie turns out; Do-Joon's antics at the beginning are due to what is most likely mental retardation, so it's hard to know whether it is okay to laugh at something funny he says.
This shows that this movie sways between the darkest of comedy and sheer blackness.
But yeah, she's most probably done this before.
"I made a conclusion about this last night, but now I can't remember what I thought... "
rub your finger on your brain, you'll remember. lol
I think the beginning (the dance in the field) is the new memory she acquires due to the accupunture on the bus. She replaced the real memories of the murder with these happier ones. So it's something that never really happens, but it's the consequence of something that we see at the end.
shareThe significance of ending:
'Thank You Parents Bus Tour' is where bunch of parents from country-side or city dwellers go on a tour across the country. As you see in the film, they sing and dance in the bus. For these senior women it's a blast and equates to like a cruise. It's a common method of vacationing for the elderly in S. korea.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bZkp7q19f0
At 1:00. This song uses it as satire b/c... 50-70 year old women can't get that wild haha.
Now that you have some background information. Back to the topic...
The significance is that, through the brilliant camerawork and lighting, we lose track of the mother. She gradually fades away into the crowd. It's not regular crowd but a crowd with other mothers. She becomes representation of the other mothers while other mothers become representation of the mother. Think semiotics.
Such notion is significant when you think about what a mother and parent in general represents in South Korea. Above mentioned unconditional love is seen as the greatest thing ever. However, it has its own dark side. Generally speaking, parents are blindly in love with their children that they produce very spoiled kids.
You may ask, regardless of where you came from, it's the same issue in all across the globe but South Korea really stands above on that notion. If you have lived in South Korea, you'd get a better sense of this issue (I've heard China is pretty much the same.)
"I think the beginning (the dance in the field) is the new memory she acquires due to the accupunture on the bus. She replaced the real memories of the murder with these happier ones. So it's something that never really happens, but it's the consequence of something that we see at the end."
Nice, I love that opening scene even more now.
"I think the beginning (the dance in the field) is the new memory she acquires due to the accupunture on the bus. She replaced the real memories of the murder with these happier ones. So it's something that never really happens, but it's the consequence of something that we see at the end."
exactly
I saw this for the first time yesterday evening and I think the film starts in medias res, then the events following that happen previously. I could be wrong, though.
George Lucas talking about: 'Hey, give it to me, I'll fix it. I'll make 20 more of them'
I watched this movie during a special viewing event where the director appeared in person. At the end of the event there was a Q&A session with the director. One of the questions the audience asked is what the purpose of the dancing scene at the beginning of the movie is. The director's reply is he wants to indicate that the mother herself is not a mentally sound person either.
So *I* supposed he implies that the entire course of events in the movie can be led back to her mother's own undoing.
I really like this explanation because we catch a few context clues to this holding true. For instance when she visits the police station to pick her son up, it is clearly not the first time she has been there as she hands everyone there some sort of herbal drink. She also says shortly after when she is eating with her son, "Always eat well when you come back from the police station.", suggesting that this is something she tends to always do when coming back from the police station. Also, when she is talking with her friend that does the photoshopping her friend tells the mother "I am not going to bail you out again, remember what happened last year?". Although it is possible that her dancing in the field represents one giant memory (that being the movie) starting to end. The dancing in the field could also represent her replacing a completely different memory with that of herself dancing in a field. It seems as though the mother is very quick to replacing her and anyone else's bad memories through acupuncture, almost to the point where it is habitual. Adding to the theory that the mother is not a completely mentally sound person either.
share