aliosbeybanti
Director SK Jhung's Searching for the Elephant brandishes bare skin and spews blood with so much gusto that all other considerations seem secondary. The apparent core theme - of people who are lost and spend their lives trying to find their way - seems incidental. Each of the three main characters, childhood friends who are now in their thirties, is struggling with his own particular madness: a photographer battling manic-depression (Jang Hyuk), a sex-addicted plastic surgeon (Jo Dong Hyeok) and a financial trader with a mysterious past (Lee Sang Woo). One reason to watch this film is Jang Hyuk's nuanced and sensitive portrayal of a man with only a tenuous hold on life and reality. His flights to fantasy are given credence by the unexpectedly creative cinematography. In fact, technical coherence is the film's other strength, also evident in seamless jump-cuts through non-linear time phases and across different characters. In the end, I enjoyed the show for what it has to offer - after all, this uneven and quirky film does not seem to take itself seriously.
Atavisten
Technically brilliant movie about memory, love and superficiality. Well it deals with a lot of things, in a humouristical way. It is easy going and tries to raise some questions as well, but just don't take them too seriously. Searching for the Elephant is jam packed with comedy, romance, sex, violence and a wee bit of despair. It wouldn't be too far off to mention Murakami Haruki in this context, actually come to think of it, it is quite apt. Though it is no "Tony Takitani". I took me a little time to be able to separate the male protagonists because of the style of direction, even as they're quite different. 6.5 / 10 stars
gina lee
I had a chance to see "Searching for the Elephant" at a film festival. Unlike the energetiv responses from the festival audiences, I heard that the Korean audiences had mixed reviews. I think this movie was misunderstood by many. The writer/director of the film seems to have portrayed a very personal tale regarding the psychological state of his 30 something generation in Korea. Despite harsh criticisms from many, I was touched by "Searching for the Elephant"for its raw and imaginative sequences. In a sense this is a 'coming of age' story of Korean young adults who had refused to grow up in the age of economic prosperity. I give it 10/10 more for how the story was told rather than what it was about. I recommend it for Murakami Haruki readers.
KineticSeoul
I don't know if this film was trying to be a deep movie about the human psychology or just trying to be artsy, but it fails on many levels and just leaves the audience confused. Not that the audience ain't smart enough to comprehend the story, but the movie literally tries to confuse the audience while trying to be all artsy in order to make the movie seem better than it really is. I also ain't sure how many different stuff the creators copied off of other people, but one thing I am sure of is that it really did copy off parts of the novel "Choke" by Chuck Palahniuk. If you read the novel and watched the movie you will know what I am talking about and the main reason I decided to watch this film is because of Jang Hyuk and Lee Min Jung. Lee Min Jung is pretty as ever in this, but besides that this is a below average movie that tries to cram way too many things into it while trying too hard to make it seem deep and make it seem like if you don't like the movie than your just not smart enough to comprehend the film.4.3/10
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