REVIEW - THE FACE READER

There's something so perversely watchable about a lavish commercial epic like The Face Reader that is defined by its fundamental peculiarity. Take the individual elements of this film apart and none may seem particularly odd, yet cumulatively they form a distinctly odd experience. Han Jae Rim protracts his film's bizarre journey from comedy to tragedy, fostering his twisty political plot with diligence, thus making the transition easier to become accustomed to. As attentions are diverted from early scenes of easygoing geniality and humorous frolicking to more momentous matters (and an array of characters and occurrences and motivations that requires more concentration than the initially cheerful tone might have encouraged), the film's mood quite naturally darkens. Though if much of the film is coloured by a typically Korean combination of said darkness and a corresponding lightness in liberally-applied broad comedy, a final stretch of several long sequences abolishes all trace of tonal ambiguity - the atmosphere becomes one of profound sorrow and pain so acute it could radically alter any future viewings you may wish to have of this film. Startling as these developments may be, Han's ballsiness in abandoning the humour he employed so profusely two hours earlier extends to his staging here at the close, and the effect is moving indeed, even uncomfortably so. By this stage, you may not mind that it has taken him to long to reach a point where he is able and willing to show where his skills as a director lie, though the aforementioned journey from A to Z could have done with omitting a few letters entirely; much humour is often lost in translation, and such is perhaps the case in The Face Reader, as, despite its determined efforts, it barely coaxed so much as a faint smirk out of me. Production details are solid, though the orchestral score lacks focus and is much too heavy-handed.