Muge

This film is a bit of character study and also a bit like a dark fairytale.

Jung is a mortician who is very ill with tuberculosis. The film begins with very little known about Jung and slowly reveals his past being an outcast, being adopted, his relationship with his new mother, his relationship with his step brother and his concern with helping the step brother become a woman.

Jung does a lot of odd things including painting his corpses, dancing with them, allowing strangers to pay him to use the bodies for sex etc the money he makes from this he collects in order to help his brother with the final operation so he can become a woman.

The relationship between Jung and his adoptive mother is similar to the evil-stepmother/aunt archetype used in fairy tales. It reveals why he was adopted and why despite this he remained an outcast whose only solace is in helping his step brother that final time.

It's an interesting watch that weaves Jung's own depression and anxiety with his desire to help his younger brother to make that final step and the elements of fantasy that the audience must decide what parts of the story are real and which are products of his imagination.

I felt there could have been a smoother flow to the story as there are some situations and characters that perhaps don't need to be there or I missed the purpose of including them.

In any case a fascinating but slow film that could have been improved by a more structured approach to the story. Otherwise a very moving and insightful piece.

There are hardly any absolute claims about viewers' tastes in cinema. Some viewers like to watch films with their eyes. There are also few viewers whose aim is to watch films with their minds. This has a lot to do with the fact that minds work more when a film is essentially visual than verbal. South Korean director Kyu-Hwan Jeon's "The Weight" is a perfect film which would enormously appeal to those viewers who watch visually rich films with their minds as their visual effects leave hardly any room for any verbal flourishes. In South Korean film "The Weight", these effects are highlighted through a mortuary which is considered by many as the ideal place for horror films. However, this film differs from other films of horror cinema genre as does not borrow any of their conventions despite the fact that a mortuary is chosen as its primary setting. The focus is more on visual drama achieved in part through the dignity of corpses especially in the manner one can improve one's own perspective about life by interacting with corpses. This influence is achieved through an ordinary man who is involved in numerous life affirming activities namely art and music rather than simply taking care of dead bodies."The Weight" is the fifth film by Kyu- Hwan Jeon who started his career as a manager to two of South Korean cinema's important actors Cho Jae-Hyun and Sol Kyung-Gu. Apart from being chosen as an entry into the official selection of Giornate Degli Autori/Venice Days 2012, Kyu-Hwan Jeon won the best director award at 43rd International Film festival of India 2012.