Good News

Story: It's 1970, and three months earlier, a passenger plane was hijacked and brought to North Korea. Memories of the incident are still fresh when yet another plane is hijacked. This time, it's a Japanese airliner taken over by a group of very young idealists led by Denji (Sho Kasumatsu) and Asuka (Nairu Yamamoto). The pilots are supposed to fly to Pyongyang, but have no idea how exactly to get there. They claim they're running low on fuel, which is why they have to make a stopover in Japan. The government can't do much to help, though, as the hijackers plan to blow themselves and all the passengers up if there's a rescue attempt. After the plane takes off again and approaches South Korea, a KCIA crisis meeting is held under the leadership of Park Sang-hyeon (Ryoo Seung-bum). He seeks advice from a strange fellow who calls himself Nobody (Sul Kyung-gu). The plan is to wait for the pilots to transmit a radio message on the emergency frequency, and then pose as North Korean radio operators, using this ruse to land the plane in South Korea. To even locate the plane, however, they need a radar expert. They soon find this expert in the young Seo Go-myeong (Hong Kyung). He isn't entirely happy with his assignment, but since it's a secret operation, he has no choice but to cooperate.

Review: These days, it's becoming increasingly rare to start a film and not find yourself immersed in a familiar narrative within a few minutes, where we always have a pretty good idea of what to expect next. "Good News" is one of those rare cases that breaks up the narrative and constantly changes its rhythm, so to speak. At least in the first half, this works brilliantly, and you wait with anticipation to see what direction events might develop. Particularly noteworthy is the satirical nature of the story and the successful humor, which is hitting us almost nonstop, especially at the beginning. The fact that we are set in the early 1970s also gives the film an individual touch. As we get to know the characters, we also become familiar with the political events and tensions between the countries. Thankfully, we are never overwhelmed, and the story takes all the time it needs to put each piece of the puzzle neatly into place.

Overall, this appears to be a thriller centered around a plane being hijacked. This makes the film reminiscent of "Hijack 1971", with which it shares the same political climate as its backdrop. Quite unlike that thriller, a satirical tone oozes from every pore of this flick. The dialogue and decisions of the individual characters remain realistic, but at the same time, you get the impression that many of the politicians or those in charge have no real idea of what they're doing and prefer to shirk responsibility. This leads to some extremely natural and funny dialogue, as well as absurd scenes like the one when a fighter jet "parks in the second lane" next to the refueling plane, preventing it from taking off. The men in charge simply couldn't come up with a better idea. The humor in "Good News" isn't funny in a silly way, but rather is aware of its satirical tone, so that it is occasionally even commented on in a very refreshing way by the characters themselves. Sometimes Nobody even explains something while looking more or less toward the camera. I'm usually not a fan of breaking the fourth wall, but here it works.

In this context, Sul Kyung-gu ("Kingmaker") deserves special mention in his role as a quirky but powerful problem-solver. It's been a while since I felt he was putting his heart and soul into a role; after all, he's a character actor who hasn't had many challenging roles recently. Here, however, his manner of speaking and body language make him seem completely different from what we've come to expect from him in recent films. He doesn't portray the person we're supposed to identify with, but someone who's always pulling the strings and is unpredictable. Nobody is the person who gets called in when things get dire, and who can then do whatever he pleases. You shouldn't stand in his way. It's fascinating that this peculiar character, who is initially disregarded by others and chats too casually, can also inspire a sense of fear. Sul Kyung-gu undoubtedly succeeds in drawing a very interesting character.

The anchor of the story, however, is Seo Go-myeong, played by Hong Kyung ("Troll Factory"). He's the only one who behaves morally "correctly" and is constantly irritated by Nobody's ruthless actions. Still, he can't really do anything, as this is a time strongly influenced by political ideology, in which anyone who opposes the decisions of the puppet masters ends up in a torture chamber as a supposed communist. Even though all of this is emphasized, one shouldn't expect a dark tone. Time and again, the mood is lightened up by humor, sometimes realized in the form of elaborately staged dream sequences in which Seo imagines himself being celebrated as a hero or as a cowboy, having to draw his gun faster than his opponent. Occasionally, the film becomes exaggeratedly theatrical, poking fun at itself. The unusual rhythm of the film also keeps you captivated at all times and you never know whether a joke or a dramatic development of the story awaits us next.

The film is structured in chapters, but otherwise avoids the typical narrative structure. Also noteworthy is the direction by Byun Sung-Hyun, who already garnered attention with "Kill Boksoon". This time, however, he is even more experimental, frequently letting the camera capture the events from the perspective of objects and otherwise allowing the lens to glide through the events in a rather playful manner. This fits perfectly with the film's relaxed tone and creates quite some dynamic. Unfortunately, "Good News" runs out of steam towards the end. This is to be expected given its almost 140 minutes of running time, but it's still frustrating that the humor is a bit scarce towards the end and the story stalls. Furthermore, the plot isn't as smart as the screenwriter wants to make us believe. Ultimately, this means that we're dealing with an innovative black comedy that deserves to be commended for its humor and inventiveness, but could have used some tightening. Despitel all that, finally seeing a bit more innovation, especially on Netflix, is very welcome.

Buy this movie:

Follow @AsianMovieWeb