Original: Redefined
"Recipient Unknown" may be one of Kim Ki-duk's more popular films, perhaps because of the film's easy-to-understand plot and imagery.
In fact, this is a work that exposes the scars of Koreans, he describes the voice of Koreans, perhaps on behalf of the vulnerable groups to the community' cry, is Kim Ki-duk's accusation of the crimes of the US military in South Korea, a nation with such a strong sense of self-esteem, how can it tolerate the misdeeds of American soldiers in their country?
For Americans, Koreans who are comparable to second-class citizens cannot forget this humiliation, and the director uses some absurd stories to bluntly reveal the social problems that Koreans have to face.
We can initially divide the film into two stories, one is the story of Changgu's mother and the American soldiers, and the other is Enlo, who was mistakenly injured by his brother in the left eye since he was a child, and the bad relationship with the American soldiers.
Analyze why Changgu hates his mother. This is also the main line of the film's role, when Changgu's mother was forced to marry the American soldiers, gave birth to the mixed-race Changgu, half of the blood is Korean, half is the United States, such an identity has no status in South Korea, is a kind of person who is abandoned by Koreans, and secondly, after the American soldiers abandoned her, she has been writing to him behind Changgu's back.
However, because the recipient is unknown, she has not received a reply, knowing that she has not fulfilled this wish when she is dying, and the mother has an affair with his boss Dog Eye, because Dog Eye has a love for his mother and usually takes care of her, and the harm caused by the American soldiers to Changgu cannot be forgiven.
After returning to China, he ruthlessly abandoned his mother and let himself live as an unable to look up, all day long doing things that he did not want to do to kill dogs, he believed that all this was indirectly caused by his mother, and whenever he was beaten by the dog's eyes, he came back to beat his mother violently to vent his anger.
Until the end, he could no longer bear all this, he ended the life of Dogeye by killing dog people and killing dogs, he did not want Dogeye to become the next American soldier, he also looked down on Dogeye's nest and forced himself to do things, and cruelly cut off his mother's left front chest, because it was tattooed with the name of the American, which was a shame he could not tolerate.
He believes that those tattoos are not only an insult to his mother, but also an engraving of his own identity, since he cannot change the established facts, it is better to destroy the sad mark to escape reality, and finally choose to kill himself to say goodbye to everything in the world, which may be the moment when all his hatred for his mother disappears.
A story about Enlo. It can be said that Kim Ki-duk has exerted the depressive feeling of the story to the extreme, and the whole story has directly hit human nature, which seems impossible but has already happened, which is his dual story narrative method. Enlo has an unruly brother who has injured her left eye by mistake since childhood.
So far this injury has become the psychological shadow of her life, but also the beginning of her inferiority, she helped the American soldiers to hide poison, in order to dissipate their own pain, secretly tasted a grain, here can see his dissatisfaction with life, at the same time a painting dick also looked at her, and she also has a good feeling for him, but forced by the American soldiers can help her heal her left eye, he had to compromise reality in exchange for the body in exchange for the restoration of the eyes,
This seems to have embarked on the tragic life of Changgu Ma, yes! This is exactly the effect of the film, borrowing two different stories to illustrate the theme of the accusation of American soldiers.
Until the end Enlo could no longer stand the insults and trampling of the American soldiers, chose to stab the blind left eye, which she also gained freedom, it seemed that everything was liberated, no longer had to be forced to take drugs, slapped, the girl was forced to cure the grace of the eyes, has been tolerating the soldier's misdeeds on herself, and finally the soldier wanted to tattoo her name on her chest, the girl could no longer stand this, self-destructed the eyes and broke up, and the two did not owe each other from then on.
Just like the break between Ah Zi and You Tanzhi in "Tianlong Eight Parts", this scene really pierced the audience's heart, perhaps her encounter was similar to Changgu Mama, but she chose a completely different life, she chose to fight against fate, and finally longed to return to Di Si's side, and Chang Gu Ma chose to succumb to the soldiers, letting him trample her chest with piercing tattoos.
All in all, the film gives people a very depressing feeling, obviously a soft life in the countryside, but the bloody shot is harvesting your warmth, and the obviously brutal shots show a kind of warmth from time to time. The real life of small people in the big era has directly attacked the social problems that still exist in South Korea, and only a director like Kim Ki-duk dares to expose the country's unbearable history so mercilessly.