I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK (2006)

I’m a Cyborg, But That’s OK: Directed by Park Chan-Wook. With Lim Soo-jung, Rain, Kim Byeong-Ok, Seong-hun Cheon. A girl who thinks she is a combat cyborg checks into a mental hospital, where she encounters other psychotics. Eventually, she falls for a man who thinks he can steal people’s souls.

“Have you ever had an out of the body experience? Or a waking dream? One minute youu0026#39;re asleep, having this fantastic dream. Maybe you have to fly across buildings or solve a problem or any weird stuff in this dream. Then youu0026#39;re almost awake, but not quite. You hang on to the dream, not wanting to wake up. Donu0026#39;t you hate it when someone tries to rush you? Hey! Wake up! No – go away – I wanna finish my dream!u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIu0026#39;m a Cyborg, but Thatu0026#39;s OK reminds you of so many different movies in the first ten minutes. You try to fit it into a box. Hey! Itu0026#39;s like so-and-so! But itu0026#39;s not. The vision that director Chan-wook Park presents us with is foreign, so alien to any genre, that our mind is confused. Maybe you have to give up all expectation before you can enjoy it.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eYoung-goon thinks she is a cyborg. A nice, normal young girl otherwise, that is her only kink. Hello mental institution. She canu0026#39;t eat of course – food makes her ill (really) so she licks batteries of various sorts as other inmates tuck into their dinner. Sheu0026#39;s lonely, and talks to machines. The drinks dispenser is one of her favourites. But sheu0026#39;s not a psycho – as she will point out – u0026quot;Iu0026#39;m not a psycho: Iu0026#39;m a cyborg.u0026quot;u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAs inmates go, Young-goon is fairly low maintenance. Most of the anti-social patients are weird beyond belief. But it is a young man called Il-soon who manages to reach out to her where doctors have failed. Il-soon believes all sorts of things – like believing he has the power to steal intangibles from people, such as character, attitudes or habits. His services are soon in demand among the other patients.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eYoung-goon has some internal conflicts. For cyborgs, there are seven deadly sins, and they give her some problems. The seven deadly sins for a cyborg are:u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eSympathy. Sadness. Restlessness. Hesitating. Useless day-dreaming. Feeling guilty. Thankfulness.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eOf all these sins, sympathy is the worst.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eInterestingly, the inmates are like parts of the body: they compensate for each otheru0026#39;s particular shortcomings and have very sane insights into kinds of madness not their own.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWhen the film becomes a love story, it is not one based on lust and idiocy. The funny farm becomes a parable for a world in which we need to believe in and accept each otheru0026#39;s failings. Chan-wook Park has crafted perhaps the most original film of the year and one of the most moving. It comments on the nature of belief, and on a humanity that we are in danger of losing through cleverness. It features colourful characters and scenes that make us gasp. There is enough creativity in Iu0026#39;m a Cyborg, but Thatu0026#39;s OK for ten films, not just one. Constantly defying expectation, it even manages to treat with respect the question of mental illness (which is used largely as a metaphor or plot device). When we see the pain and suffering of real mental illness, it is clear that Chan-wook Park is not mocking.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIu0026#39;m a Cyborg, but Thatu0026#39;s OK takes Chan-wook Parku0026#39;s reputation as a master filmmaker and builds it even further. Having established himself with films of violent realism, it may upset fans of Old Boy and Lady Vengeance. And while Iu0026#39;m a Cyborg, but Thatu0026#39;s OK is not about hyper-violence and the metaphysics of revenge, the dizzying array of ideas may be more than many audiences can stomach in one sitting. It may just seem so off-the-wall that you lose patience before the story gets going. Which would be a shame.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eSo maybe take a very deep breath. Make sure your batteries are fully charged. If it doesnu0026#39;t blow you out the cinema – Iu0026#39;m a Cyborg, but Thatu0026#39;s OK – may just blow your mind.”