Green Night (2023)

This movie is many things, but it failed in whatever it intended to be.

I don’t know where to begin with this movie. The premise of a woman trying to break free from the life under her husband's oppression while dealing with issues like migration, domestic violence, and traumas of the past is interesting enough, but it doesn’t really offer anything new beyond what’s expected. At first, it seems like a neo-noir film with a touch of lesbian romanticism, which looks promising to me, but it slowly becomes bland. As the story unfolds, the plots start to get weak and weaker, to the point that it makes me lose interest in whatever is going to happen next. The plot twist is so ambiguous, leaving the ending/resolution so unsatisfying. I couldn’t pinpoint any compelling things about this movie, and I don’t even know where this movie even stands.

Fan Bingbing and Lee Joo Young both perform well, but their performances seem to be underutilized by the weak screenplay. Binbing’s character has very little development and lacks the depth to make her memorable. While Joo Young’s character has its own backstory, it’s not enough to further enhance her significance either.

While this movie delves into romance, incorporating the same-sex love scene, it's not about exploring or experimenting with sexuality in any way. And the scene doesn't significantly alter the plot and is unable to make an impact in any way other than simply establishing the sexual tension between the two women. So, is this an LGBT romance movie? No, it's not. It’s more of a vague approximation that is not truly grounded in the queer experience at all. 

This movie has an intriguing story and conflicts, but it failed to live up to its potential. The lack of finesse in storytelling and character growth and the failure to effectively communicate its intentions make it fall into the bad movie section.

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A Good Watch.

I really enjoyed this movie. I appreciate when actors can convey emotions through their eyes, and Jooyoung and Fan Bingbing did this well. Their chemistry was almost perfect. Although I watched without subtitles, I can understand Korean well enough to follow along. However, I was disappointed that there were no subtitles for the sign language parts. This made it difficult for me to understand those scenes, especially the ending. Even if you can't understand this movie due to language barriers it's a good movie. Honestly, I struggle with liking movies, because I feel they are always lacking something but I liked this movie, it didn't lack anything, I feel like I could see a natural connection forming between the two main characters, and it didn't feel forced at all, it felt very natural. I would say I think this movie was very well done and it would be worth watching at least once.

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unfortunately transmisogynist.

could have been good but it's unfortunately transmisogynist. the two mains tell a presumably closeted trans woman that she's in the wrong bathroom, they steal her wallet and hotel room key. they break into her hotel room and plunder her wardrobe. one of them says, "why does he want to be a woman? being a woman is boring." I missed this at first; it's a bit blink and you'll miss it if you don't know what to look for. but recognising the transmisogyny changed the entire context and it ruined the film for me.
on top of all this, one can argue that this film is also ableist by vilifying a deaf person...

see also: https://letterboxd.com/imuira/film/green-night/

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