May look like an ironic, jet black comedy -- and it succeeds brilliantly on that level -- but in it's sad and wistful heart, it's a completely sincere call for saving the Earth.
Save the Green Planet!(지구를 지켜라!)
✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ Read critic reviews
Korea · 2003
1h 58m
Director Jang Joon-hwan
Starring Shin Ha-kyun, Baek Yoon-sik, Hwang Jeong-min, Lee Jae-yong
Genre Comedy, Drama, Science Fiction
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Byun-gyu, an eccentric beekeeper with a traumatic childhood, believes that hidden among humans are aliens who plan to destroy the Earth. With the help of his girlfriend, he sets out to capture and torture these evil aliens. Police send out a detective out to arrest Byun-gyu, who is obviously delusional – or is he onto something?
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
Christian Science Monitor by David Sterritt
Very inventive, but stay away if you can't stomach over-the-top violence.
Though certainly not to everyone's tastes, this looney-tunes pic about a deranged serial killer who thinks he's helping Earth by killing off supposed aliens works on a variety of levels, from gruesome slapstick comedy through social critique to genuinely chilling Grand Guignol.
New York Daily News by Elizabeth Weitzman
Will thrill those who prefer their violence graphic and their comedy surreal.
Mad conspiracy rules in Korean writer-director Jang Jun-hwan's snazzy, playful, some-what gory, often hilarious, and generally unpredictable first feature.
Ferociously entertaining.
The New York Times by Manohla Dargis
At once a sick comedy, a bile-raising thriller and a genre pastiche, Save the Green Planet is a welter of conflicting tones, dissonant moods and warring intentions.
Has a free-ranging mood, mixing tragedy and comedy irregularly, but Jeong's film is equally free with genre, and entertains its audience openly before pouring on the astringent.
The Hollywood Reporter by Richard James Havis
Exists as a freaked-out drama rather than a parody.
Director-writer Jang Jun-hwan starts things off with a bang and never looks back, pushing up the excitement periodically.
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This film is so strange, words will never describe it. Ostensibly about environmentalism and preserving the planet, the actual story depicts a horribly traumatized man falling into the "comfort" of his own labyrinth of conspiracies. A violent, dark, but often laugh-out-loud depiction of the postmodern condition, Save the Green Planet! is an unsung gem of cinematographic genius.