Simpan (1999) Online

Well, this is a short film by Chan Wook Park.

The main storyline is that there are various natural disasters happening all over Korea (and the world I presume) and people are trying to collect insurance monies by claiming their loved ones were killed.

How are they collecting money you ask? Well, insurance companies are ponying up as the structures built to withstand disasters aren't holding up.

The story takes place in a morgue with a husband and wife (claiming the dead woman is their daughter), a government official (overseeing the process of identification), a reporter and the forensics doctor. While going through the motions, the forensics doctor recognizes the deceased as his own daughter who disappeared seven years prior. Thus begins a battle of sorts between the supposed parents and the supposed father.

This is a dialogue driven piece with some well placed cuts to people injured and killed in natural disasters as well as imagery of natural disasters themselves. It is very similar to the time transport montages in "Old Boy" when showing these things.

I enjoyed it and there are some very crass and cynical turns in the story along the way that are vintage Chan Wook Park for sure. I won't spoil it should you get the chance to see it sometime.

I only rate it as high as I did because it's him.

There are a number of features which this film does not possess: a blockbuster budget, award-winning acting or extravagant imagery. Though thankfully, all this can be set aside considering the fact that it still possessed many of the features which make a Park Chan-Wook film great.

The biggest mention has got to be rewarded to the film score. There are two words to describe this; chilling and haunting. Though I will not give too much away, whenever the main tune appeared, it did not fail to send an eerie chill down my spine. Only Park Chan-Wook veterans would understand.

Next has to be the camera technique. You see that Park Chan-Wook understands the limitations set for a short-small budget film but yet plays of the strength of this. The macabre setting of a morgue, the focus on different objects, as well as the sad TV footage remains at the forefront of your mind even after the film ends.

The change in mood and hints of dark humour, modestly delivered are

examples of what is to come with this director. Although the acting is not spectacular either, Park Chan-Wook does try to give depth to them, via a heavy reliance of dialogue and plot twists.

All in all though Simpan is not a film to be watched first without having watched any of Park Chan-Wook's big budget films beforehand (namely the revenge trilogies). However, if you have watched his other films, and appreciate his skills in directing, then you will surely be able to appreciate the raw talent that is evident in this movie.

This half black/white, half coloured short film was 1 of the 3 projects made by acclaimed Korean auteur Park Chan-Wook before his rise to fame with "Joint Security Area". Like the other 2 films - "Moon is the Sun's Dream" and "The Trio", this film is very rare and almost impossible to get hold of. I luckily came across it on the internet and downloaded it.

The film clearly contains hints of Park's dark sense of humour and love for the obscure which he would further display later on in his Revenge Trilogy.

The story is very weird and interesting. A couple came to the morgue to claim their dead daughter's deformed and almost inrecognisable body after she died in a national disaster. However, after looking at the body carefully, the morgue worker begs to differ.

This little piece of gem is an early display of Park's ability to come up with twisted and interesting story lines and is a must watch for any Park fan.

"Simpan" or "Judgment" is a black-and-white short film from South Korea that runs for 26 minutes and was directed almost 20 years ago by Chan-wook Park, a filmmaker who is among Asia's most known today. And here he shows us glimpses of his talent. The screenplay is definitely this film's biggest strength. It delivers emotion, manages to be relevant from a dramatic perspective and also looks very realistic. The actors play their parts convincingly as well. The result is a pretty good short movie and I don't know why it took me so long to check this one out. My loss, I guess. I certainly recommend you to watch this one, also if you are not aware with Park's other works. Thumbs up for "Judgment".

If you look carefully you can see that one of the guys has a fake right hand. It is apparent and 23:23 when the chick has a seizure an he puts his fingers in her mouth to hold her tongue, the fake hand disconnects. Also around 3 minutes later you can clearly see the hand disconnect and fall off.. Anyone got any ideas what this was all about? Also, what the hell was the ending? *SPOILER* There is another earthquake and then everyone just falls over and dies except the guy running the morgue? Did I miss something? Overall it was an interesting 30 minutes.. I'll check out JSA later on and see how that is. Old Boy is one of my favorite movies of all time!