[HanCinema's Film Review] "The Girl on a Bulldozer"

Busan International Film Festival has premiered a number of great movies featuring female protagonists during recent years, with titles like "House of Hummingbird" being the first that come to mind. "The Girl on a Bulldozer" although directed by a man this time (Park Ri-woong, in his feature debut) continues this tradition with an impressive title.

"The Girl on a Bulldozer" is screening at Busan International Film Festival

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20 year-old Hae-yeong's life is in shambles. Her mother has died and her father is an irresponsible, broke loser who cannot even afford his insurance due to his gambling tendencies, while his long hours at the Chinese restaurant he runs have left his daughter taking care of her little brother. Hae-yeong's frustration is evident in her behaviour, with her having violent tendencies, and a tattoo to match them (tattoos are illegal in S. Korea), while, as the film begins, she assaults three girls she seemed to have a feud with, after a trial for similar behaviour that has left her with a sentence for time at a vocational school. Furthermore, as the time she has to spend in the school, where she actually picks to train in driving a bulldozer, is messing up with her work schedule, she finds herself fired. Even worse, eventually her father has a car accident which leaves him in a dire situation, the insurance company of the people he hit are asking for her to deal with the logistics, a policeman is investigating the case trying to help but being unable to do so, while some strange people call her asking why her father has disappeared. Eventually, all her troubles are revealed to derive from one source, her father's former boss.

Park Ri-woong directs a movie where all the issues youths face nowadays seem to be mirrored on the problems Hae-yeong faces, with the accusation towards the previous generation being as obvious as it is pointed. Starting with the fact that her father is essentially useless (although not only due to his personal issues as we later learn) and continuing with the way society (the grown-ups essentially) treat her for being young ("where are your parents? " seems to be the most common question she hears), a woman (the teacher in the vocational school tells her she has no place in the particular course since employers do not hire girls) and poor (the former boss steps on them in the most despicable way possible), the young girl finds herself pinned down constantly for reasons that are not her fault.

In circumstances as that, which become even worse when her only relative, her aunt, seems more eager to accuse than help, and the girls from the initial episode get their revenge, it is no wonder that Hae-yeong has become violent, in an effort to stand up against all those who want to pin her down. Her behaviour is not fully justified, and it could not be, considering her age, which leads her into misjudging even those who want to help her, or people who are not at fault. At the same time, though, in such circumstances, it is almost impossible to blame her, since her inability to let anything go and her unwillingness to kowtow to anyone despite the circumstances, appears almost heroic after a fashion.

The eruption, which was to take place inevitably, is built excellently, finally implementing the title in the narrative, even if the whole sequence is a bit far-fetched, as much as the result of her father's actions, which give another Korean melodrama a somewhat happy ending. In entertainment terms however, this all a viewer could ask from such a story.

Through Hae-yeong blights, Park also makes a number of comments on the way the system works, particularly regarding insurance companies, where fraud from both sides seems to be a rather common practice, and the way contractors exploit people.

Kim Hye-yoon gives an astonishing performance in the protagonist role, in a truly relentless performance that has her almost constantly fighting with someone, in an approach, though,  that also highlights the sensitive moments she spends with her kid brother. The way she hides and reveals her tattoo is also greatly implemented in the narrative, particularly after it is eventually revealed that she got one for people to avoid messing with her. Kim seems to appear in almost every scene of the movie, and she is great in each and every one of them.

The visual approach of the movie is also ideal, with Kim choosing lighting and colors that are usually associated with crime thrillers, an approach that works quite well for the narrative, which actually leans more towards this path than that of the indie family drama. The editing is also top notch, both in the way the flashbacks are implemented and the overall, relatively fast pace, while the montage with the imilarities in the behaviour between Hae-yeong and her father are among the best parts of the movie.

Despite some issues with the writing, particularly close to the finale, "The Girl on a Bulldozer" is a great film, that will satisfy both fans of indie dramas and the more mainstream audience.

Review by Panos Kotzathanasis

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"The Girl on a Bulldozer" is directed by Park Ri-woong, and features Kim Hye-yoon, Park Hyuk-kwon, Yesung, Noh Susanna. No release date in Korea yet.