Stream Classics to Latest K-Movies & Shows at OnDemandKorea

[HanCinema's Film Review] "A Werewolf Boy"

Until I actually saw "A Werewolf Boy" by Jo Sung-hee on screen, it wasn't at all clear to me whether this was a movie about a werewolf or just a feral teenager (in Korean, the title is simply "Wolf Boy"). Granted, usually a movie studio only thinks it can make money if it has a cool concept like a werewolf (feral children just aren't as flashy), and yet looking into the movie's press poster, all I can see are the blank eyes of a boy who has no concept of civilized life. They're the eyes of an animal.

Advertisement

The titular character is, in fact, a werewolf- but in excellent subversive faction, it's the feral boy that really connects with the viewer on screen. Song Joong-ki plays the title role excellently- though he hardly has any lines, we easily connect with his character, who clearly has little to no understanding of the world around him save for people's emotions and attitudes. This, naturally, makes him little more than an animal- which is where Park Bo-young comes in.

Park Bo-young plays a girl forced to come out to the countryside for her health. Her mother is forced to take the wolf boy in when it becomes clear the police have no idea what to do with him. While her family is resigned to the prospect of having to live with a wild human who eats all food with his bare hands, Park Bo-young a smart, sympathetic young woman who befriends the wolf boy the same way she would a dog.

"A Werewolf Boy" is often referred as a love story, and it certainly is, but in some ways that actually cheapens the breadth of the main couple's interplay. Too often movies look back to adolescence purely as a time of sexual awakening. "A Werewolf Boy" makes the astute remark that there's more to it than that. Adolescence is when we first start learning about the world as it exists fully and when, for better or worse, others start to treat us as adults. The wolf boy, throughout the movie, learns about civilization both at its best and at its worst- but so does his partner. Her experience to date has better prepared her for what's to come, but it's the wolf boy's powerful emotional reactions that punctuate their relationship, as he gives rise to the powerful feelings that she would express, except it's been drilled so hard into her that such actions are inappropriate.

The special effects are admirable, though they appear in only three scenes, and in only one do they last long enough that we can get a good look at them. They almost feel like a waste- the full werewolf boy looks like something that belongs in a monster movie, and certainly would be strong enough to hold its own in any serious fight.

Of course, that's the very sweet beauty underlining "A Werewolf Boy". We don't usually get human stories like this about supernatural creatures because normally supernatural creatures are only in the movie at all to wow us with movie magic. A Werewolf Boy wisely recognizes that movie magic is more than impressive fight scenes. The most emotionally powerful moment in the movie comes near the end, and would have been trivially easy to film. But the audience is so engrossed in the characters, and especially what we think we know about them, that the effect still manages to feel surreal.

Overall, "A Werewolf Boy" is excellent filmwork. I recommend it highly both to fans of romance and of film in general.

Review by William Schwartz. William Schwartz is an American currently living in Gyeongju, South Korea, where he studies Korean and themes in Korean media.

William's blog : teslsilla.blog.com


North America release dates :

Releasing on Nov. 30, 2012
Los Angeles, CA – CGV Cinemas - Buy tickets
Irvine, CA – University Town Center - Buy tickets
Fullerton, CA – Regal La Habra - Buy tickets
Las Vegas – Regal Village Square 18 - Buy tickets
 
Releasing on Dec. 7, 2012
San Diego, CA – AMC Fashion Valley
San Francisco, CA – Century 20 Daly City
Seattle – AMC Alderwood
Dallas – AMC Grapevine Mills
Chicago – AMC Showplace Niles
Atlanta – AMC Colonial
Philadelphia – AMC Plymouth Meeting
New Jersey – AMC Ridgefield Park
New York – AMC Empire
New York – Cinemart Cinemas 5
Honolulu – Consolidated Pearlridge
Vancouver – Cineplex Silvercity Coquitlam
Toronto – Cineplex Odeon Yonge & Dundas
Toronto – Cineplex Odeon Sheppard

❎ Try Ad-free