Analysis on Mise En Scene, "I'm A Cyborg But That's Okay"

"I'm A Cyborg, But That's Okay" ("Ssa-i-bo-geu-ji-man-gwen-chan-a")

 This is a Korean film about a girl who thinks she is a combat cyborg and is checked into a mental hospital, where she encounters other psychotics. Eventually, she falls for a man who thinks he can steal people's souls.

 This films Genre is a bit cloudy, it is like a Romance, thriller or maybe a horror. Which makes it very untypical of most films.

Tarun Shanker

 "The film has a slower pace than the director’s previous works and it strikes a strange hybrid tone where it is far too cute to be like his dark revenge flicks, but it’s a bit too dark and odd to be a cute romantic date film. Some viewers may simply find that too jarring a blend."

I think personally think that the film is actually a Romance/Thriller/Comedy. I believe this becuase the film left me at quite a few points laughing, but also cute enough to make me feel it was a romance. But due to the actual narrative of the film, I beleive that the film is overall a Thriller, quite a confusing one at that.

Due to the mix of genres in which this film could be put under, I shall analyse each one.

 Romance

 Firstly, location of the movie. 

It starts at a factory, with the step-by-step process of making a radio in the background almost as white noise. After she then almost commits suicide by trying to "recharge herself", she is emitted to a Mental hospital, where the rest of the film is set. 

I have seen romance films set in Hospitals and maybe some factories but I never seen one in a Mental Institute, which is very untypical of a romance movie. Although, the way it is done, works quite well, because it shows the moral spirit and connectivity of the people inside the mental institute for this girl.

In the film, there are 3 main costumes, factory costume, hospital costume and normal clothing, mainly the main character wears the hospital costume and I think this is done to take the view away from the costume, so more is focused on the ever changing and somewhat confusing storyline. Again, this is very unlike a normal romance film.

The main props in the film are items that the patients find close to them, firstly, the object of Il-sun's was a large locket of his mother, this is a common object for a romance film, another object was of Young-goon's it was false teeth of her grandmothers, I see the idea, and how it works in this film, and how it is relivant, but it is so strange to see as a prop in a romance.
The make up in this film is very much "basic" in the way that is it meant to look naturalistic, it isn't meant to be out of the ordinary as there has to be some kind of conformity. Usually in romance films the make up is bright and colorful to accentuate feelings such as love and lust.

Thriller

 Secondly, is Thriller, commonly these are dark, confusing and almost always contains a plot twist. 

This is quite like that in the storyline and the narrative and the way the plot is somewhat confusing featuring the viewpoint of the characters, bearing in mind that they think that they possess the problems they are in the institute for. So in this way I would say that this film is typical to a Thriller.

The location is also very much typical to a Thriller too, because a mental institute is a very dark, emotionally twisted, strange and confusing. So in this instance it is also very typical of a Thriller.

However the costume is not, the costume is bright, and plain, although plain is typical, the brightness of them is not, because Thrillers like not to amplify the amount of change the costume has on the film.

The props in the film are nothing like you would find in a Thriller, unless however, the main character was to have to find the owners to these strange and weird objects.

The make up is typical to a Thriller in the way that it is plain, and removes the features of the characters, creating mystery.

Comedy 

 This film made me laugh a lot at some points, maybe not for the storyline, or probably not intended either, but some scenes were confusing in a way that made me laugh because they made no sense. Another way this film made me laugh was when the filming changed to the perspective of the characters, not only did it present confusion but laughter because the strange warped world was different.

The location of this film I think doesn't matter too much in the way that it doesn't matter much where the location of a comedy film is, as the location does not play much of a part, especially in comparison to say, the speech in the movie, as the speech changes everything, for example the film "Shaun Of The Dead" was set in the location of an apocalyptic wasteland in the suburbs, but the speech made it comedic.

I have to say the costume in this film is quite comedic in the way that the other main character Il-sun, wears a helmet all the time, and it has features that hide him away from others, and the way that they use this makes it very comedic film.

The props in this film are also comedic, for instance, do you hear of a 20 year old walking around with their grandmothers false teeth in their mouth. Another funny prop would be the "Flight socks" that one characters possess, this enables her to "fly", except if you have eaten chicken.

The make up is very in-specific, I wouldn't say that the make up would make a film funny, unless say, it was a clown. Then again there are a few moments in which the characters have a splodge of paint placed on their face. But I wouldn't say it is very contribuic to the movie and it's comedic effects.

Over all I would personally class this movie as a Rom/Com due to the characters and the Mise En Scene, but the narrative of the film is very much Thriller.