Faceless Things

얼굴 없는 것들 Faceless Things

directed by Kyung-Mook Kim [김경묵]
- South Korea/2005/65 min/Color/DV Cam -

I saw the film at the 36st edition International Filmfestival Rotterdam (IFFR 2007). Before seeing it I already read the descriptions in the program of the filmfestival, and those didn't leave and other conclusion that it would be an eye-opener and shocking. Though after watching it I wished that they hadn't written so openly about it, knowing to much detail about it beforehand takes away from the experience of watching it. And it is an interesting experience to watch it.

It comprises only three shots. The first is fiction, although based on fact: man meets a young rent-boy for sexa middle-aged family in a motel room. The manner it is filmed in gives a voyeuristic feel to it, which makes it look very realistic. The second is documentary: two young men meet in an anonymous room for a sexual experiment. In the middle of the shot an overlay animation interrupts the documenting with a poetic reference to the first shot. And the third gives a turn to the story, it moves the perspective from firstly voyeuristic/hidden camera and secondly documentary to a strikingly personal conclusion. All three sections, while at first sight seemingly unrelated, have visual and poetic links to each other.

Faceless Things is an experiment, and not one for the faint-hearted. It is a controversial and shocking, visually aggressive at times. The director himself says it is a disgusting film, but it's disgusting in a poetic way.