Concrete Utopia

A great earthquake levels Seoul and the only building left standing is the Hwang Gung apartment block. The residents first take in outsiders, then decide not to. They elect a representative, set rules, ration supplies, and in short order the complex founds its own state. The film is not interested in the disaster. It is interested in property becoming identity: the only right the residents stand on is the deed, and that piece of paper governs everyone's behaviour even with no state left. The film takes direct aim at Korean apartment culture. The form is large: sets of a ruined city, crowded meeting scenes and the cold of winter. The hierarchy inside the single building is built visually, floor by floor. Um Tae-hwa directed, from Kim Soong-nyung's webtoon. The film was submitted as Korea's Academy Award entry and became one of the most discussed productions of the year at home. Lee Byung-hun plays the representative and his collapse carries the film; Park Seo-jun and Park Bo-young play the young couple. Who it is for: viewers drawn to Korean genre cinema and social allegory. Who it is not for: anyone looking for a sympathetic character. Almost everyone becomes indefensible as it goes, and the final section deepens the bleakness further.