Dream

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Movie: Dream
Revised romanization: Bi-mong
Hangul: 비몽
Director: Kim Ki-Duk
Writer: Kim Ki-Duk
Producer: Kim Ki-Duk, Cho Sung-Kyu
Cinematographer: Kim Ki-Tae
Release Date: October 9, 2008
Runtime: 93 min.
Genre: Drama / Arthouse / Mystery
Studio: Kim Ki-Duk Film
Distributor: Sponge Ent.
Language: Korean
Country: South Korea

Plot

Jin wakes up from a nightmare of a traffic accident on. It drives him to the very spot and witnesses an accident, which replicates his dream. He follows the police to the suspect’s home and watches as Ran denies the hit-and-run accusation since she was asleep the entire night. Jin explains his dream to them and asks to be charged instead. He is convinced that there’s an unexplainable connection between the two. They discover that when he dreams, she acts out his dream in her sleep.

Notes

"Dream" is the second film directed by Ki-duk Kim to feature a non-Korean actor in the lead role. (Breath was his other film).
Ki-duk Kim first became interested in main actor, Joe Odagiri, after watching his performance in the Japanese film Sway.
"Dream" places heavy emphasizes on the butterfly as a symbolic imagery in the film. Another famous story about a butterfly is the butterfly dream in Chuang Tzu; “I know not whether I was a man dreaming I was a butterfly, or I am now a butterfly dreaming I am a man.”

Cast



Lee Na-Young	Joe Odagiri	Park Ji-A	Jang Mi-Hee
Ran	Jin	Jin's ex-lover	doctor

Additional Cast Members:

Jin Tae-Hyun - Ran's ex-lover
Lee Ho-Young - police officer
Han Ki-Joong - police officer
Kim Min-Soo - police officer
Lee Joo-Suk - police officer
Ri Min - paramedic
Seo Ji-Won - taxi driver

Trailers

Image Gallery

Array

Film Festivals

2009 (8th) New York Asian Film Festival - June 19th-July 5th (North American Premiere)
2009 (13th) Fantasia Film Festival - July 9th-29th (Canadian Premiere)

Awards

2008 (28th) Critics Choice Awards - November
- Best Director

Comments

Ki Dec 21 2008 4:50 am Ki-duk Kim, definitely on the short list of most diametrically opposed "love him" or "hate him" directors in Asia, is back again for his 15th film titled "Dream". Coincidentally, "diametrical" is not only representative of the popular opinion surrounding Ki-duk Kim films, but also takes center stage when examining the movie's main theme - but more on that later. If you want to compare "Dream" with any of Kim's prior films, the obvious candidate would be Time" (superficially at least). Both films feature non-Korean actors in the lead roles, clubs you over the head with symbolic imagery (ranging from obtuse to clunky), and features moments set in a prison setting. Where "Dream" veers off from other Kim films is the completely surrealistic subject matter, something that would probably inspire M.C. Escher.

In “Dream,” Jin (Joe Odagiri) wakes up from a dream with an uneasy feeling that what he just dreamt may have just been something more. In his dream, Jin drove his ex girlfriend’s car, only to smash into another car, but takes off before the police arrive. Jin’s uneasy feeling about his dream is so persistent that he leaves his home and drives to the spot where the accident occurred in his dream. When Jin arrives at the intersection, there is the same car he dreamt he hit, broken down from a hit & run accident. The area is now blanketed with cops.

Jin then overhears that a suspect for the hit & run has been discovered and follows a cop car that goes to investigate the suspect. When the police arrive, they find a car matching the description of the hit & run driver’s car with a smashed in front engine. The police then takes the woman named Ran (Na-young Lee)in for questioning. While she is being taken away, Jin hears Ran screaming that she was home all evening and was in fact sleeping in her bed.

At the police station, Jin walks up to the police desk interviewing Ran and takes full blame for the hit & run. He claims that somehow what he dreamt was acted out by Ran, but she is completely free from blame. After psychological exams, Jin and Ran realize that they are inexplicably connected, with Ran acting out whatever Jin dreams …

“Dream” is a unique film, that at times feels like a clunky art-house film, but wins you over with its many sleight of hand tricks to make you re-examine what is reality. Especially in the beginning of the film, “Dream” takes on more of a feel of a “theatrical play” rather than your typical feature length film. The main culprit for this feeling would undoubtedly lie with Joe Odagiri speaking entirely in Japanese, while all the other characters respond in Korean. Timing between spoken lines become more pronounced, as the characters seem to make sure they don’t run over the other person’s lines. For less adventurous native Korean & Japanese movie goers, this just may well become a deal breaker. Western audience may not even notice this discrepancy, and for all others, this becomes less of an issue as you become more familiar with the story. Realism does take a serious with the decision to have Joe Odagiri speak entirely in Japanese, but when examined more closely, the loss of realism from that decision becomes more of an intentional ploy to further blur the line between the movie’s central question “What is reality and what is a dream?”

For people who find the story confusing or absolutely need to fill in all the blanks, well the story is purposefully obtuse and you just can't fit everything perfectly into place. Instead, "Dream" is a film that should be taken as a whole to surmise what could have occurred in the film. If you don't mind spoilers and want to know my take on the film's premise read below and for others just skip to the last paragraph. The biggest clue in determining what is "reality" (or better yet what is not "reality") in the film is Joe Odagiri's Jin character speaking Japanese. This tells you that the movie's narration is set not in reality but within a dream, but then from whose dream does the story take place? You can pick Ran or Jin, but it really doesn't matter, as they seem to be one. The film on more than one occasion harps on the mantra "black & white is the same," while Ran and Jin appears in contrasting black & white throughout the film. Also note the scene where Ran walks back to Jin's car outside the Buddhist temple. When Ran peers into the tinted window, Jin's reflection appears on the window.

With the combination of Ki-duk Kim, Joe Odagiri, and Na-yeong Lee working together for the first time, my enthusiasm for “Dream” was incredibly high. This was even further heightened by the absolutely stunning trailer released for “Dream.” The actual end product doesn’t quite rise to the level of these lofty expectations. Frequent faults found in Ki-duk Kim’s latter films (like his penchant for pretentiousness or his over emphasis on unique themes & under emphasis on believable characters) appear numerous times in “Dream.” With that stated, the movie is still a fascinating pic that unveils a succession of sleight of hand tricks to make you re-examine what you first believed is reality in the film. “Dream” is Kim’s most enjoyable film to date.

Raku Sep 28 2008 6:32 pm Yes I think this'll be a big one on the festival circuit......shame it's too late and too early for any sort of Cannes recognition (apart from a poster I think), as this seems like a movie that would've attracted lots of Cannes media buzz. Also Kim Ki-duk isn't particularly liked in Korea so even if it's good there's no chance of it becoming Korea's Oscar nomination....Although Korea's Oscar nominations are usually....bad.

RamenLover Sep 26 2008 3:03 am I was already looking forwards to this movie, but after seeing the trailer I am dying to see this movie. What a beautiful trailer. Joe Odagiri + Na-yeong Lee + Ki-duk Kim = insane combination.

Dream

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