I’m a cyborg, but that’s ok. Just the title is enough to have you saying to yourself, ‘Wow, this is probably a really bad idea, but I’m going to watch it anyway.’ I have to admit that unlike all the other times I’ve thought this particular phrase to myself, I didn’t find myself struggling with some instinctual need to claw my own eyes out.

I won’t mention the movies that brought on this reaction by name as that simply ruins the delicious mystery that you all experience when you click on a new movie review and read through it, eagerly in search of that particular film’s suck rating.  Seeing a movie plummet into a steaming pile on the pavement of production ratings is a bit like watching a pack of hyena bring down a baby gazelle, a sight which brings enjoyment to one and all. But I’ll get into the social dynamics later. Since they don’t apply to this movie, they aren’t really all that important anyway. This movie rates very high with me because it’s managed to portray something unique in a fun way, without losing any of the impact behind the lesson it’s trying to get across. That takes cojones and I applaud director Park Chan-wook for his efforts.

Su-jeong plays Young-goon, a young woman trapped by her own mind. Believing herself to be a robot, Young-goon finds herself in a dilemma when her disappointingly human body fails to charge like a proper android’s should. So what does she do? Well obviously desperately low batteries call for drastic power surges. The next time she’s at work Young-goon slits her wrist and after attaching cable cords to her struggling veins, she plugs herself into the nearest electrical outlet and…bang. Full battery. Along with a complimentary ride to the loony bin. Because of her own mother having to be sent away, Young-goons mother has made her swear not to tell anyone about her thinking that she’s a cyborg. So unfortunately, while she’s in the hospital, when the doctors finally begin to notice that she isn’t eating, they aren’t sure why or even what to do to help her. They try everything from shock therapy to force feeding her through a tube up her nose but nothing is working and Young-goon is steadily slipping away.

The great thing about this movie is that unlike other films centering on the mentally disabled, it’s in no way a depressing, frightening, or disgustingly heartwarming. The atmosphere inside of the mental institute is bright, almost cheery. And instead of the perspective of the film being taken from the outside looking in by portraying the patients as people to be pitied or feared, it lets you see the world from their point of view. You yodel in the mountains with the singer who never got her part, you fly through the sky with the woman who made anti gravity socks using static electricity, and you even get a front row seat when Young-goon takes out a dozen or more doctors and nurses with her machine gun fingers every time her battery charges all of the way.

When it all comes down to it the movie is actually more of a romance than anything else. Young-goon’s love interest is another patient who happens to be an anti-social schizophrenic who wears a bunny masks and hops around the hospital. Throw in a compulsion to steal and the fact that the actor playing the part happens to be the amazing Ji-hoon (or Rain to his fans), and you’ll understand why he happens to be a great leading man. Ji-hoon and Su-jeong are funny and sweet together as a couple and they also make surprisingly good mental patients. You wouldn’t think that that would be a compliment but it is. Not many actors can pull it off without seeming insulting or looking stupid. Apparently I’m not the only one who thinks so because Rain won the Best New Actor award at the 43rd Baeksang Awards. Since he was a delight to watch, this isn’t much of a surprise. I can’t reveal much of the movie without giving the good parts away and honestly, even as I write this I feel as if my review isn’t really giving the movie justice. Which is no small feat since I’m pretty full of myself and therefore have great faith in my abilities.

As the number one film in the box office when it opened in South Korea in 2006, I’m a Cyborg, But That’s OK grossed over $2,478,626 in its first week. Its popularity waned during the following weeks in the box office which was a disappointing surprise. However during the following year the film won numerous awards and even opened for the Hong Kong international film festival. From the same director that brought you movies like Joint Security Area, Oldboy, and Sympathy for Lady Vengeance, I’m A Cyborg, But That’s Ok is another film that will leave you wanting more.

I’m A Cyborg, But That’s Ok was directed and written by Jeong Seo-kyeong and Park Chan-wook