NAAGAYA  
dir. David Hanju Youk 

This film revisits a popular motif in Korean cinema and pop-culture – a zombie apocalypse, where the protagonist manages to escape the catastrophe and is challanged to an uneven fight with the evil. In this case, it's some sort of artificial intelligence, that is the disease, taking the form of a dark pyramid, which is hovering above ruined land - an all controlling system, which manipulates humans with the use of technology.

The story doesn't seem very original, echoeing the Wachowski duo's 1999 hit 'Matrix'. It seems naive, but reflects the fears of the modern society, with its addiction to devices and the looming threat of AI taking over control. It is also quite smoothly and clearly told, with editing emphasising the sctructure of the film and a good choice of music, well balanced with moments of silence and sound effects.

It seems, however, like a sketch of a longer story, with suggestions of events which happened before, as if the author tried to fit a popular feature length format into a short film, without taking time to immerse us into the world he created and to introduce the protagonist. We understand his motivations, but can't relate to him. We see him in the wasted landscape, but the picture of his lost family seems just a cliche and is not enough to make us care about him and root for him in his quest.

The visual style is based on a combination of anime, for the characters and sketch-like backgrounds, hand painted with visible, thick brush strokes, which create the postapocalyptic scenery. The landscapes, however, lack depth, which is especially visible in the scenes, where the camera is panning.

The movement is very simple and it seems, that the author is only beginning to gain experience in the field of animation. It is clumsy at times, but the more dynamic scenes are saved with the use of editing.

There is one moment, however, that made me think, that the author could experiment with his techniques, to try and find a more original style - the image of the boy towards the end of the film, painted with energetic, fresh strokes. It seems more authentic, less contrived, than the rest of the film. I suspect, that using painting to animate, both the backgrounds and the characters could be a good experiment for the author and help him find his own artistic voice, leaving the pop cliche's behind.

'Don't worry. They are comfortable and pleased the way it is' – says a girl, whom our protagonist meets on his quest. This could just as well be my advice to the author -not to be easily pleased and to search for solutions off the beaten track.

7.4/10