Marina Antunes [Film Festival 08.30.12] fantasy



A few years ago, Vancouver International Film Festival programmer Tony Rayns, well known as an authority on emerging Asian cinema, brought to Vancouver Sung-Hee Jo and his spectacular full length feature debut End of Animal. A minimalist and evocative tale of the apocalypse, Jo's movie knocked my socks off and I've been keeping an eye open for the director's follow-up film in hopes of a repeat success.

A Werewolf Boy (Neuk-dae-so-nyeon), said follow-up, is not what I anticipated. A "wistful fantasy" about a "wild" boy who miraculously appears and falls in love with a girl before being chased into the woods due to his extraordinary powers, this seems much more playful and lighthearted than expected.


On the surface both the plot and the trailer for Jo's follow-up seem odd but on closer inspection, they fall in line with the director's style. Though A Werewolf Boy has a brighter colour palette and an aesthetic that feels lifted from a fairy tale, there's a dreamlike quality to the movie that is reminiscent of the nightmare of End of Animal. Worry not, it doesn't look like it's all peaches and cream and I don't doubt Jo will explore some of the darker aspects of love and loss.

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