Cobweb (2023): A Satire in Monochrome and Technicolor
2023 • Kim Jee-woon • 1.66:1 • Jump to Gallery ↓
Set in 1970s South Korea, a time of strict film industry censorship and political oversight, Kim Jee-woon’s Cobweb (2023) is a dark, stylish satire. It follows an ambitious yet underrated director who becomes obsessed with reshooting the ending of his latest film in order to create a personal masterpiece, causing chaos among the producers, actors and censors.
The movie engages in a dialogue with itself, as the film-within-the-film becomes an expression of the director’s trauma. To convey this concept, Kim Jee-woon alternates between filming sequences in colour and shooting the in-story movie sequences in black and white. The result is a contrasting narrative with striking imagery.
Cobweb is a visually gorgeous film, thanks to its meticulous production design, with costumes and cinematography that evoke 1970s Korean cinema, specifically referencing the psychosexual tension of classics like The Housemaid (which is even older). This enhances both the comedic set-piece moments satirising the industry and the scenes of personal artistic angst. It’s an exhilarating film about filmmaking.
Technical Specs:
- The Story: A 1970s South Korean film director becomes consumed with the idea that the ending of his newly completed movie needs to be reshot, plunging production into chaos under censorship, studio pressure, and clashing egos. Read my review of Cobweb.
- Actors: Song Kang-ho, Lim Soo-jung, Oh Jung-se, Jeon Yeo-been, Krystal Jung, Park Jung-soo, Jang Young-nam, Jung Woo-sung.
- Director: Kim Jee-woon
- Year: 2023
- Cinematographer: Kim Ji-yong
- Origin: Korean Cinema
- Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
- Genre: Black Comedy / Satire / Meta Cinema
