‘My Name is Loh Kiwan’ Review: Song Joong-ki film is what ’Dunki’ could not be
In the event you watched Shah Rukh Khan’s ‘Dunki’ earlier this yr, Track Joong-ki’s ‘My Identify is Loh Kiwan’ may pique your curiosity. A movie about unlawful immigration, looking for refuge, and the appropriate to stay, ‘My Identify is Loh Kiwan’ goals at displaying us the grim actuality of immigration and life as a nomad.
The movie is predicated on the novel ‘I Met Loh Kiwan’, which follows the story of a North Korean defector who finds himself in Belgium in the hunt for a second likelihood at life and refuge. Loh Kiwan, performed by Track Joong-ki, is a younger North Korean defector who’s compelled to enter Belgium in a determined try to survive. Enduring harsh situations because the Belgian authorities determines his destiny, he meets Marie, a drug addict looking for refuge from her troubled actuality. Their survival amid the chances serves as the essential premise of the movie.
Written and directed by Kin Hee-jin, ‘My Identify is Loh Kiwan’ is unhinged concerning the actuality and the hardships of life, particularly for these robbed off their rights to stay, as a result of boundaries and borders. The director retains it actual with scenes displaying them consuming leftovers and surviving on the naked minimal. He even gave Joong-ki an unkept look with scars for many components of the narrative. Using digicam angles and melancholic music successfully evokes empathy for Kiwan’s situation. Importantly, the movie refrains from questioning or demonising any nation, as an alternative, it invitations you to watch as third-party voyeurs.
Joong-ki sheds off his swag manner to make Kiwan a personality that he owns. The vulnerability, the desperation to outlive and the transient moments of anger and grief are nicely captured throughout the narrative. There isn’t any denying that this isn’t a love story of Kiwan and Marie [played by Choi Sung-eun]. Nonetheless, basically it’s a survival story with love as a constructing subtext. What works for the movie is that it doesn’t try to underplay the struggles at any level. A criticism most had with Rajkumar Hirani-SRK’s Dunki. Track Joong-ki’s ‘My Identify is Loh Kiwan’ is what ’Dunki’ could possibly be if made by Anurag Kashyap.
Joong-ki’s glorious portrayal is matched by Choi Sung-eun [of ‘The Sound of Magic’ fame] who threads the road of enjoying Marie completely. It’s a complicated and extra nuanced character on paper. Sung-eun does full justice to her function.
The tempo of the narrative is well-timed and the transient encounters of Kiwan in Belgium assist us perceive his plight nicely. Nonetheless, to some, it’d really feel too heavy and sluggish on condition that the narrative hardly relaxes the poignant undertone of the movie. The heavy-hearted feeling and emotional discourse don’t get gentle, understandably so.
Regardless of the movie being set on a extra real looking background, the story of discovering hope and resilience is fantastically obtained. The dearth of any gimmicky stunts is a bonus for many who love this sort of cinema.
It may not be for everybody, however for many who are in search of good cinema backed by robust performances, ‘My Identify is Loh Kiwan’ is streaming on Netflix.
