Seoul Searching (2016), Directed by Benson Lee
A review of Seoul Searching by Benson Lee.
I’d always seen this movie while perusing through the various films that Netflix has to offer, and, probably because I watch way too many dramas for what is considered healthy, they always recommend it to me. I never found the plot appealing, disclaimer, and I watched this because I was extremely bored and waiting for my mother to come home. This was the strangest trip ride that a movie has taken me on.
It’s very much a strange form of coming-of-age. The movie is based on a true story, one in which the Korean government began to sponsor these camps for the Korean diaspora to come in and learn the culture. However, they had to shut these camps down after a couple of years, because these foreigners were completely out of control. It’s set in the mid-1980s, before Korea began to rapidly industrialize and become the powerhouse country we know today.
Well, let’s delve deeper into why exactly this was a trip ride, shall we?
Content
We’re introduced to our main characters from the get-go, as they appear in the airport terminal rather obnoxiously. Sid (Justin Chon), our main character, is a rebel from California who isn’t really connected to his Korean heritage. The other two male leads are Sergio, a Mexican-Korean who literally embodies the stereotypes of both men and Mexicans, and Klaus, a German-Korean who appears all prim and proper compared to the rest of the gang. While Sid and Sergio aren’t as interested in the actual Korean culture they’re supposed to be there for, Klaus dutifully has good Korean skills and is quite interested in his calligraphy class.
This is a unique film, that’s for sure. It takes a lens to diaspora and what it truly means to be something, because all of these kids are technically Korean but they don’t know anything about the culture mainly. Many, in fact, show no interest in actually learning about their heritage. This trip that sets the context for all of the events in the film is just a free party abroad for many of them, where they can hook up with girls and drink.
The story that was most interesting to me in this film was the adoptee’s story. It was really wholesome how her and the German guy hunted down her birth mother together. They were the only two likable characters, although Sid’s character arc is very understandable and relatable to me. I never understood my father because he tried to impose very traditional Iranian expectations on us, and he was always criticizing me. I, too, lashed out because of it.
I think maybe in the end there was just too many characters and too many stories going on at once. I think this would’ve fleshed out better as a television series perhaps, because then you’re not dropping random characters like the half-black half-Zainichi girl or the British Wimbledon girl. We lose focus of characters who we previously were baited into thinking were integral, and I don’t know how I feel about that.
Minor spoiler: I started laughing hysterically at the DMZ scene because I recognized the tour guide almost as soon as he opened his mouth. It was the stubble that gave him away. That guy played the villain in Descendants of the Sun, Song Joong-ki’s nemesis and former battalion member.
Overall Thoughts
This was a really interesting film, as I haven’t seen anything that covers the diaspora in a way like this. It’s just way too much crammed into this time allotment, and so it falls flat in that regard. It’s also very eighties—the clothes, the hair, the way people act. Ironic because it was made in 2016, but it does indeed feel a little like a time capsule.
