Okja

When I saw the ads for Okja, I initially dismissed it as just another CGI nonsense movie. I couldn't be more mistaken. When I finally decided to give this move a shot (based on the fact Criterion chose to add it to their collection), I was blown away. This movie is one of the few near-perfect films that I would rank in my all-time top ten. I have watched it multiple times and cry uncontrollably ever single time. The directing, writing, casting, and acting is all spot on - but Ahn Seo Hyun absolutely kills it in what I consider to be one of the best female protagonist roles of this century. Do yourself a favor and watch this today.

Had never seen Okja before ordering, but had seen the rest of Bong Joon-ho's films, and admire his ability to make entertaining and thoughtful films in such a wide variety of genre's. Okja is a fantasy film, where a young girl befriend's a huge but gentle pig that the Mirando corporation gave 26 people around the world for 10 years to see if the pigs can become part of the solution to providing food for an ever expanding world population. And Mirando wants them back. But the girl and some intense animal rights activists have other ideas. It combines environmental concerns, animal rights and greedy capitalism, but other than the young girl, nobody comes out of it looking particularly noble. It is well acted, beautifully filmed, the special effects for the pig are spectacular, the climax is a bit over the top. As usual with Criterion, lots of extras to view after the film, the discussion with the director and producer is quite enjoyable.

Beautiful release from Criterion. The video and audio quality are excellent, and the packaging is top-notch. A must-have for fans of “Okja.”

I returned this film bc it’s too real and disturbing for children. Amazing visual effects, bringing “superpigs” to life. The film is well paced and effective in its storytelling and messaging. I was made aware of it from an episode of “Pokerface” in which “Okja”turns a barbecue impresario into a vegetarian (causing his demise!). I didn’t understand why Tilda Swinton was split into twins. The function of two characters instead of one wasn’t evident to me. I waited for an obvious reason but it didn’t appear to me. But Swinton’s super-thin washed-out sharp-faced looks matched her to their capitalistic ruthlessness. Not for kids, as I had counted on. The DVD cover foto shows Okja’s snout looking like a big breast, apparently a commentary on commercial breeding. Yikes!

This is one of my favorite films of all time and the Blu ray is fantastic. Glad I finally get to own this one. At times funny, action packed and sometimes completely and utterly heartbreaking, it’s a great film that has a very important message.