The film-within-a film motif is nothing new.
We’ve seen this used countless times in the past.
So, how do you make it interesting for viewers?
Well, it’s all about the presentation, the delivery.
Writer-director Kim Jee-woon’s take on the theme as seen via “Cobweb” is quite fun, entertaining – in a dark, disturbing kind of way.
It follows the story of a director haunted by eager desire to re-shoot the ending of his latest film in an effort to create a masterpiece.
But, why?
Well, he is apparently bothered by the idea of him being seen as a pretender, a nobody.
It is as such that he is now bent on creating his best work ever.
Easier said than done, of course.
He has to deal with a web of complications first.
And therein lays the drama.
The cinematography is superb, with Kim’s keen eye for detail making the film a virtual time machine that allowed us to travel back to a time when cinema was this curious, magical other-world, in color or otherwise.
The acting is fantastic as well.
Lead star Song Kang-ho, best known for his performance in the critically-acclaimed “Parasite,” is believable as a filmmaker seemingly at the end of his tethers.
Explaining the film’s raison d’etre, Kim told media, “I wanted this to be a film that allows you to really rekindle the love that you have for cinema. Think about it once again, reassure yourself. And I think I wanted it to be sort of an encouragement to not just me, but to everyone who’s involved in cinema all over the world to really rekindle that romance as well as to encourage yourself to move even further.”
He added, “I also want to send a hopeful and tentatively optimistic message that cinema will go on, just as life goes on despite all of its ironies and hardships.”
Produced by Anthology Studios and globally distributed by Barunson E&A, “Cobweb,” which also stars other familiar faces in South Korean entertainment, including Im Soo-jung, Oh Jung-se, Jeon Yeo-been, Jang Young-nam, Park Jung-soo and Krystal Jung, among others, is exclusively distributed in the Philippines by TBA Studios.
It opens in cinemas, Oct. 4.
