It is the early 1970s in South Korea, film director Kim played by the incredible Song Kang-ho has just had a dream where it is revealed how to end his already-wrapped film in order to make it a classic, at least in his mind. He has to convince the studio head, the crew and the actors to return for just two more days to complete his magnus opus, all the while trying to appease the censors who were very strict in South Korea at the time.

He manages to get the band back together but the shoot is definitely not without its dramas with two of the lead actors having an affair, the state censor crashing the shoot, and the extra days being shot without the permission of the studio head amongst many other challenges.

Song Kang-ho as Director Kim and his film crew in Cobweb

We find out that director Kim Yeol (Song Kang-ho) had great critical and commercial success with his debut film which was released soon after the death of his mentor and legendary cinematic director Shin (Jung Woo-sung), since then all of his films have been poorly received and lacklustre and he has feelings of self-doubt that maybe he just isn’t that talented but if he just manages to pull this off it could elevate him to the place he has always yearned to be.
Maybe his dreams are greater than his skillset, Hack-cock rather than Hitchcock, peut-être?

Krystal Jung as Yu-Rim and Im Soo-jung as Lee Min-mi in Cobweb

Director Kim Jee-woon returns to comedy for his 11th feature after going on a journey from genre to genre, from comedy (The Quiet Family-1998) to horror (A Tale of Two Sisters-2003) to western (The Good the Bad The Weird-2008) to thriller (I Saw the Devil-2010) to an Arnie film made in America (The Last Stand-2013) to spy thriller (The Age of Shadows-2016) and is now back to delight his audience with this joyous, hilarious, frenetic tale of a director looking to achieve greatness by any means necessary.

I saw this in June at the Sydney Film Festival and had been looking forward to it and luckily, as a bonus, I managed to attend a Q&A with the director after the film.
He had said in the interview after the screening that he was influenced by Henri-Georges Clouzot and the black and white sections of the film showing the film itself have a beautifully striking look that is reminiscent of Diabolique (1955), of which the film within the film’s narrative shares DNA, as well as thrillers of the time from South Korea, The Housemaid especially comes to mind.
Nothing says drama, tension and danger like a rainstorm, especially through a window.

I can see you

Interestingly, Kim Ki Young who directed The Housemaid was rediscovered and celebrated in the mid to late 90s by the batch of young South Korean Directors including Park Chan Wook, Bong Joon Ho, Ryu Seung-wan and the director of this comedy, Kim Jee Woon. Cobweb shares DNA with The Housemaid on many levels, the narrative of the film in the film shares plot points (to a point), the black and white cinematography is similar, as is the style.

Production Still from Cobweb

The cast are uniformly excellent, all having a blast, led by example by the always excellent Song Kang-ho who has worked with Kim Jee-woon now 5 times and when talking about their first film together, The Quiet Family (1998) he said that Song Kang-ho is very naturalistic and instinctive as an actor. 
For me, Song Kang-ho is always an absolute joy to watch and is one of the very few actors whose work I actively seek out as and when they are released. He is an actor who can transition from comedy to tragedy with ease and conviction.

Song Kang-ho in Cobweb

This is definitely one of my favourite films of the year. A riotous entertaining romp that leans into farce without ever losing the sense of urgency and tension that is on show. The black and white footage of the film within the film is sumptuous and looks amazing on the big screen.

See it now at the cinema and soon on a digital platform very near you.

135 Minutes
South Korea