Written and directed by Lee Chung-hyun, Ballerina makes for intriguing viewing. The South Korean thriller revolves around a riveting central performance from Jeon Jong-seo. Her character Jang Ok-ju is intense and introverted, and there is much that lies beneath her deliberately labouring manner and her piercing stare. What disappoints the most in this promising film is the lack of back story. This relates primarily to Ok-ju but can easily extend to the remaining cast. The stunning visuals and impressive stunt choreography notwithstanding, the viewer will be left with more questions than answers by the end of it. Ok-ju is quiet for the most part, choosing mainly to speak when spoken to. But it is her eyes that tell you there’s a story there. How did she come to work for a security agency as a bodyguard? Where did she pick up those lethal skills from, and why? Was she always a loner or did she become that way? Questions abound, and unfortunately, none of us is privy to the story behind the story.
Director – Lee Chung-hyun
Cast – Jeon Jong-seo, Kim Ji-hoon, Park Yu-rim, Shin Se-hwi
Streaming On – Netflix
The bond between Ok-ju and Choi Min-hee (Park Yu-rim) is presented as unbreakable. They meet by chance at a cake shop, as the latter finishes off her shift. Min-hee recognises Ok-ju as her middle school classmate from back in the day. The pair cannot be more different. Ok-ju, brooding and deadpan, choosing to operate solo. Min-hee, effusive, warm and outgoing. One is yin to the other’s yang. There are snippets of their conversations that appear in brief flashes, as Ok-ju mourns the untimely demise of her dearest friend. And even here, the gaps cannot be ignored. The writing does not tell you why Choi Min-hee got into ballet, for instance? It fails to explain why she, Ok-ju’s closest confidant, does not so much as bring up the blackmail she is being subjected to. Inseparable friends speak of such things, surely! If more were explored and perhaps explained, Ballerina could well have been a deep thriller, delving into the complexities of the human mind and why people are inclined to act in the way that they do. What it ends up being is a superficially appealing film with some great action sequences. If the writing had kept up with Jeon Jong-seo’s exceptional emotive abilities, Ballerina may have made the cut for one of the finest the genre has produced lately. Sadly, it remains a ‘what might have been’ sort of film.
Kim Ji-hoon’s character Choi Pro exudes appropriate menace and dread in an understated kind of way. His manner isn’t dissimilar to that of Ok-ju, if you think about it, with them being on opposite ends of the spectrum. Kim Ji-hoon immerses himself into Choi’s deviance and penchant for fetish. As he tells his pharmacist friend (who supplies the drugs Choi uses to spike women’s drinks), “it isn’t a challenge if the girls are too easy.” His modus operandi is to go to clubs, chat up attractive young women, drug their drinks, and take them back to a specific hotel to sexually assault them employing BDSM. He uses the filmed footage as blackmail. A serial rapist, he retains drives of scores of his victims tucked away in his plush mansion. In the same way as the protagonists, it sure would have been nice to go deeper into Choi Pro’s character. How did the man come to be this way? His association with the mafia is never explored, either. All we know is that he’s a low-level operative. After Ok-ju maims Choi during a failed attack, a gangster and his men come calling at the hospital, telling him he has three days to capture the girl. It is established many times that his drugging and assaulting of young women is his personal business, then why would the crime boss be so interested?
If you’re willing to look past the many inadvertent questions the narrative throws up, Ballerina makes for an interesting ride. The combat is gruesome and realistic, reminiscent of John Wick or Kate. The fact that the sequences are few and far between make them memorable. The cinematography and music match the mood and tone of the film seamlessly. Jeon Jong-seo’s performance is undoubtedly the highlight. Ok-ju’s intense manner, unwavering stare and all-round loner persona are accentuated by everyday things…a constantly lit cigarette on her lips, a revving motorcycle darting across city streets. Choi Min-hee was the only one in the world who brought light into her life. The former’s suicide note implores Ok-ju to avenge her at all costs. And avenge she will!
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