Thoughts on 'The Mutation' (with spoilers)

Last Thursday was a richly layered day of international cinema and South Korean experiences... I'm still thinking about it... I had been anticipating 'The Mutation', a film by a woman director called Shin Su-won, and it exceeded my expectations. It became apparent soon after the start that this film rewarded careful attention to detail from the viewer. The raising of an eyebrow or the curl of a corner of the mouth - these subtle movements prompted emotional journeys, and dialogue was only a bit player. 

Two people on the fringes of society - a Black man and a same-sex attracted woman - bond over a shared sense of exclusion. The music is gentle, playful, reflective. There are sequences which are dreams, and the light and colourful palette recast ordinary settings into places of beauty. The glow of the mise-en-scene, whether it's the interior of a luxury mall or a charming landscape with mountains in the background, is constant. 

"Even in the darkness, it glows," the woman says of a black goat with a unique and lovely pattern. This symbolises her appreciation of Se-oh (the leading man) as they get to know each other over a couple of days. The actor Han Hyun-min draws upon his own experience of other-isation and the sadness that can follow. He described, in-person after the screening, perpetually being mistaken for being a temporary visitor to South Korea, instead of the fully-fledged citizen he is. One of the first scenes in Shin's film shows him asking a doctor to stop speaking in English and switch to Se-oh's native Hangul. In other early scenes, he is seen as hypersexual by the women around him, including Sara (the leading woman). Sara quickly finds out that he is only interested in friendship, and Se-oh stays free of romantic and/or sexual relationships in this film - his narrative is all about embracing the inner self. 

Sad though it is to navigate the country as an outsider, there is comfort to be found as Se-oh and Sara's mutual understanding grows. The characters start off alone in their grief (for a loved one has been lost to each), but are able to heal and move on. Ultimately, this film offers relief by showing the power of friendship. 

"She was the only person I met without a mask - and now she's gone," Sara reflects on her ill-fated romance. Flashbacks show their first meeting in the lush countryside, where Sara's shoelace is undone, and the young woman who is willing to kneel down and tie it for her. Her words are direct and her face is open. Se-oh, too, masks his identity by working in a white tiger costume at a local amusement park. White tigers are considered a genetic mutation, and he comes to see himself as a mutant in the absence of acceptance from family, friends and his workplace. 

It is powerful, then, to hear him yell out, in one of the film's closing scenes, his full name, to Sara and anyone who could be listening. Along with recovering his identity, he recovers a zest for life. When it's time for the two to say goodbye, they affirm verbally and non-verbally that this is the beginning of a long-term connection. Something new and heartening has been built.