One of the “accusations” mainstream fans seem to hold for art-house films is that at times, they seem to be about nothing, with the scripts appearing to focus on a number of vague things, but nothing in specific. And while this perception can be truthful on occasion, most of the time, art-house movies just take a bit more thinking in order to understand what they are about. “Rolling”, director Kwak Min-seung‘s debut feature, is one of those films.
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25-year-old Joo-ri seems to suffer from some kind of depression after dropping out of college, and essentially all she wants to do is sleep, as the utter untidiness of her small apartment highlights. The only thing that makes her happy is her grandmother, and particularly the memories she has of her as a child, which are recorded in a tape she keeps watching. In an effort to wake her up from her lethargy, her mother threatens to sell the apartment Joo-ri lives in, while eventually she forces her to take her place at her kimbap shop, as she has to stay with her ailing grandmother. Joo-ri does not know how to roll a kimbap, but slowly, gradually, she learns as much about the job as about herself.
To answer the questions of what the film is about, it is actually pretty easy to say that it is a coming-of-age movie about how Joo-ri matures through dealing with everyday life, with the responsibilities her mother suddenly puts upon her being the catalyst here. In that fashion, her everyday interactions with various regulars, including a rather annoying one and a handsome one who quickly pisces her interest, the making of the rolls and the responsibilities of the work prove the medium both for Joo-ri maturing but also for realizing the hardships people around her face. This last aspect is also the one that makes her see her mother through another perspective, essentially bridging their differences.
The approach Kwan Min-seung implements here is a rather light one, with the preparation of the food, the various humoristic episodes that include a rather intuitive neighbor kid, and the many episodes being the source of the above comments, and a rather entertaining one for that matter. Granted, any kind of impact is barely evident here, but the movie is one of those that is really easy to watch, a fact that is stressed by the economical duration of 75 minutes.
Shim Dal-gi is convincing in the low-key role of Joo-ri, with the camera frequently focusing on her face through close-ups (an approach that also applies to the other characters) and her poutings being quite memorable. The chemistry she shares with Jung Eun-kyung-I who plays her mother is evident in its antithesis, and another of the film’s traits.
“Rolling” is definitely not “high-art”, but is fun, entertaining and quite eloquent in its few comments.
Review by Panos Kotzathanasis
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“Rolling” is directed by Kwak Min-seung, and features Shim Dal-gi, Jung Eun-kyung-I, Woo Hyo-won, Jung Eui-soon, Son Seok-bae, Yu Yeon-suk. Release date in Korea: No release date in Korea yet.
[HanCinema’s Film Review] “Rolling” (2021/11/12)
Source: Laban Lang Philippines
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