Cast of Concrete Utopia on a cropped poster
Disaster movies are an age-old conceit, but even the most reliable ideas can only be revisited so often before they lose the very thing that gave them their distinctive edge in the first place. Director Um Tae-hwa's Concrete Utopia offers a unique take on its genre, approaching dystopian sci-fi with subtlety and restraint.
Despair sets in, followed by a hopeful grasping at straws. Looking to the familiar comforts of leadership, the residents elect a leader in Yeong-tak , clinging to what seems to be an act of selfless heroism on his part. A politely authoritarian system emerges, its rules about mandatory food rations and job assignments presented through a filter of go-getter optimism.
And when food and water grow scarce, the "survival of the fittest" herd mentality arises on cue. The peace that the complex builds is just a passing hiccup; the same people who initially opened their doors to the freezing children begging for shelter and sustenance decide that the people who weren't randomly lucky enough to have a roof over their heads after an earthquake are freeloading"cockroaches.
Posts The socioeconomic commentary about capitalism, social inequality, and the housing crisis might be wielded with a sledgehammer's subtlety, but much of our own world continues to prove there's merit to such a didactic approach. Concrete Utopia opens with a montage summarizing how apartments were designed to be a financially feasible option for lower-income individuals before consumerism warped them into an expensive, enviable luxury.
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