“Ever questioned why you’re alive or the place your path is perhaps?”
Produced by Cinema DAL, “Corydoras” is a 2021 documentary movie by Ryu Hyung-seok screening on the 2023 version of the London Korea Movie Pageant. The story follows Park Dong-soo, a 40-year-old man with cerebral palsy who left his facility ten years in the past to dwell independently.
Deserted by his household, Park Dong-soo has been residing in care facilities for individuals with a incapacity since he was 9 years previous. Wandering from one heart to a different, he will get by way of life by writing poetry. As soon as thirty, he left his life in care facilities to discover a rental condominium the place he may dwell on his personal. He compares himself to corydoras, a fish species identified for clearing algae from the underside of fish tanks. Dong-soo believes that the boundaries of his physique imprison his spirit, and his actions are restricted as a result of his incapacity, very similar to a fish caught in a tank. After he buys some for his fish tank, he’s curious in regards to the objective of his difficult life and begins dreaming about his former houses. This leads him to seek for his poem’s remnants, therefore the locations that impressed his writing and outlined most of his life. He goes again to the establishments the place he was raised and faces, as soon as once more, the traumatic experiences he had there.
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Re-visiting the locations of his youth, therefore the care centres, he relives moments of pure hell however, additionally, a couple of loving relationships with caretakers and buddies from the mentioned environments. He exposes harsh realities like mistreatment, concerning which he states he, together with different disabled individuals, has been handled “like a bit of meat”. However on the similar time, he cherishes the expertise of progress and sharing with buddies from the previous, who additionally used poetry as a means to deal with their situation. Though unhappy, at these robust social gatherings, he recollects these moments with positivity. He later shares along with his disabled exercise assistant: “I do not wish to look down in entrance of individuals. So I all the time smile”. Dong-soo does not wish to censor himself, however on the similar time, he fears the concept of wanting pitiful in entrance of others. All these emotions get out within the open, as neither the course nor the individuals concerned wish to create a fabricated narrative.
Throughout this reconciliation with the previous, he additionally visits a pastor to speak about God’s motives for creating these with disabilities. Via moments of reconciliation, prayers and grocery procuring, Park Dong-soo reveals the viewers the ups and downs of a life he needs wasn’t constrained by cerebral palsy. Whereas doing so, he explains how poetry received him by way of life and tries to relive his ardour as he intends to know his objective. The viewers will get to know each the darkish and dreamy facet of the protagonist.
Whereas narrating Dong-soo’s experiences, the director explores completely different matters concerning not solely incapacity however life itself. The seek for magnificence, the questioning of faith, misplaced love, and poetic escapism are just some of the completely different topics pricey to Dong-soo and the documentary itself. “Corydoras” depicts easy moments that handle to share greater than the each day actions of a disabled physique: it tackles loneliness, longing, anguish and pleasure. This documentary works as a journey by way of the human soul the place an individual with a incapacity finds their life objective.
Its storytelling is slow-paced and is not accompanied by any music, however by the sound and noises of pure actuality. The digicam alternates between first-person views, due to which one sees the world by way of Dong-soo’s eyes, and shut and nonetheless pictures of his on a regular basis life. What stands out most is the colour work, because it ensures an intimate and poetic depiction, completely in step with the narrating depth the documentary goals at. The rhythm is nearly non-existent, however the directing makes up for it with stunning and thoughtfully constructed pictures in addition to the charming nature of the topic portrayed.
Dong-soo is a dreamer and introspective at coronary heart. He states that he purchased Corydoras to be surrounded by stunning issues. Likewise, he needs to discover a world of sole magnificence, a world he will get to create by way of his poetry. As a result of his creativeness and intoxicating nature (as one in every of his buddies and former fellow poet Cho Hyun-duk describes), he’s considering navigating the depth of the human psyche and actuality. And that is additionally the purpose of Ryu Hyung-seok’s work: not limiting his documentary to a life description however an opportunity to know extra about how people dwell, assume and relate to one another.
“Corydoras” is, in different phrases, not a mere narration of a disabled man’s life situation in modern South Korea. The story captures Dong-soo’s life truthfully, with no romanticized be aware of his experiences or masking up his hardships. He will get to talk his thoughts and has energy over the narration. This documentary is real and a pure story of curiosity, tackling not solely a social situation however that of humanity.
