Okja

A girl and her genetically modified giant pig; such a sweet picture!

(2017) Fantasy (Netflix) Tilda Swinton, Paul Dano, Seohyun An, Giancarlo Esposito, Jake Gyllenhaal, Jungeun Lee, Byun Heebong, Yoon Je Moon, Shirley Henderson, Steven Yeun, Daniel Henshaw, Lily Collins, Devon Bostick, José Carias, Colm Hill, Kathryn Kirkpatrick, Nancy Bell, Jaein Kim, Bongryun Lee, Woo Shik Choi, Moon Choi. Directed by Joon-ho Bong

 

Asian culture can be incomprehensible at times for the Western mind. There is an almost cultish worship of things that are ridiculously cute and a sense of humor that is wacky and broad, yet their comic books and animated features can be crazy violent and chock full of deviant sexual behavior. Some things are best left un-analyzed.

In the near future, food shortages have led the multinational Morando Corporation to develop a genetically enhanced pig. The CEO (Swinton), seeking to undo the damage to the corporate image her amoral sister (also Swinton) did, proclaims the pig to be a miracle; it eats and poops less, provides more meat on the hoof (it resembles a hippopotamus with dog eyes) and tastes delicious. She initiates a contest in which piglets are sent to a variety of farms around the world to see which one is most successful at raising one.

The South Korean entry is sent to the farm of Hee Bong (Heebong) whose granddaughter Mija (An) has developed a bond with her pig whom she has named Okja. When television personality Johnny Wilcox (Gyllenhaal) – a sort of Steve Irwin-like character if Steve Irwin had been a corporate shill – visits the remote mountain farm and proclaims Okja the winner. What nobody has told Mija however is that Okja is to be taken away from the farm, sent to New York for a promotional appearance and then butchered for snacks. When she finds this out, she is not at all pleased.

But she gets a break; the quirky Animal Liberation Front, led by the quirky Jay (Dano) – has kidnapped Okja (maybe pig-napped would be a better term) and hopes to use the creature for his own agenda. However operatives for Morando find Okja and bring her back to New York. Can Okja be saved? And even if she is, will she ever be able to live on the farm again once she’s seen New York?

Director Joon-ho Bong, who gave us the wonderful The Host and the not as wonderful but still interesting Snowpiercer, delivers a great-looking film which is infused with a good deal of unexpected satire on the nature of corporate politics, mass media, obsession, animal cruelty and a little bit of American imperialism (at least one line spoke in Korean is deliberately mistranslated in the subtitles, which is about as subversive as you’d think Netflix would ever get). The satire can be a bit broad but it at least has its heart in the right place.

Just as broad is the humor which can take some getting used to by Western and particularly American audiences. There’s an awful lot of jokes about pig shit and if you find that dopey or distasteful, well, you’re not alone. Fortunately nothing is overtly mean or tremendously gross, so most youngsters will be delighted by the mainly CGI Okja who looks startlingly realistic.

This isn’t bad at all, although again there is a bit of a curve of how much you’ll enjoy it depending on how open to different cultures you might be. While much of this is fairly universal, I found some of it to be bewildering. Still, the cinematography is incredible (particularly in the Korean scenes) and even if the usually reliable Gyllenhaal and Swinton overact shamelessly (Esposito as a debonair corporate flunky is an exception) the movie is a solid choice for a night at home with Netflix.

REASONS TO GO: It’s bizarre and weird but in a good way. There is a surprising amount of social satire in the mix.
REASONS TO STAY: The humor is a little broad for my Western tastes and the movie a bit too long for what it is.
FAMILY VALUES: There is some profanity, some violence and plenty of rude humor.
TRIVIAL PURSUIT: The Animal Liberation Front is an actual organization that is dedicated to freeing animals in captivity and causing economic chaos for corporations profiting from their captivity.
BEYOND THE THEATERS: Netflix
CRITICAL MASS: As of 8/1/18: Rotten Tomatoes: 86% positive reviews. Metacritic: 75/100.
COMPARISON SHOPPING: Babe: A Giant Pig in the City
FINAL RATING: 7/10
NEXT: 40 Years in the Making: The Magic Music Movie

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10 Billion – What’s On Your Plate? (10 Milliarden)

There are all sorts of hungry mouths to feed.

(2015) Documentary (Under the Milky Way) Valentin Thurn, Liam Condon, Johan Botterman, Andreas Gansie, Gutshof Habitzheim, Felix zu Lowenstein, Bangardswami Soundaratajan, Karl Schweisfurth, Jes Tarp, Bernd Schmitz, Haruhiko Murase, Ronald Stotish, Dawn Runighan, Mark Post, Jim Rogers, Rob Hopkins, Fanny Nanjiwa. Directed by Valentin Thurn

 

There are a lot of scary things happening in the world. The climate is changing; arable land will soon be at a premium. On top of that, the world population is exploding beyond our capacity to feed everyone and deliver drinkable water to them. Less farmland, more people – does anyone see this is a recipe for disaster?

Actually, many do. German journalist Valentin Thurn went in search of solutions to the coming food crisis which one scientist called “the greatest crisis man has ever faced.”

The changes in the weather don’t just affect cellphone reception. Many parts of the globe are experiencing extended droughts while others are getting too much rain. Crops that aren’t resistant to these changes will fail. Scientists are trying to create hybrid seeds that will grow plants that are drought resistant and deliver a more efficient yield. These efforts are being spearheaded by big companies like Bayer and Nestlé. However, it is somewhat disconcerting to learn that just ten corporations control more than three quarters of the world’s seeds.

Most of us are aware of GMOs which have been sold to us as bad things, but some scientists caution that without them we may not be able to feed everyone within the next 20-30 years – yes, that soon. Is it a choice between a rock and a hard place that we’re facing? Well, Thurn doesn’t think so.

One of the big culprits behind worldwide food shortages is meat. Cows, sheep, pigs and chicken require enormous amount of resources to maintain. On top of that, the middle classes of developing countries – including traditionally vegetarian India – are craving more and more meat, copying the demographics of Western nations including Europe and North America. The oceans are also becoming dangerously over-fished. Sustainable sources of meat are almost a must if we’re going to continue to enjoy hamburgers, sushi and McNuggets.  Some scientists are looking to grow meat substitutes in various labs. Alternative sources of protein are also being explored; insects, for example. Don’t turn that shade of green; in several cultures in Asia and Africa, insects are part of the daily diet. Chocolate covered ants, anyone?

Thurn seems to think that the answer lies in thinking locally rather than globally. Big multi-national food providers see food as commodities rather than a human right; food that is grown locally is affordable to nearly everyone as costs in transportation and preservation can be prohibitive. Small, organic farmers who have been practicing the same land stewardship techniques for ages may provide the answers for the coming food shortage crisis.

Thurn admirably keeps ecological sustainability part of his equation; solutions that may provide food but destroy the ecology are not viable and Thurn makes sure we know that. However, he has a tendency to be a bit of a tunnel-visionary; while he explores technological advances, he tends to criticize them with missionary zeal mainly rejecting them out of hand as being too expensive for the impoverished to explore. The thing is about technology is that as it becomes more commonplace, it tends to fall in price. Electricity, indoor plumbing and computers were all once only affordable by the very wealthy; now they are all everywhere used by all but the most impoverished.

Thurn is a very thorough investigator and he tries to look at every aspect of the problem – and it IS an important problem, one that is going to affect all of us. We all need to eat, right? However, there is an awful lot of information being presented here, a lot of it technical and after awhile it becomes somewhat brain-numbing. There is also a scene set in an Indian chicken factory farm in which the poultry is being slaughtered; those who are sensitive to such things may be disturbed.

Still, this is an important topic and anyone who wants to see the human race continue knows that keeping it fed is going to be a priority in the next century. Some of the technology and practices seen here may fall by the wayside but some of it is almost certainly going to become part of our lives. It is inevitable and although we may not like to think about it, we need to consider these possibilities nonetheless Our descendants are counting on us.

REASONS TO GO: This is a sobering but important topic for a documentary. There are a variety of viewpoints presented.
REASONS TO STAY: A definite case of information overkill.
FAMILY VALUES: The dire predictions may be troubling to some; there is also a scene in which chickens are slaughtered which may upset the sensitive.
TRIVIAL PURSUIT: If current birth rates hold true, the world population will hit ten billion by the year 2050.
BEYOND THE THEATERS: Amazon, Film Platform, YouTube
CRITICAL MASS: As of 3/22/18: Rotten Tomatoes: No score yet. Metacritic: No score yet.
COMPARISON SHOPPING: Last Supper for Malthus
FINAL RATING: 7/10
NEXT: Unsane