Natural City | DVD Review

Natural City wants to talk about love lost and the perils of technology. It wears it’s heart on it’s sleeve and then proceeds to obliterate that heart into a bloody pulp.

Synopsis

The year is 2080. Humans everywhere coexist with expiration-dated cyborg-servants. R (Yoo Ji-tae, Oldboy, Lady Vengeance), a soldier in an elite military squad, has fallen in love with an exotic ‘dancing’ cyborg, Ria (Seo Rin), who is set to expire in 3 days. In an attempt to extend her lifespan by any unlawful means necessary, R becomes viciously at odds with his military superior and friend, Noma (Yoon Chan). When a group of ruthless ‘combat’ cyborgs hell bent on extending their own lives threatens to plunge the city into blood-drenched anarchy, the only thing that can stop them is an unlikely alliance between R and Noma.

Review

Korean director Byung-Cheon Min uses a reported budget of approximately $6 million to great effect. Most of this handsome movie looks like it was made for far more money. With that said, let’s get something out of the way. I could list a half dozen sci-fi films that Natural City liberally borrows from. It is a smorgasbord of influences and while that may bother some, you needn’t be concerned. The film balances a tightwire between deja vu and it’s own stylistic ambitions and comes out the better mainly because of numerous visual flourishes bridging traditional Korea with it’s future incarnation and a consistency of purpose.

Natural City is, above all, about dealing with loss. There are scenes in the film that carry real emotional weight. None so much as a scene during Ria’s final days of ‘life’. R, at his bedside with a distraught Ria sympathetically asks, “What’s the matter?”. Ria, a cyborg programmed from inception as a dancer to entertain the masses and feeling worthless in her final hours simply replies, “I want to dance”, presumably not only for herself but for R as well. The fact that the following scene depicts R busting the heads of numerous nightclub bruisers to allow Ria her wish shows that he is willing to die for her and illustrates the film’s blend of tenderness and ass-kicking. To actress Rin Seo’s credit, it helps that Ria is cute as a button yet imbued with a sense of overwhelming pain.

As a film there’s plenty here to like. The noirish cinematography and set design are nicely rendered. The casting is well done (one creepy Dr.Giro in particular) and the film’s pacing, deliberately slow, works to create a sense of unceasing tension between it’s characters. Even though the martial arts inspired action sequences are edited in a way that’s sometimes hard to track, they have a certain gun-happy ‘cool’ factor and no shortage of severed limbs for those so inclined.

The special features consist of a ‘Making of…’ called ‘The Story of Natural City ’, deleted scenes, three cast interviews, original trailer and new releases under the Tartan Asia Extreme label. The extras here are pretty good and the ‘Making of…’ illuminating. For instance, we learn that a good number of visual sequences were in fact a fusion of miniature models and CGI. I don’t know about you, but when I see those model cities I think back to pre-digital sci-fi and get a lump in my throat. The director has been thoughtful enough to include an explanation of the film’s namesake and even addresses some of the unwarranted critiscm leveled at Natural City for it’s lack of character backstory. The interviews are pretty standard and thankfully done in a more documentary style fashion to allow the predominantly older cast (i.e. not teenagers) to shed light on their experiences making the film. All in all, solid.

Those who would quibble about whether or not peripheral storylines have been adequately explored are missing the point. Natural City , although set in the future, is about the emotional here and now. Bottom line; the film is good. In fact, it’s very good. If you like sci-fi, open your heart to Natural City – just don’t put it on your sleeve.

Movie rating – 4

Disc Rating – 3.5