Simply Perfect

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Blistering performances.

A strange and at first glance difficult movie to follow, but it pays off, being visually stunning and very colorful with a captivating story.A girl is admitted to an asylum because she thinks she is a cyborg and refuses to eat because she'll become ill if she does. Inevitably she creates connections with other patients, especially with a young man who gains her affection and he, through his 'visionary madness', does everything to help her overcome her problem.What sets this movie apart is that it is done in such a way that we can literally see and understand the madness of the characters who, in spite of this madness, never cease to be human beings as sensitive or even more than the 'normal ones'. A beautiful, magical, poetic and touching movie like few.

"I'm a Cyborg But That's OK" is a touching and romantic comedy movie about the sense of life. The movie is set in a mental institution and introduces us to a lot unique characters: a shy man who is always excusing himself, a man who believes his wife is made of fur, a fat woman who thinks she can fly, a strange couple that sings along to traditional Swiss songs by yodelling and so on. While all these characters seem to have some fun and even though the doctors and nurses are mostly nice with them, there are also a few sad scenes when they feel disillusioned and scared and seem to realize that their lives aren't completely normal. The film should have been a little bit longer and shown us a little bit more details about the fate of these characters in my opinion and even several movies or a television series could have been inspired by this film.Let's focus on the main story though. It's basically the story of Young- Goon, a young and shy woman who refuses to eat and is looking for a sense in her life. She grew up with her schizophrenic grandmother who believed she was a mouse and her parents never really took care of her. One day, her grandmother was forced to go to a mental institution but obviously not the same as Young-Goon's. The schizoid young woman has never seen her grandmother again. She misses her a lot and wants to bring her dentures she forgot at home when she was taken away by the staff of the mental institution. Since then, Young-Goon also desires to avenge her grandmother and kill all staff members of all mental institutions. Young-Goon believes she is a cyborg that needs to be recharged to gain enough power to realize her plans which is dangerous for people around her and especially for herself.In the mental institution, she meets Il-Soon who is hospitalized for kleptomania stemming from schizophrenia. The anti-social thief is a very emotional and smart person who immediately falls in love with the mysterious Young-Goon. When she is about to die by refusing to eat, he tries to protect her from herself and the staff. When he learns that she believes she is a cyborg, he develops a plan to make her eat by developing a fictional machine that converts food into electrical energy. But the young man soon has to develop further plans to protect the love of her life when she starts to believe that she is in fact a nuke bomb that requires a bolt of lightning to detonate and bring the end to the world.While the story lacks direction and feels fluffy at times, this fact isn't important as the movie is about something completely different. It wants to show us that even people in a mental hospital can be very and sometimes even more human than normal people and feel sorrow, love and hate very intensively. The way the two outsiders of the group come closer to each other is far beyond physical love. Her love story begins very slowly and at the beginning, the young woman doesn't really care about or even realize what the young man feels for her. He slowly wins her heart by each step he takes and by doing so he doesn't only heal himself in a certain way and becomes more open-minded, responsible and social than ever before but he also saves the life of the woman he desires and gives a new sense to her sad life.This movie is really touching and convinces with a strong and credible acting. The movie though doesn't only focus on the drama elements or the romantic story with profound dialogues but it also includes several moments of intelligent humour and a few action filled over-the-top scenes that break with the slow pace of the movie and feel very original and refreshing. The movie surely has some lengths and I think the film should have spend some more time on the supporting characters instead of the main story that only truly develops in the last third of the movie. On the other side, this movie is very intelligent from an emotional and human point of view and has a beautiful philosophy telling us that each day of our life is unique and that something very positive could happen any day that gives your life a new sense or unknown joys. This is a movie that any really sad or suicidal person should watch because it says more than a thousand words could do. Director Park Chan-Wook who is known for completely different movies like "Oldboy" created a truly courageous and unexpected gem that may one day be hailed as a classic. It's not a movie for anybody. At first try, I didn't adore the movie but I didn't stop thinking about and rediscovering it to get access to its pure and unique beauty. Patient and open-minded viewers should get rewarded by watching this film. Those who are looking for quick entertainment, a classic love story or a hilarious movie should change their minds before watching this.

I'M A CYBORG BUT THAT'S OK is an offbeat romantic comedy from director Park-Chan Wook, the man responsible for some of the darkest visions in modern cinema (OLDBOY and SYMPATHY FOR MR VENGEANCE to name but two titles). Wook is one of my favourite directors since, well, ever, but I hate watching rom-coms. How would I fare with this film? The answer is that I found it enjoyable, even if the material left me cold; at least it's something different. The film begins in classic Wook territory, with a factory worker discovering that she's a cyborg and being shipped off to a mental asylum. Once there, a relationship with an equally crazy suitor, played by Rain (NINJA ASSASSIN), develops.The film has the requisite cuteness and offbeat situations we've come to expect from the director and from South Korean cinema in general. The entire movie is pretty much set in an asylum, so there's lots of fun from the bizarre antics of the lead's fellow inmates. Wook's direction is sublime, as ever, and he draws creativity and imagination from each and every scene.The acting is odd and the characters odder, yet there's so much humour thrown into the mix that this is never a problem. I seem to recall that some of the Jackie Chan ensemble comedies of the 1980s (such as WHEELS ON MEALS and the LUCKY STARS series) features scenes set in mental hospitals and I'M A CYBORG BUT THAT'S OK has much the same vibe as those movies: packed with energy, likability and verve and an overall anything-goes mentality. Hardly profound, like some of Wook's other movies, but a genuine slice of cinematic entertainment.

First of all let me get this out of the way. I started watching this on the Sundance channel simply because I was so captivated by the incredibly beautiful cinematography. Oh my sweet Jesus is this movie beautiful. Every single frame from this movie looks like a photograph. It looks very polished and blockbuster like, but something is different. I can't put my hand on it, but it doesn't look fake and commercial like American blockbusters. It shot in a very cinematic way, but it just seems more real.. IDK you have to see it, the way I would describe it would be like a Japanese anime style of camera framing , mixed with A clockwork orange type of story telling. It really is amazing.The story it's self is about two people in a loony house. One thinks she is a cyborg and the other thinks he can steal peoples abilities. Simple right? But so far from it. There are things even I didn't get. Its indeed very very refreshing, its a new age way of storytelling and I have not seen another movie like it. It is steadily paced, So if you think movies that take their time telling a story are boring then this won't be for you. Hell I thought It was boring, but it was just so well made that I quickly became sucked into the movie once it ended I was truly amazed with what I had seen. Im positive that if you watch this movie you will like it. Overall I gave It a 9 for how well it was made, but took a point away because It was paced a bit slowly for my taste and I deducted another point because while I did like It It wasn't as emotionally charged as other films.. Usually a movie rated a 8 or 9 for me has to have powerful emotions, which this movie is not one of them. however the movies it's self in its own right is a 10