So as I’m sure you know, foreign language media has really been popping off on Netflix recently, what with Squid Game taking the internet by storm and becoming the most popular Netflix series ever. In fact, Squid Game is literally so popular that a South Korean internet provider is now suing Netflix because of how popular the show is.
Yes, really.
However, Squid Game isn't the only foreign language media on Netflix that's worth watching. In addition to binging Squid Game (because of course I watched it), I recently watched a couple of films from two other non-English speaking countries: Out of My League, an Italian film, and The Secret Diary of an Exchange Student, a Brazilian film. These two movies, along with Squid Game, make up my international film festival review.
Let's take a trip around the world, shall we?
Let's start our trip right here in the Americas.
The Secret Diary of an Exchange Student- C
When I saw the trailer for this movie on Netflix, it immediately piqued my interest. To me, The Secret Diary of an Exchange Student had a similar vibe to an early 2000's Disney movie, like The Lizzie McGuire Movie, or The Cheetah Girls 2 (two of my favorite movies of all time, by the way). I'm a sucker for a cute travel rom-com, and so I felt like this movie would be a good fit for me.
After I watched it, though, it did not remind me of The Lizzie McGuire Movie or The Cheetah Girls 2 in the slightest. That's not to say that I didn't like this movie, that's just to say that this movie was not what I expected it to be when I started it.
To summarize, The Secret Diary of an Exchange Student follows Barbara: a young girl with aspirations to travel the world despite her crappy job selling travel magazines at an airport in Rio de Janeiro. Along with her friend, Taila (who is the best character in the movie, by the way), Barbara concocts a plan to travel to the US in order to live out her dream of seeing the world. The only catch? They both agreed to be nannies for wealthy families in the US in exchange for their room and board. The plot ensues from all of the wacky adventures that they find themselves in because of this arrangement.
I watched this movie in the original Portuguese with English subtitles, although a decent portion of this movie is in English because the main characters spend most of the movie in America. I thought the subtitles would bother me more as people were switching in and out of Portuguese, but that hardly factored into my opinion of the movie, and soon, I barely noticed that it was happening.
Let's talk about the things that I liked about this movie:
For one thing, (as I mentioned before) I really liked Taila. She's Barbara's friend who agrees to be a nanny so that her friend won't be alone in the United States, and she was honestly one of the best parts of the movie for me. Her character was not only funny, but incredibly likeable, and I found myself more interested in her B-plot than the A-plot that followed Barbara.
Another thing that I liked was that this movie is funny, but in a sort of off-beat way. There is definitely an element of fish-out-of-water humor, as two Brazilian girls travel to snowy New York, despite having never seen snow before. There are some funny moments as Taila and Barbara attempt to interact with Americans who don't understand them. However, the best humor in this movie is found in situations that are so improbable they border on the insane. For example, SPOILER Taila's B-plot story line includes a portion of the story where Maiara Walsh (Yes, the same Maiara Walsh from Cory in the House) plays a character who works for the NSA and straight up kidnaps someone. That entire sequence was wild, and honestly made me like the movie more than if it hadn't been included.
The things that I didn't like about this movie though, are... a bit of a doosey. This movie really, desperately needed a rewrite. The Secret Diary of an Exchange Student is definitely not a terrible movie, as it has all of the elements of a solid story. Everything that happens in the film is foreshadowed (although admittedly in a strange and/or ham-fisted way), and so nothing really comes as a surprise when it happens, although with that being said, I can safely say that this movie definitely zigged when I could've sworn it was going to zag.
The best thing that this movie could have written out of their story was the character Brad. I honestly hate Brad in this movie, and I think his character just makes the story awkward and uncomfortable in a bad way.
Brad is an American flight attendant who develops a relationship with Barbara (despite being about 10 years her senior, but whatever), and encourages her to take the babysitting job in the US. When she comes to America in order to begin working, he is supportive of her and takes her on dates and everything. He seems to be the main romantic lead of the movie, until the second male lead, Lucas, is introduced about 35 minutes into the film.
I'm not going to spoil the movie's plot twist for you regarding the relationship between these three characters, but please note that in the end Barbara ends up with Lucas, not Brad (Thank God, honestly. Brad was the worst). I really wished that Brad was not even a factor in this plot, and that Lucas was the only love interest in this movie. The twist regarding these three was honestly more weird than satisfying, and overall- I would not recommend.
(Also I thought it was a shame that Taila didn't end up with anyone by the end. If I were to rewrite this movie, I would've included a cute boy/girl for Taila to hook up with, too.)
Overall, The Secret Diary of an Exchange Student was fun to watch, if not incredibly memorable. With a re-write, though, I really think this movie would be pretty good.
I think my favorite thing about this movie is that it clocks in at just over 90 minutes, as I've discovered that my patience starts to wain at about the 90 minute mark anyway. Either the plot needs to start resolving itself by that point, or the movie needs to be over. I can't tell you how many mediocre movies have left a bad taste in my mouth just because they were too drawn out.
Now let's head across the Atlantic to our next international feature that takes place in Italy.
Out of My League- C+
This movie completely baffles me because I love it, but I never know how to reconcile this fact when ranking or grading it. Ultimately I have to give it a fair score, because I have a strong soft spot for this movie even though I am incredibly aware of its flaws. Right off the bat, the story is underwritten, and all of the characters (sparing maybe two) are barely characters, and more like stand-ins of character types. Additionally, the movie is both too long in parts and not long enough in others, which can make it feel slightly off balance.
HOWEVER, I still like this movie. A lot.
It definitely has its issues, but at its core, it's a cute, well-shot romantic comedy.
Full disclosure, I did not watch the original Italian version with English subtitles; I watched the dubbed version with the English voice actors. I may go back and rewatch this film in the original Italian to see if that changes my thoughts on the movie, but based on how I feel now, I don't think it will have an impact.
Out of My League is about Marta, a girl with cystic fibrosis living with her two gay best friends because her parents died. Marta is told by her doctor that she's likely going to die soon, and so she sets her sights on Arturo, the most attractive boy town, to fulfill her "bucket list" of sorts. After some intense stalking (yes, you read that correctly), she eventually convinces Arturo to go out with her. Eventually, the two fall in love- only, Arturo has no idea that his girlfriend has a deadly disease. The plot follows Marta as she tries to decide what to do now that she's fallen in love with someone, knowing that she's going to die.
I know, Out of My League sounds like its plot was ripped right out of a John Green book from 2012, but this movie was more cutesy than heartbreaking, and honestly the plot is a lot more simplified than my synopsis. The actual plot of this movie could have taken place within 45 minutes, sparing the subplot and some of the medical talk about Marta's condition.
The subplot of this movie follows Marta's best friends, Jacopo and Federica, as they attempt to have a baby to fill the hole in their hearts now that Marta is dying. The only thing is though, Jacopo and Federica are both gay, and they are trying to have a baby together. Since they are broke (and presumably clueless as to how the whole fertilization thing works), they try having a baby the "natural" way, which results in some uncomfortable shenanigans. However, it leads to an overall heartfelt sentiment by the end of the movie. Jacopo was probably the best character in the film, as he felt somewhat developed, unlike the male lead, which we will get into later.
One of the main flaws of the film is that the main characters basically fall in love with little to no prior interaction and absolutely no warning. If you're not a fan of the "insta-love" trope, you're really gonna hate this movie. While I'm usually not a fan of this trope (See below for my usual take on "insta-love"), for some reason, it didn't bother me while watching this film.
My exact thoughts on the "insta-love" trope, as I normally can't stand it.
In terms of the romance, the few scenes that the romantic leads had together were cute, but somehow they felt like something I would've come up with when I was fifteen and still writing stories on Wattpad (They've been scrubbed, don't waste your time trying to find them). This is because Arturo is not a fully developed character at all, and his only personality trait is "always living up to his family's expectations" which is another trope that's been done to death. He's supposed to be popular and hot and desirable, but he goes out with Marta anyway, despite her being less desirable, and considered "ugly" (even though she's cute as hell, and never explicitly stated as ugly in this universe). It's the classic high school romantic comedy dilemma, paired with the "sick-kid" plot line of Marta's CF diagnosis.
Overall, this movie feels like a perfect paint by numbers in terms of mediocre rom-com schlock, but I can't help but admire it anyway. Part of this is because the movie is so pretty.
The cinematographer for this movie is essentially carrying the film, as everything about this movie is gorgeous to look at. The bold colors and camera angles in this movie make me forgive a lot of the glaring plot details and the lackluster character development. In fact, for me this movie proves that if a bad movie is pretty to look at, then it's automatically better than a good movie that's terrible to look at. (This is probably why I don't like the Bourne movies all that much, even though they're "good movies." I can't stand the shaky-cam, and I think that they're all lit terribly.)
The fact that this movie is so pretty to look at really saves me from saying anything incredibly heartbreaking about it. And like The Secret Diary of an Exchange Student, I think I love this move even more because it clocks in at around the 90 minute mark, which is quickly becoming my sweet spot for the appropriate length a movie should be.
Out of My League isn’t saying anything new or groundbreaking, but I like what it does say, and it says it in a way that leaves me feeling warm inside, which is always nice. In the time since I first watched it, this movie has become somewhat of a comfort film for me. This film is something that I watch when I want to escape and feel like the world isn't falling apart around me. It may not be a good movie by any true critic's standards, but for me, it was pretty entertaining.
Not everything has to be critically acclaimed; some stuff is just dumb fun.
Anyway, let's get the wheels off the ground again and head over to South Korea.
Squid Game- B
Squid Game is the show everyone has been waiting to talk about- the thing that's got everyone meming online about what it would be like to play a deadly game of musical chairs or heads up 7 up. This is probably the show that people clicked on this post to hear my thoughts about (presuming that people actually read this and care what I think).
I was vaguely familiar with the concept of the show before it blew up on social media, as I saw the trailer for the series on YouTube back in early September. However, I merely planned on putting it on my Netflix "to watch" list when it came out and then letting it sit there until I inevitably forgot about it. I had no idea that it was going to blow up into this international phenomenon that everyone would be talking about.
So... I watched it.
In case you've been living under a rock for the past month, here's the synopsis: Squid Game is a Korean drama about a series of characters in outlandish amounts of debt who attempt to win money in a mysterious contest known as "squid game." The 456 contestants in this "squid game" must win 6 challenges in order to receive the cash prize of 45.6 billion won (about 38.4 million USD). All of the challenges are presented as children's games such as "tug of war" and "red light, green light." However, the catch is, if you lose, you die.
The main character of this show is Gi-hun (Player #456), a gambling addict who needs the money in order to care for his ailing diabetic mother, and to prevent his daughter from leaving the country with his ex-wife and her new husband. The show follows his journey as he joins the games and meets all of the contestants, while also discovering the truth about the nature of the games.
So what was my opinion on Squid Game?
I liked it. I was thoroughly invested in it, actually.
(In case anyone was wondering, I watched this show in the original Korean, using English subtitles. While I'm confident that I made the right choice by doing so, I do agree with the discussion taking place that Netflix really needs to hire more people who are able to create accurate and clear translations for their shows, as some of the dialogue can get lost in translation without it.)
SLIGHT SPOILERS FOR SQUID GAME AHEAD:
My favorite parts of the show were definitely the characters, and how the squid game competition really shone a light on the desperate lengths that people were willing to go to for money. In case anyone was wondering, my favorite character in the whole show was definitely Ali (Player #199), because he was sweet and caring, and did not deserve the ending that he got in this show. I also really liked Sae-byok's character (Player #67), as she had a strong motivation to win the games, and she was definitely my fan-favorite to win the whole thing. (She was also done pretty dirty in the end, if you ask me.)
Despite everything, I also really liked the relationship between the old man, Ilnam (Player #1), and Gi-hun (even including the ending of the show), because their relationship in episode 6 of the show actually had me SOBBING, which I never do. Their connection was potentially the strongest through-line of the show, aside from perhaps Gi-hun's relationship with his old friend Sang-woo (Player #218).
To me, this show would not have worked without these characters. Everyone has someone to root for and someone to hate. Most people online agree that Sang-woo was a villain in the games, along with the gangster Deok-su (Player #101) , while almost everyone I've talked to agrees that Ali was too pure to be in the games in the first place. Without these characters and the good writing that displayed them to the audience, this show would not have been nearly as successful as it was. I believe this is telling of the fact that everyone can see something of themselves in each of these characters. Whether it be Ali, Sae-byok, or Gi-hun, we can all relate to them because at the end of the day, they're just people.
As if it wasn't obvious, there was an enormous amount of dedication put into this on the creator's part. Squid Game was written by the creator/director of the show, Hwang Dong-hyuk nearly ten years ago, and was repeatedly rejected by Korean studios before being picked up by Netflix. It has often been reported that the creator had to sell his laptop in order to make enough money to keep going during this time. On top of this, the show's art director, Chae Kyoung-sun, put countless hours into designing everything from the Escher-esque staircases to the coffins that were tied up with neat pink bows. It's admirable how much time and effort went into writing and designing a show like this. (You should read Kyoung-sun's full interview about the design aspect here.)
Overall, I have a lot of good things to say about Squid Game, but I feel like most of my thoughts on the show have more to do with the surrounding culture of what it represents, and less to do with the show itself.
Now, I really liked this show. In fact, millions of people really liked this show, and it's become a cultural touchstone along the lines of The Hunger Games or even The Matrix. People can look at a frame from this show and immediately identify it as being from Squid Game. This is incredible, considering that for most people, this is the first time they would be exposed to foreign language media willingly. However, it is also dangerous.
In the US, the popularity of Squid Game has essentially made it into a product that can be sold, repackaged, promoted, and branded. It's become the new hot thing, the next big show that everyone is hyped about, the current Halloween costume that's going to be flying off the shelves this year.
THIS IS BAD.
The entire point of the show is that society (Korean society, but more broadly, society as a whole) does not care about the poor and the disenfranchised, and if you are poor, you are essentially disposable- no better than an actual racehorse that rich people can bet on. This is based on the very real problem going on in Korea right now regarding predatory private lending. The poor people who participate in Squid Game are subjected to some truly heinous shit under the guise of everything being voluntary and "fun and games," when the truth of the matter is that they were essentially being coerced into participating in these death games for money.
You can't hold a burger in front of a starving man and then expect them to not take you up on it when you claim that eating it is voluntary.
To me, there seems to be a fundamental disconnect about what people think the show is about, and what the show is actually about. The people who reduce this show to its base level of "fun kids games but you die if you lose" completely miss the point of why this show was even made in the first place. The people participating in Squid Game were not there to have fun, they were there because they were so desperately poor that they didn't know what else to do. All of the memes about Squid Game are funny (often referencing red light, green light and the dalgona game), but they tend to be geared more towards the more ridiculous aspects of the show, and focus less on the themes of it. They all fail to mention how the game is meant to reflect a loss of innocence, and a sort of sick desperation to stay out of poverty.
The fact of the matter is, the villains of the show were not the other players, Sang-woo or even Deok-su, as most people online have come to believe (Yes, they were terrible people, but they were still victims of the game and therefore not in control of their own circumstances), but the true villains of the show are the VIPs, or the elites that run the game in order to watch the poor suffer.
I believe that most people understand on a base level that capitalism is a cruel and unfair system to the majority of people on the bottom of society. However, the popularity of Squid Game likely means that all the commentary and criticism of capitalism will be lost by big business in favor of jumping on the bandwagon and capitalizing off of a product while it is still new and popular.
Because of this, people like Mr. Beast (a popular YouTuber known for exploiting his friends and followers for views by having them compete in insane challenges for money) are tweeting about doing their own version of the show. Whether he's joking or not remains to be seen, but the fact of the matter is that tweeting about doing your own version of Squid Game, in which poor people were exploited by rich people (AKA-Mr. Beast in this scenario), is in poor taste, truly, and is the opposite of what you would do if you truly understood the meaning of the show.
In the aftermath of situations like this, I can't help but feel like we're in a weird episode of Black Mirror in which people (specifically rich and/or white people) don't realize that the obvious commentary in the media is about them. It's like when Get Out was popular back in 2017, and terms like "The Sunken Place" and "get woke" were co-opted by the same white liberals who the movie was criticizing. Then products using these phrases were sold in stores, while marketing to the same white and/ or rich people that the film was mocking!
Irony, in a tweet.
In the end, capitalism always wins, and you need to stay one step ahead, or you're gonna end up in your own personal Squid Game, playing red light, green light for your life.
This brings me to my final point on the matter regarding Squid Game: Ironically, I think that this show would have been better if it had been less popular. Not because it's not a good show, and not because I am so desperate to see an American remake of an already fantastic show (because you know that someone in Hollywood would have remade it if the original was less popular in America), but because it has become so popular worldwide that the themes of it have become lost quite easily.
Contrast Squid Game with an indie movie about American capitalism, Sorry to Bother You.
Sorry to Bother You (2018), starring LaKeith Stanfield and directed by Boots Riley
Now, I really like Sorry to Bother You, but similarly to Squid Game, I probably wouldn't want to re-watch it, due to the gruesome nature of the plot overall. I've recommended Sorry to Bother You on this blog before on a more general level, but to get into the specifics, this film is about a black man named Cash who is struggling to make ends meet and so he joins a call center that works with an Amazon-like company. At this call center, Cash learns that in order to be successful, he must put on a "white-voice" (played by David Cross), in order to become a top salesman in this industry. While he is climbing the corporate ladder, he is asked more and more to keep his "white-voice" and to sell more and more of his morals in order to become successful. Eventually, though, this all blows up in his face when he realizes exactly what his corporation is doing to people.
Now, at a base level, these properties are incredibly similar. Sorry to Bother You, though, mostly flew under the radar for the general public when it came out. This could be because it was director Boots Riley's first feature length project, but I think it has more to do with the overall concept of both projects. Squid Game was "more fun" to watch because people were literally playing games. In some ways this makes the entire thing seem more insidious, because instead of focusing on the elements in the show that criticize the elite, people mostly focus on the wacky shenanigans of the games as if that's all that appeals to people. As a result, Squid Game has become commodified, and Sorry to Bother You has not. In fact, if you have not already seen Sorry to Bother You, you probably haven't thought about it since it came out several years ago.
Overall, I like Squid Game, but if it had been significantly less popular in America, I feel like it would have had a better impact on the conversation regarding how to assist the poor and why we allow the elite to take advantage of those who are so disenfranchised.
As of right now, another season of Squid Game has not been announced, but if the success of the show is any indicator, Netflix is likely going to throw all their money at the creator to put out another season. It would likely follow the main character of Gi-hun as he attempts to take down Squid Game, or something. I'm sure it would be another smash hit for Netflix, but I'm not sure that it would have the same cultural impact as the first season. In fact, I'm not sure that this show needs another season, as the arc of the game has been resolved for the most part through this season alone. Most of the questions were answered, and I truly believe that it would be difficult to convince the audience to care about another round of people playing in Squid Game, especially after they'd already watched the first season.
Not everything needs to have multiple sequels, but again, I guess that's capitalism for you.
With that, I think it's time to head home.
I hope you had fun on this little tour of the world. I've recently gotten into international/ foreign language content on Netflix, and so it's cool to see the world being so supportive of Squid Game and other international projects like Lupin or Money Heist (neither of which I have seen, but I am interested in checking out). Let me know what you thought about Squid Game by leaving a comment, and then we can share our heartbreak over our favorite characters.
Thanks for reading everyone! Stay safe and be sure to get vaccinated if you haven't already!