When asked, my replied to Cynthia was, “Too much talking, not enough drama.” She laughed, in broad daylight, “Not enough sex you mean?” It was my turn to laugh, “No, no, no. I really mean not enough drama.” It was a beautiful Thursday afternoon. I could have felt much happier, if not for that sad, sad Korean movie. I am a big fan of Korean movies though. Natali is Korean’s first in 3D. I have watched all sorts of movies in 3D, but not in the genre of erotica. Was I curious? Of course.
Natali is a sculpture created by a maestro sculptor. For ten years, Natali remains unsold and as part of the sculptor’s private collection. One fine day, one of his students turns up at his exhibition and wants to know more about Natali. Thereafter are a series of flashbacks told from two men who were both in love with Mi-Ran – the girl who modeled for Natali. Memory, as we know, is inaccurate. In that sense, this setup does provide interesting opportunities for the story to develop. This also explains why the second part of the movie is so much more enjoyable to watch. More drama oriented, which I wish the story writer could have expanded upon. And less on the dull debate between two men on the topics of realism and fantasy, the role of an art critic, and etc. Does any of these topics contribute to the central theme of the story – Natali / Mi-Ran? Unfortunately no. The film could have focused more on the questions of: Can two people love each other while one of them has another person in his or her heart? Do people often settle down in marriage with someone they have been passionately in love with? What is eternal love? The film touches onto these questions a bit too little, a little too late.
The sex scenes, I must admit, are beautifully made, tastefully filmed. The music, it draws emotion. On one hand, the film satisfies my curiosity of how this genre looks like on 3D. On the other hand, I wish there was a non-3D version instead. Are these scenes lifelike? You bet. However, the color is awful in 3D. And for this particular movie, there is a heavy ghost shadowing effect on the edges that makes the subjects look blurry. Take the subtitles as an example. The words pop out from the screen, yes. But there is a ghost image behind the subtitles that I seldom see in other 3D movies. I am not sure what has gone wrong. The filmmakers may have overdone the 3D effect. Or there is something not right about those 3D glasses.
While Natali will not stop me from watching another Korean movie, I will likely to think twice before watching another movie in 3D.