Archive / Films

Concrete Utopia

Korean title:

콘크리트 유토피아

Original pronunciation:

Concrete Utopia

Director:

Year:

2023

Lenght:

130min

Country:

South Korea

Format:

DCP

Type:

Color:

Color

Language:

Italian, Korean

Subtitles:

Italiano, Inglese

Genre:

,

Production:

,

International Distribution:

Actors:

, , ,

Screenwriters:

Music:

Director of Photography:

Festival Edition:

Festival Section:

Review/Retrospective:

Synopsis:

A terrible earthquake devastated the city of Seoul, miraculously leaving intact a
Large condo. Residents are in disarray: supplies are running out and they are besieged by other survivors. A seemingly ordinary, man of few words who lives in a small apartment with his mother, having shown courage in an emergency situation, seems to be the perfect leader to lead the survivors.

Film Review:

Based on a popular webtoon, "Concrete Utopia" is a dystopian and terribly fascinating work, which combines the typical elements of the survival movie with an intimate dimension, not without a certain irony. The substantial difference with other films that deal with apocalypses or dystopian scenarios lies in the fact that, together with the protagonists, here it is also their homes (small apartments that have become emblems of secrets, sins and pains) that have survived. In addition to individual existence, there is also its extension at stake, that dented but very precious shell that must be protected at all costs. In the role of Yeong-tak, a mysterious and taciturn man who has become a leader by pure chance, Lee Byung-hun, who brilliantly gives life to one of the most sinister characters of his entire career. An ordinary, taciturn and solitary man who is given a great responsibility that highlights him and at the center of attention, perhaps for the first time in his life, in a society that from solidarity is becoming more and more corrupt in which the goal is no longer to survive but to overwhelm.