Cause {Can’t Resist}

류성희’s work is most markedly distinguished by her textural use of dynamic patterns and baroque-inspired production setups that echo a surreal medieval playroom. In her films we are greeted with wild, vibrant colors that almost engulf the characters who inhabit them.

It is of no coincidence that the directors who have chosen to work with her (most notably 박찬욱, 김지운, 봉준호) repeatedly feature characters who, in themselves, are neurotically caught within the trappings of their own worlds. It is to the credit of these directors that they have recognized how to best utilize Seong-Hee’s talents.

As filmmakers, we are always stiving to bring more complexity and variation to the cinematic surfaces that we create. Usually, this is achieved either through 1) cinematography or 2) production design. Attention is paid to one, where all other technical aspects assumedly follow in tandem.

The films of Ryu Seong-Hee are quite unique in that one could easily give a vast majority of each film’s visual effect to her own work. Her most well-known trademark (the ecletic use of wall of coverings) acts in the same manner as a cinematographer who uses light, gels, and filters to create various moods and cinematic tones for each scene.

I am most reminded of New York based textile designer Wook Kim and Japanese l’enfant terrible Yayoi Kusama, in how each of these artists create what, at first glance may simply appear to be whimsical flights of visual splendor, but upon closer reflection, an almost autistic, child-like repetition in mannered schemes of colors of patterns.

What may at first be seen as mere eye-candy eventually becomes a window into understanding that these worlds of obvious artifice are not so much playgrounds, but protective prisons from which the human beings who inhabit them are unable to truthfully connect with the world around them. They are children, constantly repeating the same emotional patterns until they find some salvation through their own obsessive methods.

I believe Ms. Ryu’s work appeals most to the directors who are of the most cinephilic. They love movies, and movies are their lives. Inversely, the audience that gains the most pleasure from films such as 올드보이 (Old Boy) and 달콤한 인생 (A Bittersweet Life) are also probably stricken with the disease of cinephilia, where every frame is yet another opportunity to unpack the visual secrets that have been carefully constructed by their revered genre auteurs.

Seong-Hee herself, more so than others in her field I believe, shows an extremely painstaking approach to her production planning, often employing extensive sketch, color, and eventually, fully computer-generated mock-ups before any construction work is done. Subsequently, each set is amplified with the placement of objects that take on an almost sacramental meaning, giving the worlds she creates an uncanny sense of gravity and depth.

In fact, her greatest talent may also be her greatest defect, in that her worlds often eclipse the narrative in which they originally were asked to serve. Park Chan Wook’s 친절한 금자씨 (Sympathy for Lady Vengeance) suffered most noteably from this dynamic, where while Seong-Hee might very well have been given carte-blanche to fully render her vision uncompromised, the camera, in its almost lucid enthusiam to capture every detail, eventually lost track of any sort of emotional center.

This is a criticism that has been made on most of Ryu Seong-Hee films. One can speculate that her talent, while much sought after by certain directors, ironically exposes their creative shortcomings in creating emotionally captivating film conceits.

Regardless, the entire film world is blessed to have such a talented artist who has been given the opportunity to repeatedly work with directors who obviously appreciate an individual who shares their same creative vigor to compose worlds of infinite complexity. Perhaps one day she will be matched with a director who is able to craft an emotional world of human beings that can equally stand toe-to-toe with her unique brand of “Urban Goth” artifice.