2023-10-08 09:47:08
After “Squid Game”, “Bargain, the Price to Pay” is a new South Korean thriller which, like a genre series, criticizes capitalist society. The series takes the form of a video game and multiplies the cruel scenes, mixing organ trafficking and earthquakes.
After the worldwide success of Squid Game, we watch each new Korean series for its daring. We are almost not disappointed with Bargain, the price to pay, which was just released on Paramount+.
An acid trip is the effect this six-episode series gives. The first is a cinematic feat: a young man comes to buy the virginity of a young girl in a suburb. A first long shot sequence of 15 minutes will follow these two protagonists and, as if we were on a roller coaster, the viewer is not immune to surprises.
The series is inspired by a short film
“The studio, in fact, had already given me broad guidelines, explains Korean director Jeon Sung-woo, so I had to use the short film as an introduction. Then there had to be an auction and an earthquake. And actually, it was really bad guy characters who are faced with an earthquake. So I had to think about how they were going to behave. And ultimately, the series is about what being human is, and what capitalism is.”
At the heart of the story, there is trafficking in human body organs. This is not the first Korean series to criticize capitalism. This was also the case for Squid Game. Director Jeon Sung-woo has an explanation:
“Korean society grew really, really fast in the 80s and 90s. Until the early 2000s, people were so focused on what they wanted: accumulating wealth. And above all, it was increased in the 90s, during the crisis that the country went through: South Korea had to borrow from the IMF.
But obviously, it’s a genre series, so there must be a bit of a playful side to it. There are certain elements that are exaggerated. Thanks to this obstinacy of money, I also wanted the spectators to also think a little about themselves, by seeing these things a little exaggerated, by seeing these villainous characters.
The series, filmed with a hand-held camera, quickly becomes a sort of manhunt that resembles a video game. This was wanted by the director, Jeon Sung-woo: “Basically, I am not a big fan of video games, but it is above all for the audience to be completely immersed in total immersion that I found this device, this configuration in the staging, I wanted It really feels like a game.”
Bargain, the price to pay, 6 episodes to discover on Paramount +.
#anticapitalist #thriller #South #Korea