Directed by: Jeon Go-woon (전고운)
Starring: Esom (이솜), Ahn Jae-hong (안재홍), Kang Jin-ah (강진아), Kim Gook-hee (김국희), Lee Sung-wook (이성욱), Choi Deok-moon (최덕문), Jae-hwa Kim (김재화), Cho Soo-hyang (조수향)
The Film: Approaching middle-age, Miso (Esom) manages to earn just enough money from cleaning houses so that she can afford her most basic living necessities along with her life’s three greatest pleasures: whisky, cigarettes, and her boyfriend Han-sol (Ahn Jae-hong). When her landlord raising her monthly rent by fifty dollars coincides with a nationwide cigarette price increase, Miso, unable to give up either whisky or cigarettes, decides that moving out is the best plan of action in order for her to balance her monthly expenses. Unable to live with her boyfriend who resides in a male-only company dormitory, Miso finds herself homeless and decides to pay a visit to some old friends with whom she might find shelter in.
As Miso embarks on her journey around the city of Seoul, Microhabitat becomes somewhat of a road movie as she tracks down her old band-mates while cleaning houses for money along the way. Each stop that reunites Miso with one of her former band members becomes a distinct chapter in the film: bass, keyboard, drums, guitar, and vocals. As she works her way through the instruments, i.e. her old friends, Miso discovers that each of them has changed and are undergoing their own personal struggles in life regardless of where they may find themselves on the social hierarchy. Miso’s relationship with her kindred spirit and boyfriend Han-sol, who hopes to earn his living as a webtoon artist one day, is the glue that binds the entire story of Microhabitat together. Miso’s periodic dates with Han-sol between the stops along her journey are full of both drama and humor.
Through this road movie structure, Microhabitat becomes especially interesting with the amount of different social pressures and the effects they have on people’s lives it is able to address. From being a housewife in either a struggling middle class family or the top 1 percent, to being a single older man pressured to marry by his parents, to impending divorce as well as the emphasis on a career driven life are all covered. Miso is portrayed as the outlier, the one who has found a way around the established system and who lives for only the things that make her happy. And for this she is both envied and ridiculed. She is content in her ways yet viewed as an alien who doesn’t understand the “right” way to live life by her struggling friends. Set in the megalopolis that is modern day Seoul, the film has a lot to say about the way in which society pushes us to sacrifice the simple joys of life for perceived status roles.
With large statements such as these, Microhabitat does not come off as preachy or boring in the slightest. This is largely due to the phenomenally entertaining performances put on by each of the actors. With this being the first film I’ve seen with lead actress Esom (who appears in practically every scene of the film), her ability to act as anchor for the film amidst such a strong and diverse group of actors gives her a permanent spot on my radar for whatever future projects she’s involved in. It helps that there wasn’t a single throw away stop along Miso’s journey through her friends who are all unique and expertly cast. And through a near perfect mixing of comedy and drama, each stopover could have easily been its own short film, with the most entertaining of them being the sequence with the band’s vocalist (Choi Deok-moon) as his parents hilariously pull out all the stops to try and make Miso their daughter-in-law.
Overall, the drama outweighs the comedy just slightly in Microhabitat and the real world issues it addresses along the way do make for a lasting impression. The film’s message about living for the simple pleasures and staying true to oneself isn’t necessarily new, but it has rarely been so expertly crafted and effective as it is here. Microhabitat is a true testament to the strength of Korean art-house cinema that seems to have reached a new peak of excellence.
One can only hope that a blu-ray publisher like Plain Archive, who has shown to be a pioneer in giving smaller independent Korean movies the global platform they deserve, picks up this title for their collection and gives it the exposure it deserves. Not only is Microhabitat one of the best Korean films I’ve seen this year, I predict it will be a strong contender for my year end’s best of 2018 list. 9/10 – Outstanding, make an effort to watch this movie!
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