February 23, 2008

R-Point: The Bermuda Triangle, Now in Vietnam


A Korean platoon is sent to the mysterious R-point in Vietnam to find out what's happened to some missing comrades. What they discover is a castle hosting the ghost of Agatha Christie who's camped out on this island just south of Saigon to fashion a wartime version of her bestselling novel Ten Little Indians (a.k.a. And Then There Were None). There's mist. There's blood. Sergeants and Corporals scream because the radio picks up voices from the dead. An American-made tape recorder playing The Ventures and the anguished cries of other men doesn't do much to calm anyone's fears. Is director-writer Kong Su-chang railing against the futility of war? (We're just killing ourselves!) Is there a message here about how we're haunted by past mistakes whether that's stealing a camera or getting a venereal disease? (Don't shoplift or sleep around!) Who exactly is that woman in white? (Wilkie Collins' muse!) Actor Kam Woo-seong, of the equally enigmatic Spider Forest, brings star quality to the shouting and the shooting. Otherwise, once you've figured out that all but one are destined to die, this one loses steam. I guess you could say that I've hereby spoiled it for you. Sorry.