Fractured Masculinity

Chilsu and Mansu was a movie with quite a dramatic ending considering the fake-happy vibe conducive to the loud trot music prevalent in the movie. Therefore I was blindsided by the ending, however upon a simple analysis of the events of the movie, suicide seemed to be, not a logical, but consistent with Mansu’s course of actions.  Firstly Mansu’s father was arrested because of his affiliation with the communist party. His actions came to haunt Mansu when during his higher studies he was denied a passport. Therefore denied a chance to pursue his dreams.His father failed him on one of the most important opportunities in his life that consequently led him to his miserable life. Mansu practically begs for jobs from employers and when not working he spends most of his time drunk. Could it be that the idea of suicide was made salient by those trying to coax him down? They involved his father in the discussion and reminded him of all the ways he had failed at life, failed at being a man. Could the slow motion when he is about the jump be symbolic to a man’s only solution when they are afflicted with a fractured masculinity?

Considering the time of political unrest in motion in South Korean at that time, it was quite telling with they police thought that the soju bottles were actually Molotov cocktails. Furthermore, the man doing the negotiations asks if their employers had mistreated them as if he was a teacher asking a child where he’d been hurt by an adult. As if their fractured masculinity had demoted them down to children. Their actions of simply venting their frustration was turned into something purely political despite how hard they tried to deny their actions as motivated by suicide.  They were shot down and the military was involved.  Chilsu and Mansu were yelling but the their voices were drowned out by the brouhaha of the city. The working class’ voice is purposely buried by the economical progression Could this movie be a social commentary to that effect?