Overall, the film was a bit confusing for me to watch, and after having finished watching it, I still as if there were major plot ties that flew over my head. However, what I did get from it is that it seems to critique modern society by juxtaposing it with the ideals and morals of people who lived during the Joseon Dynasty.
When Woochi is summoned from his imprisonment in the scroll and is taken into the wizard’s car, he exclaims: “How this land has changed!” The camera pans over the city streets in a disorientating shot that makes the urban landscape seem chaotic and intimidating. As the camera captures a sea of people scurrying outside through a voyeuristic gaze, the wizard notes: “They waste their lives chasing desire, when one must seek spiritual fulfillment.”
The wizards’ spiritual practices in public spaces in the city seem comically out of place, which adds to the film’s overall comedic effect, but also highlights the change in values in society from one set that emphasized spiritual health to one that is dominated by capitalist values.
In the fight between the wizards and the goblins on the city streets, Woochi summons many clones of himself to fight against the goblins. I interpreted this as a way of Woochi using the measures that were necessary to fight in modern society. In a time where individual strength and valour have been overshadowed by the capitalist ability to conjure copies to maximize efficiency, Woochi’s clones seem to satirize the workings of capitalist society.
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