Attack the Gas Station! (Chuyuso supgyuk sa keun, 1999)

Kim Sang-Jin

Korea

113 mins, color, Korean (English subtitles)

With Lee Sung-Jae, Yoo Oh-Sung, Kang Sung-Jin, and Yu Gee-Tae.

This was the first film I saw at the Korean Film Festival in NYC and, although I had heard the title, I have to confess that it did not inspire much confidence in me. In any case, having driven from Rochester, I was not about to miss a single film during my three day sojourn, so I went anyway. Boy, was I in for a treat! Definitely one of the most hilarious comedies, the unfortunately titled ATTACK THE GAS STATION! is one of the few films that lives up to the hype. And the hype is there, at least in South Korea. It was also one of two movies at the festival to receive tons of audience applause (the other was THE FOUL KING).

The story begins as the simple, predictable, and possibly bland staple of juvenile films when four delinquents rob and trash a gas station. The next night, the foursome returns, to rob the same gas station again, out of sheer boredom. The manager, however, thwarts their plan by concealing the stash of cash. The robbers then decide to stay, holding the three employees and the manager hostage, and pump gas for customers to collect the cash.

As the night progresses, the situation becomes increasingly absurd, funny, and surprising. Summarizing the exploits of the four won't do, but it will suffice to say that the plot involves high school bullies rapping under threat of physical violence, a bike gang of disgruntled delivery boys, a bunch of inept local thugs of the mafia type, several incompetent corrupt cops, and lots of hilarious fighting.

Although the film can --- and has been --- described as a kind of social satire, poking fun at the traditional status-bound Korea under the strains of modernization, ATTACK THE GAS STATION! can be viewed for the exuberant, and sometimes baffling, fun that it delivers. One need not dig deep into the travails of minimum-age workers a-la CLERKS, but the disruptive potential of the film is realized fully with the delightfully subversive ending (which I will not disclose).

There is a DVD of this film, so if you missed it at the Festival, then you should get it. You won't be disappointed. I guarantee it.

August 20, 2001.