My Right to Ravage Myself

VANCOUVER PREMIERE! ► Jeon Soo-Il’s provocative My Right to Ravage Myself, adapted from the novel I Have the Right to Ravage Myself by Kim Yeong-Ha, was controversial for its take on the taboo issue of suicide in South Korea, a country with one of the highest suicide rates in the world. Stylish and startling, moody and menacing, the film begins with performance artist Mara (Choo Sang-Mi) enacting a bloody re-creation of birthing. It then unfolds as a multi-stranded story revolving around Kafkaesque writer S. (Jeong Bo-Seok), a mysterious figure who offers his services as a “suicide designer,” helping people commit a “perfect” or “aesthetically pleasing” suicide. Kim Young-Min plays a young taxi driver who, after the sudden and inexplicable death of his girlfriend, a barmaid, embarks on an amateur investigation that leads him to S. Meanwhile, artist Mara, fearing that the limits of her artistic dreams have been reached, begins contemplating taking drastic action herself. Colour, 35mm, in Korean with English subtitles. 93 mins.