Namoo is something different, a 12 minute short, described as a visual poem. Written and directed by Erick Oh created by Baobab Studios. It is a 2021 film from South Korea, a surprisingly large amount of cinema seems to be coming from there these days.
As of writing this originally, I watched Namoo three times. It is a strange and serial experience. I watched it the first time not sure what to expect and I found myself feeling sorrow, and hope and celebration of life. It was a powerful if short bit of art, I was kind of moved. I watched it again the following day and tried to restructure my thoughts and see if I still felt it was as whimsical and fantastical this time. It kept the charm, but it seemed more like a love letter and a good-bye this time around. It felt like a celebration of every step of someone's life, even the gritty and bad parts, only to see them depart to the heavens above. It was more charming this time since I had a better appreciation and more time to think about and look at the visuals, and try and understand what it all meant.
Then just before my third watching, I looked up what the movie was supposed to mean, what the intuition of Erick Oh was, and I was touched to find, it is a and I quote "Celebration of a grandfather's passing, looking at his life as a budding artist from start to end". It explains the love letter aspect of it, the celebration and the goodbye. I felt like it was communicated very well, and very strongly.
I don't want to call this snapshot of a film a perfect experience, but it is something that is perfectly sized and perfectly emotional for a viewing and at only 12 minutes, it is worth it. It made me recognize how important it is for us, the living, to hold onto the memories of those who are gone, we are their legacy, and for them, we carry on.
Overall: 8.5/10.
As of writing this originally, I watched Namoo three times. It is a strange and serial experience. I watched it the first time not sure what to expect and I found myself feeling sorrow, and hope and celebration of life. It was a powerful if short bit of art, I was kind of moved. I watched it again the following day and tried to restructure my thoughts and see if I still felt it was as whimsical and fantastical this time. It kept the charm, but it seemed more like a love letter and a good-bye this time around. It felt like a celebration of every step of someone's life, even the gritty and bad parts, only to see them depart to the heavens above. It was more charming this time since I had a better appreciation and more time to think about and look at the visuals, and try and understand what it all meant.
Then just before my third watching, I looked up what the movie was supposed to mean, what the intuition of Erick Oh was, and I was touched to find, it is a and I quote "Celebration of a grandfather's passing, looking at his life as a budding artist from start to end". It explains the love letter aspect of it, the celebration and the goodbye. I felt like it was communicated very well, and very strongly.
I don't want to call this snapshot of a film a perfect experience, but it is something that is perfectly sized and perfectly emotional for a viewing and at only 12 minutes, it is worth it. It made me recognize how important it is for us, the living, to hold onto the memories of those who are gone, we are their legacy, and for them, we carry on.
Overall: 8.5/10.
