Moksha: The World or I, How Does That Work?, directed by Koo Sungzoo
An existential drama with echoes of Waiting for Godot, Moksha centres on Jang Hyeokjin, a distraught man chained to a concrete pathway in a city park. Why is he chained there? How long has he been there? And who, exactly, is he? Jang doesn't know – and most of the visitors who encounter him (a woman who repeatedly slaps Jang, a woman in a white dress who may or may not be his wife, a businessman who talks about the racket of the afterlife) can't offer many clues. While the film is intriguing in the way plot details, like breadcrumbs, are laid out, Moksha tests one's patience as well. "Where is that crazy filmmaker?" Jang yells out at one point – a question many viewers might well be asking.
Oct. 3, 6:45 pm Pacific Cinémathèque; Oct. 4, 1:30 pm Pacific Cinémathèque