Director: Chang Hyung Yun.
Starring: Yoo Ah In, Jung Yu Mi.
Running Time: 81 Minutes
Synopsis: A satellite comes to Earth and takes on the form of a young girl in order to discover the singer of her favourite song. She finds the singer has turned into a cow, and the two team up with a magical toilet roll named Merlin in order to stop a giant incinerator.
I read that synopsis and I can’t quite believe I wrote those words. And yet, I’m bloody glad that I did. As nonsensical as it all sounds, THE SATELLITE GIRL AND MILK COW is a wonderfully charming animation from South Korea, that somehow gets away with its absurd little twists and mad characters.
The first of the titular pair starts life as a satellite. With opening narration that isn’t annoyingly expositional, we are introduced to a sentient satellite that has spent its life watching receiving and transmitting images from Earth. She decides to venture to Earth in order to find the singer of her favourite song. He is no superstar, but instead an average kind if guys whose singing isn’t all that impressive to us. The idea of a sattelite gaining sentience is a great plot device, as we get a voyeur of humanity without any real culture of their own. She’s a blank slate, but one whose character gradually comes through.
The film starts instantly without much set-up at first. The backstory is revealed through dialogue and flashbacks, which prevents us from questioning the absurd moments on screen. The wizard turned toilet roll, Merlin, is a particular comedic highlight, using his individual sheets to perform magic, and taking great pride in the fact he is embossed. The bizarre characters use slapstick as their prime source of comedy, and most of the time it’s very funny indeed.
Also funny are the voice cast who cause laughs via their complete disbelief of what’s going on, their complete acceptance of it, or just dry delivery amid the madness. The madness will also turn some viewers off. I’m sure they’ll be some who scoff at a toilet roll being a lead in a motion picture, but with Korea’s love for toilet related humour, Merlin is a great addition to the world of animated sidekicks. Much better than yet another talking animal.
The animation is lovely, although it doesn’t exactly push the boundaries, and the whole experience is a one-of-a-kind tale that mixes fairy tale with science-fiction romance. The end just sort of happens, and could have actually happened anywhere in the film, resulting in a rushed climax that doesn’t settle before the credits roll, but overall THE SATELLITE GIRL AND MILK COW is an exhilarating and hilarious film due a lot of attention.
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