Korea Feature Animation 'Padak' in Theaters

Fish. In documenting the day-to-day anxieties of contemporary urban living, circumscribed by all manners of ignorance, optimism, greed, and/or self-sufficiency, animation writer and director Lee Dae-hee turned to fish. On the surface, the artist's debut feature production Padak Padak (eng. title: Padak) is the simple legend of a handful of fish in captivity, sitting outside the entrance of a small restaurant. Dig a bit deeper, however, and the animated film becomes mischievously allegorical: working adults toil within a professional framework that is unmoving and beholden to a parasitic and opportunistic old guard.

Padak entered movie theaters in Korea this week, thus far the pride and joy of director Lee Dae-hee and his production house, E-Dehi Animation Studio. The feature combines computer animation with an occasional and spirited frolic of hand-drawn art, and regales viewers with the simple quest of a mackerel trying to make its way back to the open ocean. Padak isn't a family comedy about being reunited with loved ones, and it isn't sea-spanning adventure tale; Padak is simply an observation of a fish tank, a microcosm of the larger world, where the captive struggle with competing opinions of whether their long-held complacency is truly misguided, or simply, for the best.

Flappy is a mackerel recently captured and stuffed into a holding tank. The tank, sitting outside the entryway of a rickety sashimi shop, is already inhabited by a half-dozen or so other fish and eel. The mackerel's first instinct is to escape, naturally, but as Flappy quickly learns, she may end up living longer if she accepts her fate (rather than in search for a way out).

As Padak continues, Flappy meets the other fish of the tank: a young snapper eager for a role model; a nervous sea bass prone to folding under pressure; a common bream that always goes with the current; and an old flounder, a flatfish whose age commands (demands) a certain type of authority.

"Different kinds of fish represent various aspects of human beings," Lee commented in an interview with a local newspaper, noting the inevitable conflict between a straight swimming mackerel and the old, status quo, low-to-the-ground flounder.

Conflicts of personality and of a more generational nature thus play out when a newer and more determined party looks to confront the tyrannical opportunism of the established authority. Right now, the fish either play dead or hide whenever a prospective buyer approaches the shop. There's no struggle, no resistance, and plan. The old flounder has survived for years in this cowardly fashion and no longer dreams of the outside. But the mackerel? She has other plans.

The film's writer and director initially came across his analogy of fish in a tank while trekking to and from work and passing a village sushi shop on each trip. A single fish tank rested rested in front of the sushi shop. How ignorant we must all be, he thought, to feel as if this is how our lives are meant to be. After all, in the real world, most business environments yield to the aged and experienced, regardless of quality of talent. Many business environments further incubate youth until they are either bored or have lost their innocence. And many others simply busy themselves by erecting "invisible walls," within which only consensus can be formed.

According to sources, Padak was produced on a budget of roughly KRW 1 billion (USD $876,400). The film was in development for two years and production for three years, stalling on frequent occasion due to "the obvious problems" of financing/investment and human resources. Ideally, producing the film should have taken only half the time, per Lee. But the film's long simmer has paid off: local reviews are universally positive, and the film's predilection for social drama and subtext has won over plenty of fans.

Padak premiered earlier this year at the 13th Jeonju Int'l Film Fest, where it emerged victorious in the international competition (CGV Movie Collage Award). This past week, the movie exited the famed Seoul Int'l Cartoon & Animation Fest with an honor in the features segment (Special Jury Prize). Stateside, representatives of E-Dehi attended Comic-Con International in addition to hosting a screening at Anime Expo 2012, in Los Angeles, CA.

Even if tending to the professional work world really is like being a of fish in a tank -- hiding in the corners or bristling with fear of being served on a platter -- depending on the ingredients, authority fluctuates. How determined must one (human or mackerel) be in order to escape death? Is death escapable? You'll be surrounded by fools, complainers, mimics, and reality-resistant opportunists, but will your struggle be defined more by your contending consensus, or by playing dead?

(Sources: E-Dehi Animation Studio, Daum.net, HanCinema.net, Korea JoongAng Daily, First Comics News, Segye Times, 16th SICAF, 13th JIFF, Chosun.com, ebuzz/Electronic Times, Seoul Animation Center, iMage online, News Zum, movieweek, Herald Media)

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