Film Reviews / May. 04, 2020
All About My Father (2011) is a three-part omnibus film written and directed by the Korean gay film director Lee Sang Woo, together with two other filmmakers. Each of thre three stories focuses on a different father figure but, of course, with a gay twist.
Watch All About My Father on GagaOOLala.
Synopsis
The first story follows a high school student who requests his father’s permission to marry another boy. However, after the boy moves in, he realizes that he is more attracted to his father-in-law, a flight attendant often absent from home, than to his newlywed husband. The boy makes passes at him and shows his affection after a few rounds of drinks. The father-in-law is seduced and tempted, but he resists until one day when the proud son leaves the house after a fight with his dad. Alone, son and father-in-law swiftly lose control. The son returns home and witnesses the affair: he soon plans his revenge against his father.
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The second story follows a reporter who is investigating the story of a retired solider who claims to have been raped by his superior in the army. He remembers being invited to his superior's house while on leave. When his superior suddenly leaves after a fight with his single father, the latter, drunk and abusive, loses control and forces the soldier into submission. The soldier then doubts between the truth or maintaining the senior’s father’s honor.
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The third story describes a single man who has an old father and a young child to take care of, since his mother left the family alone. When the man is out looking for his mother, the child secretly collects hunk photos for his grandfather. The man becomes suspicious when his father orders takeout once and a young deliveryman came to the door. He then hires two old ladies to “serve” his father, and even plays straight porn for him. As the father remains unmoved, the man discovers that it is the child who understands what the father wants; gets him gay porn, and brings the deliveryman back. The man confronts his son and “teaches” him that homosexuality is an unforgivable sin. Another man then comes along, revealing that the man had had an affair with him.
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A satire of Korea’s chauvinism and homophobia
All About My Father ridicules Korea’s chauvinist society and homophobia pinning it to a cultural Electra complex. Although incest, rape, and deliveryman may seem extreme, as long as it has some weight to it and has something to say, even the most ridiculous gay porn scenarios can be made into a good film.
All About My Father (Image from GagaOOLala)
Watch All About My Father on GagaOOLala.
By/ George Bond
