Chansoo Kim

I was really impressed by the student films that I saw on the festival circuit last year. One such film is Vaudeville, by Chansoo Kim. He is just finishing up his MFA at the Univervity of Southern California. When I watched this film I immediate thought of Igor Kovalyov's Milch that I had just seen. With the similarity of the look of the films being one of glowing edged haziness at times coupled with its veiled symbolism. Vaudeville is a visual meditation on cultural displacement and finding one's state of being against the backdrop of early Americana. This dystopia is represented by the slap stick gags of the Vaudeville era that is the racism (slamming of the door in guy's face) and loss that the wandering Korean couple endure. He uses the visual gags to sharply punctuate and contrast the immigrants' state of flux hovering above the cultural divide as the young child swings between the two worlds. At least that is my take on this film. Also, at the end in the credits, Igor Kovalyov was Chansoo's advisor! And although it lacks deeper emotional impact that Igor's film it is a step in the right direction. And who knows that could just be cultural difference itself. You can read and see a short clip of Chansoo's other festival favorite Woman in the Attic via AWN. Now, hopefully Chansoo can solidify his independence and work on the fringe of animation industry instead of being swallowed by the monster.