South Korean comedy-drama films are famous for their creativity in processing unusual themes but can be very interesting stories. This time a family film titled Secret Zoo with a comedy nuance is present. The film is based on Hun's webcomic adaptation Haechijiana and was published from September 20, 2011 to April 27, 2012 on Daum Webtoon Company. The film is directed and written by Son Jae-Gon (Villain and Widow-2010; My Scary Girl-2006) and stars Ahn Jae-Hong (Miss & Mrs Cops -2019) and Kang So-Ra (Cheer Up Mr. Lee-2013; Sunny-2011) as the main star with the support of Park Young-Gyu (Happiness for Sale-2013), Kim Sung-Oh (Unstoppable-2018; The Merciless-2017), Jeon Yeo-Bin (Illang: The Wolf Brigade-2018), Park Hyuk-Kwon (Unfinished-2018), Yoon Sung-Woo (Ashfall-2019), and Jeon Woon-Jong (K-Drama series Chocolate-2018/2019). This film was released in South Korea on January 15, 2020 and has become a box office in South Korea by selling more than 813 thousand tickets on 1,216 screens since its release. Secret Zoo will be released in USAn cinemas on February 5, 2020.
Tae Soo (Ahn Jae Hong), a lawyer who is trying to achieve success at the place he works, gets a chance to become a director at a zoo after saving his boss CEO Hwang (Park-Hyuk Kwon) from the rampage of the demonstrators. Tae Soo is given 3 months to take care of the zoo so that it gets busy again before his company will sell it back to the buyer Min Chae-Ryung (Han Ye-Ri). However, when he arrived at the location, Tae Soo was surprised to find the zoo was on the verge of bankruptcy and was about to close. All the animals in the zoo were sold out, leaving only a very few animals and a polar bear named Black Nose.
CEO Hwang regularly checks on Tae Soo to make sure he is able to carry out the assigned tasks, Tae Soo always answers confidently. Out of urgency, Tae Soo finally has a very unusual even a bit crazy idea to save the zoo. Tae Soo invites his employees to use fake animals instead of real animals because they can't bring in real animals in a short time. Tae So and his employees visit the costume making site for the film, fronted by Mr. Ko (Kim Ki-Cheon), to get costumes that look 'real'. Suggested costumes are lion, polar bear, slow loris, and gorilla, as well as a giraffe to follow. The zoo employees are asked by Tae Soo to pretend to be the animals. Han So Won (Kang Sora) is asked to be a lion, director Seo (Park Young Gyu), who was the previous director of the zoo, is asked to become a polar bear, Kim Gun Wook (Kim Sung Oh) is asked to be a gorilla, and Kim Hae Kyung (Jeon Yeo Bin) is a slow loris. Tae Soo, who replaces director Seo, disguises himself as a polar bear one day when he feels tired and drinks Coca-Cola. This was seen by visitors and as a result of the cuteness the zoo eventually became crowded and viral on social media.
However, various obstacles await Tae Soo and the zoo staff. Will Tae Soo succeed in achieving the success and position he promised after the zoo he leads goes viral or is the 'fake' he planned to be exposed? This was seen by visitors and as a result of the cuteness the zoo eventually became crowded and viral on social media. However, various obstacles await Tae Soo and the zoo staff. Will Tae Soo succeed in achieving the success and position he promised after the zoo he leads goes viral or is the 'fake' he planned to be exposed? This was seen by visitors and as a result of the cuteness the zoo eventually became crowded and viral on social media. However, various obstacles await Tae Soo and the zoo staff. Will Tae Soo succeed in achieving the success and position he promised after the zoo he leads goes viral or is the 'fake' he planned to be exposed?
The adaptation of Haechijiana's webtoon story is quite successful because it is able to present a funny story but still has emotions and messages that hit the audience. With a duration of 117 minutes, the narrative flows well at the beginning and middle of the story but is a bit rushed at the conclusion. In the introduction and character recognition section what is done in this film is very good, the audience is introduced slowly and in detail about Tae Soo's daily life so as to give the audience time to connect with him. Then in the next section, the audience is introduced to the characters of the zoo employees who are quite diverse, but they are all able to provide interesting dynamics throughout the film's story thanks to their interactions with Tae Soo or between them with each other.
The comedy element of this film is the most interesting aspect because it can be placed in the right scenes and is guaranteed to provoke laughter. Interludes of love stories were also inserted between Tae Soo and Han So and Kim Gun Wook and Kim Hae Kyung but unfortunately they were too shallow even though it would be interesting if explored because the chemistry between the two couples was able to be displayed well and organically. Dramatic moments are also well presented and able to make the audience empathize and reflect on the problems and conflicts that occur in the zoo. Ahn Jae Hong's acting as the main character is very good, especially when he experiences inner and moral conflicts over the decisions he has to make regarding the zoo he leads. Ahn Jae Hong also looks more dominant than Kang Sora, possibly because the storyline doesn't give them a moment to be together, even though the relationship between them will be very interesting to explore. The storyline of this film is easy to guess when we get to the middle of the film, but the dynamics of the actors' acting in provoking laughter from the audience is able to attract the audience to wait for the final scene of this film.
The main thing that should be appreciated in this film is the use of very good quality costumes so that the appearance of the actors/actresses in animal costumes looks convincing and able to support the whole story very well. They are also able to appear funny through dialogues and silly behavior while in animal costumes. The shortcoming which is also a challenge in this film is that the character of the Black Nose polar bear, which is full CGI, is still visible in some scenes and it is very difficult to display realistic movements or interactions of the polar bear. But luckily it doesn't interfere with the storyline, but for mature audiences who are detailed will definitely realize this shortcoming. The lack of animal presence is also a question because in the film it is told that zoo employees are still taking care of the few remaining small animals, the audience will not see the interactions of the zoo employees with the animals. The idea of using animal costumes simultaneously reflects the question and irony of whether humans exploit animals for mere spectacle objects.
Son Jae-Gon tries to convey the issues surrounding the problems that often occur at the zoo through a series of events and dialogues of the actors in the film in a precise and touching way for the audience, especially regarding the fate of the animals in the zoo. Jae-Gon invites the audience to think about whether the benefits of the zoo are worth the animals being 'conditioned' not in their natural habitat and shows that what humans can do is take care of the animals as best they can. Because no matter how well a zoo is designed, it will not be able to match their natural habitat, this is what often becomes a conflict for animal lover organizations against zoos. In addition to the issue of oppression of large corporations, in this film property, who annexed zoos to be used as residential areas seemed to insinuate a practice that often occurs in big cities which is more concerned with profit than the preservation of the environment and natural wealth. The moral dilemma of how we should choose the right things to do in life is depicted very well in this film. Jae-Gon is good at assembling scenes and stories in films to convey these messages in a relaxed but right on target.
After watching this film, I hope you get the message that we have a role in maintaining the survival of the animals in the world while at the same time having a new perspective on the zoo and the workers involved in it. The moral dilemma of how we should choose the right things to do in life is depicted very well in this film. Jae-Gon is good at assembling scenes and stories in films to convey these messages in a relaxed but right on target. After watching this film, I hope you get the message that we have a role in maintaining the survival of the animals in the world while at the same time having a new perspective on the zoo and the workers involved in it. The moral dilemma of how we should choose the right things to do in life is depicted very well in this film. Jae-Gon is good at assembling scenes and stories in films to convey these messages in a relaxed but right on target. After watching this film, I hope you get the message that we have a role in maintaining the survival of the animals in the world while at the same time having a new perspective on the zoo and the workers involved in it.
