A Criticism of Hypocrisy in Society: Bong Joon-ho's Incoherence (1994)

One of the earliest works of the present-day premier of South Korean cinema, Bong Joon-ho’s thought-provoking short film Incoherence(1994) is an unconventional piece of media that interprets and highlights the ever-present hypocritical nature of individuals through three unrelated characters. Them being Kil Ji-yong, a professor of social psychology; Huh Yun-chol, who is the editor-in-chief of one of the most prominent newspapers in South Korea; and Byun Jae-sok, who works as a public prosecutor. This short film is composed of three chapters (Cockroach, Up the Alleys, and The Night of Pain) and a subsequent epilogue.

The first chapter of the short film tells us about brief daily interactions and routines of Ji-yong. The initial scenes hint at his perversion and oppressed sexual desires—toward one of his students. Ji-yong can also be seen browsing through a pornographic magazine, Penthouse, which later almost gets him into trouble and almost reveals these oppressed desires to that same student.

In the second chapter, we observe Yun-chol and a part of his presupposed routine: he steals milk and newspaper from other people’s doorsteps and gets into a cat-and-mouse play after being caught by a newspaper guy. Throughout the episode, Yun-chol does not show any remorse or conscience toward other people, even laughing and smiling about his little mischievous temperament and actions—in an act of slyness the blame is intentionally shifted upon the newspaper guy who is thought to be the culprit of all the previous thefts of stealing milk, and also a victim woman hints at the fact that Yun-chol has been performing it routinely.

In the third chapter, we are given Jae-sok’s hypocrisy: he is heavily intoxicated, in search of both his home and later a place to defecate. After failing in both attempts, he is caught by a watchman while trying to defecate on a private lawn.

The connection between these aforementioned characters is not visible from these separate, individual sections. However, in the epilogue, they are seen as guests on a TV show, in which the three are supposed to conversate and criticize the soaring crime rate of South Korean society: the fallen morals of society are to be discussed upon. They appear to be the experts on the topic, their demeanor and outward appearances are nowhere near to the misconducts they had committed in their separate sections. According to Ji-yong, the rates of crime are quickly rising because the culprits are unable to control their desires, and it was quite beneficial for society’s morals that the pornographic magazine, Penthouse, is suppressed throughout the country—a highly ironic remark. The second expert Yun-chol keeps reiterating the exact same sentence: that it was the lack of formal education both at home and school. The third and last expert, Jae-sok points out the minor violations in society, putting aside the major and violent crimes. Jae-sok highlights the importance of putting an end to petty offenses and misdemeanors such as jaywalking and public urination.

Some jokes write themselves, as is the same case in Joon-ho’s Incoherence (1994). All three so-called experts are criticizing the precise crimes and offenses they had previously committed and their psychological temperaments of themselves in an ironic and tragic fashion. Even though they can be looked up as role models of society, they belong in the same group as the criminals that they are criticizing. What is even more tragic is the fact that their TV show can be seen on almost every television as well as being portrayed in public spaces, the citizens not cognizant of the fact that all three “experts” are guilty of the offenses they are debating.