COBWEB (거미집) (2023)

Genre: Drama/Comedy
Director: Kim Jee-won
Cast: Song Kang-ho, Im Soo-jung, Oh Jung-se, Jeon Yeo-been, Jung Soo-jung, Jang Young-nam
Runtime: 2 hr 12 mins
Rating: M18 (Sexual Scene)
Released By: Golden Village Pictures
Official Website:

Opening Day: 5 October 2023

Synopsis: COBWEB is about director Kim (Song Kang-ho), who is obsessed with the fact that the ending of the movie Cobweb, which was filmed in the 1970s, would be better if re-filmed. It is a film that depicts the sad and funny things that happen while filming under conditions.

Movie Review:

It’s always welcoming to watch a film about filmmakers and filmmaking, knowing that if the director had all the creative liberty in the world, the end product can be a stark take on how the movie business works. The friendly persona you see in celebrities during red carpet galas and press tours? It’s probably a façade painstakingly planned by the PR folks. The awkward plot development that doesn’t seem to gel well with the rest of the movie? That’s probably mandated by the studio financially backing up the production. Let’s not even talk about the product placements that are too jarring to ignore. We don’t know much about how the film industry in South Korea, but if this film directed by Kim Jee-won is anything to go by, it is comforting to know things are probably not much different in that part of Asia.

Set in the 1970s, the story’s protagonist (played by the ever reliable Song Kang-ho) is a once promising director who is now making forgettable genre movies that indie filmmakers and self righteous reviewers would scoff at. Although production has wrapped on his latest work, he goes on a quest to reshoot the ending because he is determined that the revised version will be so out of this world, it will regain his status as an artistic filmmaker.

For that to happen, he has to gather his actors. The problem is, the cast members have since gone on with their lives and aren’t too thrilled about the reshoot. We get to see the different personalities which are a recipe for comedy and drama. There is the confident leading lady (Im Soo-jung), the womanizing lead actor (Oh Jung-se), the popular but secretly pregnant starlet (Jung Soo-jung) and the veteran senior (Park Jung-soo) who has more experience than anyone in the ensemble cast. As if there aren’t enough drama on camera with this motley crew, there are many problems happening behind the scenes too.

It definitely does not help when there are other issues that involve the honcho of the studio, the regulators from the censorship board, and even the different crew members that are necessary to a production.

While not entirely accurate, the movie presents a view for the audience to get a glimpse of what might have seen on the film camera preview screen during the shoot. The use of black and white versus colour cinematography keeps viewers adequately engaged throughout as all.

The director has made competent titles like A Bittersweet Life (2005). The Good, the Bad, the Weird (2008) and I Saw the Devil (2010), and his latest work could have benefited with a bit more focus. While each episode is entertaining enough, you may wonder where the film is headed. One sequence where the protagonist hallucinates and sees his dead mentor feels rather oddly bewildering – but it does add a sense of quirkiness to the story. We also get to see the finale of the reworked ending, which is satisfying but may not be entirely necessary. Maybe this is where a little control from the studio would have helped keep things on track. 

Movie Rating:

(There is much to be entertained by in this movie about what happens both in front of and behind the camera during the production of a film)

Review by John Li