Yellow Door ’90s Lo-fi Film Club Review: Yellow Door ’90s Lo-fi Film Club is a documentary that premiered on Netflix on October 27, 2023. The movie is directed by Lee Hyuk-rae and produced by Hyung-ok Kim. Starring Bong Joon Ho, the Oscar-winning director, the docufilm follows a film club named Yellow Door which was established in the late 90s and Joon Ho was also a part of it. There was a sudden uprising of film enthusiasts in South Korea during that time which was the beginning of many filmmakers’ careers.
The documentary has a runtime of 84 minutes approximately. It is originally shot in Korean, however, it is also available with an English dub and subtitles.
-Yellow Door ’90s Lo-fi Film Club Review Contains Some Spoilers-
The documentary is any cinephile’s delight, getting up close and personal with Bong Joon Ho’s film club. But the docufilm does not only focus on Joon-ho but all of his associates, acquaintances and friends from the film club. It gives the audience a better perspective of how the love for storytelling started to develop among the South Korean youth.
However, the main focus of the film is Joon-ho’s first-ever animated short film, Looking For Paradise. It is a secret project that the director created before his self-proclaimed short film, White Man. The only people lucky enough to experience Joon-ho’s first movie premiere was his film club. The docufilm starts by introducing the members of the club and slowly leads to the events that helped the creation of the short film.
One of the members of the film club explains that following the end of the dictatorship resistance in the country, the youth, mainly the students were left with no purpose and were filled with energy to do something worthwhile. So they started to direct their energy into films and that is how many film clubs started to form and Yellow Door was one of them. Through the innate passion to study filmmaking, different people from various backgrounds got together through word of mouth, solely for the love of storytelling.
The members also explain the difficulties that came along with it due to the lack of advanced technology. They had to make copies of films, make a proper collection and had to pay extra attention to maintain it. However, things started to get easier when Joon-ho bought a digital video recorder, one of the first ones developed during that time. Even from the other side of the screen, the viewers will feel like they are also part of the historic moment.
One of the endearing aspects of the docufilm is how the members addressed Bong Joon-ho. Although he is now one of the most successful filmmakers in the world, none of them treated him any differently. They still saw the enthusiastic and weird friend fascinated with films like they all did during the early days.
As the members recall the first time they watched Looking For Paradise, the audience will be immersed in an intimate conversation. Each of them explains how they related to the short film and how wonderfully it was created. The story follows a gorilla stuck in a basement wishing to be free. It can also be seen how similar Joon-ho’s present work is to his first short film. Everyone has a desire to find their own paradise and can often feel that they are locked in a basement.
Yellow Door ’90s Lo-fi Film Club Review: Final Thoughts
Learning about Joon-ho’s mind and his thought process is nothing short of a masterclass. It is fascinating to know his roots and where his inspiration stems from. Apart from showcasing a part of his life, he has barely opened up about, it is also an amazing experience to know about the life of other filmmakers and film enthusiasts who were working alongside him. The docufilm takes us on a journey and beautifully tells the story of a film club which was formed to share their love for cinema together.
Did you watch Yellow Door: ’90s Lo-fi Film Club yet? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
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