Jisoe (2005)

Dreadfully Boring

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Just saw this and thought it was hilarious. This review I read rang true.Jisoe is the guy you walk past on the street and hope he doesn't ask you if you can spare some change. The slightly dodgy looking guy who you think is on the make, looking for some kind of scam. He's definitely scruffy looking, does engage in the odd spot of shoplifting and is not above knocking back a couple of bongs which he repeatedly refers to as buges, though the reality is that he probably wants to be left alone. You see he's got a young girlfriend who's pregnant with his baby, but more importantly an unrelenting love of graffiti and even more importantly of bombing the train system. And he's good too. I've seen some of his pieces about; because that's the other thing he's local. This film sees him traveling around looking for trains to bomb. It's shot on video, sometimes quite rough, particularly when he's spraying the trains. Though this only further sucks you into his world, the viewer right there feeling the tension and exhilaration. Though ultimately it's a film about Jisoe the person, the personal sacrifices for his art and how he deals with the pressures that this passion brings. The series of interviews not only illuminate the local graffiti scene, but also his code and personal philosophies which underpin his character. This is a much less polished and far more enjoyable version of Kenny, as we are drawn into Jisoe's world and feel compassion and respect with for someone who's apparently anti social behaviour places himself at odds with mainstream society. He comes out with some interesting points, that graffiti isn't prosecuted because it's ugly or damaging, it's because the artists unlike large corporations haven't paid to use the space. They've just taken it, and this can't be tolerated. The use of language is great too, totally Australian. My only negative would be if you are not Australian you may miss some of the humour.