With no formal background in filmmaking, Daniel Yoon has made quite an achievement with his first feature film Post Concussion.
It opens with a very natural and funny parody of a 1950’s era instructional film, black and white complete with stuffy scientist reading cue carded narration.
Besides writing, directing, and editing his semi-autobiographical feature, Yoon also stars as Matthew Kang, a resource management consultant for the Thompson firm. At Thompson, the partners are firm believers in the philosophy of free will.
This belief clashes with one of the younger partners, Gary, a professing Mormon that isn’t as devout as he would like to think he is, though he abstains from usage of the “F” word as his office-mates rib him. The parishioner is content with his comfortable notion of predestination, but uses it as excuse for stagnating in his dead-end job. “Everyone has a job they don’t like.” Kang is quickly learning this truth most of all.
And then it happens.
In a freak accident, Kang is struck by a car, resulting in a mild concussion. With the help of his wise, albeit “Leftist bohemian” friend Joy, he soon comes to realize that everything happens for a reason. His accident becomes an epiphany of sorts.
Quitting his job in a downright Office Space spat of hilarity, Kang sets out to shed his corporate ways. Joy convinces him to submit to “cranial sarrow-therapy” with her guru (read: charlatan) Gabriel. Though the best advice he gets from Monica, his new German neighbor.
Shot in 16mm, Yoon took some bold shots, like stop-animation and innovative scene transitions. The real visceral aspect of Concussion isn’t so much the quirky story as it is the firsthand truth it speaks. Apparently Yoon had a similar car-vs.-human incident and himself was incapacitated for most of the film’s shooting. To bad the “reality TV” wasn’t this genuine.
Web Site: www.bluewaterfilms.com
