“The Piper” is an interesting hodgepodge that borrows elements from various genres and weaves together several plotlines.

There is the fantastical motif of the Pied Piper of Hamelin, set against the historical backdrop of postwar Korea, filled with the mystery of a remote village ruled by a tyrant trying to hide a terrible secret, and the paternal love of a man desperately trying to save his sick son.


Unfortunately, the ambitious feature-length debut from director Kim Gwang-tae fails to weave together all of these different strands in a meaningful way, and the film buckles under its own weight.

“The film is about the importance of accountability,” said Kim at a press conference at CGV Wangsimni on July 2. “These days, people seem to take promises too lightly. A promise is a commitment to a relationship between people, and that commitment is taken too lightly as well.”

That explanation seems straightforward and clear considering that the movie uses the plotline of the Pied Piper -- where a piper who can control rats with his music is offered a large sum of money to rid a village of their rat infestation. He does his part but does not receive his compensation, so he uses his musical powers to get revenge.


That plot does unfold in the film, but it is buried so deeply under random bursts of comedy, sudden violence and awkward romance that it’s hard to discern until the movie is nearly over.

Part of the problem is that the two lead characters in the film -- the kind-hearted traveling musician who later turns sinister out of revenge, Woo-ryong (Ryu Seung-ryong), and the tyrannical village chief (Lee Sung-min) -- are given so much screen time in the first half. This allows them to develop a tense chemistry, and the excellent performances by the two actors lead the audience to believe that the film is about the conflict between those two characters.

Moreover, the village has a lot of huge, looming problems that makes the rat infestation seem trivial in comparison.

There are constant allusions to a terrible “incident” in the past that must never be spoken of again. Everyone in the village is terrified of the chief and his perpetually scowling son Nam-su (Lee Jun). The wide-eyed, trembling local shaman Mi-suk (Chun Woo-hee) is an imposter who is being physically and psychologically abused by the chief. As for Woo-ryong, he needs to find his way to Seoul to find a doctor for his son, who has a lung condition.

When the Pied Piper plotline emerges again, it seems cumbersome and almost superfluous.

But what the rats cannot deliver in terms of plot development, they deliver with visual punch. The natural surroundings of the mysterious village (filmed in the pristine mountains of Gangwon Province) are breathtaking, but even their impact pales when compared to the sight of thousands of computer-generated rats scurrying in unison.

“The Piper” is visually captivating and seems to be carried by the two strong leads, but there is an unshakable off-kilter feeling that pervades the watching experience, created by choppy transitions and sudden interruptions.

“I wanted to leave spaces between the lines,” said Kim about the vague points in the film. “I wanted people to interpret the movie each in their own way.”

Unfortunately, those different interpretations are likely to be borne out of confusion rather than individual insight.

By Won Ho-jung (hjwon@heraldcorp.com)