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People are fascinated by analyzing the evil Society is intrigued by stories about psychopaths or serial killers. Staying in your own safe environment, it seems interesting to hear about something different, even about tragic events.’Squid Game’ proved the thesis when the series became the Netflix hit and one of the best film production of the year. Even though the episodes probably do not present a completely unique story, they succeeded. Hwang Dong-hyuk has combined drastic scenes, exoticism and interesting characters. The climate of dystopia is the reason for dynamic action. It might even be associated with the stories of George Orwell.
What is the plot of ‘Squid Game’?
At first, the title sounds innocently or even childish. The prologue presents the financial situation of many Koreans. They are shown usually as debtors and unemployed. These people got an opportunity of winning a large amount of money. However, it turned out that the stakes are higher than expectations. Participants’ challenge seemed to be not only the competition for money but also fighting to survive. The surprising element is the fact that every game comes from the Koreans’ childhood. The fundamental elements of the series are similar to the plot of ‘The Hunger Games’. The film also presents a game where the consequence of losing is death.
Squid Game Trailer – Do you dare to watch it?, source: Netflix
Main characters as game participants
‘Squid Game” shows all the poor Koreans as a collective protagonist. Nevertheless, viewers have the opportunity to analyse the history of a few game participants:
- Sang-wook Joo (Hae-soo Park) – an educated businessman, who struggles with huge debts,
- Il-nam Oh (Yeong-su Oh ) – an ailing old man,
- Sae-byeok Kang< (Ho-yeon Jung) – an illegal immigrant woman from North Korea,
- Ali Abdul (Anupam Tripathi) – an illegal immigrant from Pakistan, whose desire is to ensure decent living conditions for his wife and child,
- Gi-hun Seong (Jung-Jae Lee) – the main character, unemployed gambler; he lives with his mother and desires to be a good father for his daughter.
Everybody has his or her own problems. Taking part in the game is a way of changing their lives. However, it is also a reason for moral dilemmas, in which there are only two options: killing or dying. Even though the participants are terrified, some of them still want to treat others as human beings – respectfully. Nevertheless, the game keeps destroying both mental and physical conditions. That is the reason why the players succumb to their survival instincts. Sae-byeok Kang is extremely distrustful, Sangwoo Jo uses his devious tactics, and even friendly Gi-hun Seong seems to be capable of deception. The rivalry provoked fights and premeditated murders. Some people believed the probability of winning would be bigger that way. The whole game is directed by the Front Man. Moreover, all players are supervised by The Masked Men. Those guards’ duties are killing losers and getting rid of the bodies. They function like machines. Their overalls evoke associations with ‘La casa de papel’. In both series, a group of masked people are faithful to the leader.
The meaning of the title
‘Squid game’ is a game played by children in Korea. The title might suggest how one of the planned competitions look like. Viewers know there are six games, which is also described in an alternative title of the series: ‘Round Six’.
The soundtrack of ‘Squid Game’
The music from the series is peculiar. It combines a waltz of Johann Strauss, jazz and sounds of gunshots. It creates a disturbing atmosphere that emphasizes the disastrous situation. Even though the scenography is presented in the style of a child’s bedroom, ubiquitous pools of blood frighten. The calming waltz of Strauss appears usually in the most drastic scenes. It proves the game has nothing in common with reality. The soundtrack might be associated with ‘A Clockwork Orange’ by Stanley Kubrick. One of the scenes presents a group of men that wanted to hurt a young woman. Everything was happening with the sounds of Rossini’s overture. ‘Squid Game’ contains some oriental melodies, as well. It is presented usually in the moments of starting a game. That kind of soundtrack is stimulating as if its goal was to motivate warriors to fight. It is an important element of the dystopian world.
Watching with a lector, or with subtitles?
Connoisseurs of cinematography usually choose subtitles. But some people still prefer listening to the dialogues in their national language. Watching the original version of a film seems to be more interesting. However, the same discussion might be more complex during watching ‘Squid Game’. A user of Tik Tok criticized the translation of the series. She shared her own opinion that it is not compatible with the original. Inappropriate translation might change the reception of the series. Nevertheless, it is obviously not everybody knows the Korean language. That is why many viewers choose between a lector and subtitles. People only need to remember that the translation will never be perfect. Reading the subtitles seems more interesting because of the possibility of simultaneous hearing the original version.
Netflix phenomenon
The Korean production has had a story similar to ‘Stranger Things’. The director couldn’t find a producer. He has been waiting many years before realizing the script. His financial situation supposedly was so bad, that he had to sell his laptop. All this time was worth waiting for. These days viewers are fascinated by the story. They even bake biscuits inspired by the second round of the game and call the phone number which appeared in one of the episodes. ‘Squid Game’ aroused so much interest, that it was a reason for the Internet connection’s disruption in South Korea. For that reason, Netflix was sued by a telecommunications company. The series still is placed on the list of the top production on Netflix.
Do you want to test your creativity like participants of Squid Game ?, source: sugarlady
Is ‘Squid Game’ worth watching?
Sensitive people might have a problem with watching some episodes. However, generally, the plot makes viewers want to see more and more; even at once like in the phenomenon of binge-watching. The series is definitely unique. It shows what a person is able to do, staying in danger of looking at a huge amount of money. Viewers usually do not have experience with such situations, so they are curious about how they look in the lives of the main characters. Each episode reveals new information about the participants of the game. People, who are locked in one building, often have surprising behaviour. The reason for that phenomenon is the survival instinct. ‘Squid Game’ is also a reason for many theories of conspiracy. Some people generally describe the series as mysterious, brutal, dynamic, colourful and strange.
The second season
Fans from all over the world are hopeful to see the next part of the story. Now, there are only expectations but no plans. The director talks about it reluctantly. Obviously, there is a risk that the second season wouldn’t have many good opinions, because of the higher expectations among people. The final moments were so intriguing that many viewers would definitely want to see a continuation of the story.
Review: Karina Zapora
Translate: Natalia Chojnowska
Polish version here
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