The Fake (Saibi)

Korea 2013, 101 min, English subtitles

As in his first animated film, The King of Pigs, Yeon Sangho tells this story in pictures at once polished and bleak. There isn’t a single character here that a clear conscience could identify with. The charismatic preacher sells pieces of heaven to the residents of a village threatened by a dam project – and for a tidy sum. The only one who resists the collective religious hysteria is, of all people, Min-chul, a drunk who abuses his family. When the church is set alight, it’s clear that the next village full of gullible souls can’t be far away …