Movie Recommendation: Gook (2017)

*******

This movie is a little microcosm of the Los Angeles riots.  It’s the racial tensions between the Asian/Korean and African/Black populations during 1992.  It centers around two Korean brothers who own a shoe store.  Eli and Daniel try to make ends meet, but it’s hard when the patrons who enter their store always wants discounts.  As the outcome of the Rodney King beating is spread all over the news, rioting, looting, and fires break out over parts of the city.  Racial and police tension are now at an all time high, which an eleven year old Black girl, Kamilla, is fully aware.  She only wants to help Eli and Daniel instead of going to school or being in the same room as her siblings, which doesn’t sit well with most everyone in her life.  While racial tensions between minorities are a theme throughout Gook, I wanted deeper insight into Eli’s motives and decisions especially when the movie ended.  Yes, he was angry at his situation, long before the riots broke out, but he took a left turn when he should’ve turned right.  There basically wasn’t enough nuance to catapult this movie to great.  Yet, it was good, in the sense, it didn’t mince words including racially charged words and the realities of living in a city with little opportunities.  Green Book might have won Best Picture, but it didn’t have the grittiness of Gook.  A play on words, GOOK is a derogatory name for Vietnamese, Korean, and Filipino people, but it’s also a name used for soup like dishes in Korean although it is spelled GUK.  Being an independent movie with a smaller cast and crew, it kept your attention and liked it was in black and white.  I wished it had a few more location set ups as I think it would’ve broken up the story and made it a little more exciting.