My Mister (2018): Portraying Suffocation Through Urban Landsapes

I spent the last three days powering through My Mister (2018), a Korean series. I have to say that it was a very soothing and melancholic experience at the same time. But overall, finishing the series made me feel fulfilled and satisfied like eating a nutritious meal. Some parts prove to be very heavy but it is a pretty accurate and aching depiction of a monotonous life: pulling oneself out of bed to go to work while feeling like livestock being sent to the slaughter house.

What stood out to me was the series’s cinematography. Most of the shots were taken at night; scatters of street lamps light up the characters amidst a sea of darkness. The sharp edges of buildings, utility poles and subway trains are often used to separate the characters into isolated segments, reflecting their loneliness that manifests inside of them. Windows and mirrors are used to distort the viewers’ perception of the characters, making us question whether the things we see on the surface really represent the characters’ true feelings. Thus, the overall environment these characters are placed into evoke a feeling of hostility. I will go into some of the compositions I found interesting. I’ve separated the shots into outdoor and indoor scenes.

Outdoor Scenes:

Dong-hoon, the protagonist who works for a constuction company, stands alone in front of a dimly lit grocery store.

This one depicts the monotonous rhythm of life pretty well. Dong-hoon is placed in an endless complex of apartments where you cannot really tell the difference between him and the shadows.

I won't spoil here, but the two characters are coming closer together. One has to accept his past. The other needs the courage to step forward.  

The blue against yellow contrast works pretty well here. It juxtaposes the background of one character agains the other.

Again, Dong-hoon is often depicted as an isoalted figure.

The phone booth's outlines and the railings to the right look similar to a prison cell, indicating that the character here is trapped mentally.

This character finally does something for the first time. Strong natural light from outside flood the composition.  

These shots of restaurants from outside reminds me of Edward Hopper's Nighthawks (1942) where the warmth of the restaurant spikes out against the lonely darkness outside. 

Indoor Shots:

This was one of the first shots of the series. A very effective introductory shot showing how Dong-hoon is stuck in his position.  

Mirror shots are often used to strike confusion. It also makes us wonder if what we see on the screen is truly what really is going on behind it. 

This shot is taken against a mirror. But it was made to look like we're looking through a window.  

Another shot that represents prison bars. This one reflects the constraints and suffocation in marriage.  

As the two characters warm up to each other, there are less architectural friction between the two. Here, they are only separated by a single window frame.