"Squid Games", a South Korean dystopian thriller that hits the mark
“Squid Game”, the Korean series, is available on Netflix.
© Copyright NETFLIX / YOUNGKYU PARK
Text by: Nicolas Rocca Follow
3 min
“
Squid Games
”
is a Korean series that is very successful on Netflix.
Its 9 episodes are at the top of the charts in 83 countries and could become within a few weeks the most watched series in the history of the platform.
His universe has also invaded social networks where many references to the South Korean "drama" are included in particular on TikTok.
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From our correspondent in Seoul
,
The concept is not necessarily very innovative because it recalls the intrigues of other films in the same vein such as
Battle Royale
,
Hunger Games
.
Some have even accused director Dong Hyuk Hwang of plagiarizing the 2014 Japanese film,
As the Gods Will,
which has a fairly similar plot.
1,2,3 Soleil trash version
This series revolves around a game organized by a mysterious organization that brings together 456 candidates and the winner can walk away with 45.6 billion won, or 33 million euros. The nine episodes of this breathtaking thriller feature childish games, like 1,2,3 Soleil, but of rare cruelty because only two outcomes are available to the candidates: victory or death. Beyond the thriller aspect and the twists and turns that keep the spectator in suspense, it is also the capitalist system adapted to South Korean social realities. All the players are left behind by society. The hero, a chronic gambler, divorced father unable to make ends meet, is unable to care for his daughter.
The situation of the other main characters is not necessarily more enviable: we find an immigrant worker, thieves, or a North Korean defector.
Society has transformed and rejected them, so that they are ready for almost anything in order to be able to get out of their social misery.
A rather powerful aspect of the series which goes beyond the framework of the South Korean “dramas” often centered on love stories.
Like
Parasite
by director Bong Joon-ho, the series demonstrates the growing interest in this content which tackles themes quite specific to South Korean society, but in which viewers manage to identify.
A series that is exported
Beyond the rather breathtaking scenario, because full of twists and turns, there is the music, the quality of the image, the sets, the costumes, all these elements which give the world of
Squid Games
a unique aspect. On the TikTok social network, many people have posted videos where they attempt to replicate a scene from the game where contestants have to remove a geometric shape from a candy store with a needle without breaking the candy. But the success goes beyond the internet, for example Netflix organized an event in Paris last weekend, in order to bring together fans of the series. The queue has reached 250 meters to be able to participate in a game in conditions similar to the series, without the same outcome obviously.
And finally, South Korea's ability to export its cultural products is one of the reasons for its success.
This phenomenon called
Hallyu
first landed in China and Taiwan, before South Korean series or music evolved to gradually invade Southeast Asia and now the rest of the world.
BTS
,
Parasite
, now
Squid Games
, each year its South Korean global success.
►
To read also: Cannes: the Palme d'Or for the "Parasite" of Bong Joon-ho, South Korean prodigy
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