Terrorism is not exactly a natural fit for screen comedy. Defiantly going where few have gone before — one rare prior example being the bumbling-jihadist satire “Four Lions” 15 years ago — “Good News” ekes a surprising degree of variably droll and raucous humor from its spin on a real-life hijacking that threw the governments of Japan, the U.S. and both Koreas into crisis mode over half a century ago. The latest from South Korean director Byun Sung-hyun (of the more pokerfaced crime thrillers “Kill Boksoon” and “The Merciless”) is an impressively ambitious, twisty construct that errs only in stretching out a bit longer than the tricky tonal balance can sustain. After well-received festival bows in Toronto and Busan, it launches worldwide on Netflix Oct. 17.
Squirrelly opening text (“Inspired by real events. But all characters and events portrayed are fictional. What is the truth then?”), plus an introductory mix of archival and staged footage, establish right off that this film will poke fun at its own ersatz historical authority. There’s a brief survey of relevant events preceding those centrally depicted, including the arrest of leadership in Japan’s militant extremist Communist group Red Army Faction, and the hijacking of a different Japanese plane to North Korea, where (most of) the civilian abductees were eventually “returned to freedom.”
But the Red Army members still at large remain committed to violent overthrow of a government they judge has subjugated their nation to “high capitalism.” With airport security practically nonexistent in early 1970, eight of them board a domestic commercial flight from Tokyo to Itazuke. They soon break out ample weaponry to terrorize 130 passengers, and demand the co-pilots (Kippei Shiina, Kim Seung-o) re-route the vessel to Pyongyang. But it’s clear these hysterically emotive miscreants know nothing about aviation. They’re unhappy to learn that a path to the preferred destination can’t even be charted without cooperation from North Korean officials. They are persuaded the jet doesn’t have enough fuel to cross international borders, and must stop to replenish before leaving Japanese territory. Landing as planned in Itazuke, they grudgingly release the children, elderly and ill, reducing their hostages by a couple dozen.
But further attempts to end their escapade fail, with the plane taking off once again, headed westward. By now there’s a considerable assembly of squabbling authorities massed on land to address the emergency, though they spend most of their time at each other’s throats. Among them are South Korean’s CIA Director (Ryoo Seung-bum) and the Japanese Deputy Minister of Transport (Takayuki Yamada). But they’re no more reliable as decision-makers than the chief Red Army Faction personnel, affectedly cool Denji (Show Kasamatsu) and combustive lone female Asuka (Nairu Yamamoto).
Indeed, those high-ranking bureaucrats routinely duck blame by shifting responsibility to flunkies, notably the mysterious, shambling fixer who prefers to be called “Nobody” (Sul Kyung-gu). There’s also Seo (Hong Kyung), a young Korean Air Force lieutenant drafted for his training on advanced foreign air-traffic radar control systems. Soon of course North Korea is involved as well, cackling over its expected imminent gift of a free Boeing 727. Viewing this fast-evolving situation as a Cold War crisis, the regional U.S. military command wades in as well.
If the early section suggests a 1970s “Airport” movie with deliberate rather than unintentional laughs — as the mid-flight dynamic between terrorists and terrorized has an absurd, slapstick edge — the introduction of so many sparring government edges pushes “Good News” into a different satirical realm. It’s one very much aligned with the sharp, antic sendup of Realpolitik previously seen in Armando Inannuci’s “In the Loop” and “The Death of Stalin,” as well as the likes of “Dr. Strangelove” and Preston Sturges’ “The Great McGinty.” All depend on fine-tuned ensemble work and bold yet incisive writing to expose the fear and vanity of corrupted power, with public welfare pushed to a distant last priority amid the in-fighting.
There is no lack of funny set-pieces here, including the impromptu “double-parking” of a jet on a runway to block the hijacked plane’s getaway, and the elaborate disguising of a South Korean airport as a North Korean one to fool the hijackers. But most of the laughs here are character-based, with performers neatly pitching their contributions for complementary contrast, like individual players in an orchestra. The most conspicuously comedic turns, like Sul’s or Yamamoto’s, wouldn’t work half as well if not complemented by judicious restraint from others.
It’s a high-wire act the director and his co-writer Lee Jin-seong largely pull off, though ideally “Good News” would be more compact — at 136 minutes, it loses comedic steam after a point. The attempt to strike some more earnest dramatic notes later on don’t quite land. Energetic and astutely paced as it is, this tale simply goes on longer than maximum viewer involvement can withstand, its buoyancy eventually deflating somewhat.
Still, too much of a good thing is better than none. Though not as FX- or action-oriented as you might expect from an aeronautical quasi-disaster narrative, it’s got the requisite sleek widescreen look, lent a steely-blue industrial cast by cinematographer Cho Hyoung-rae and production designer Han Ah-rum. Period ambiance is kept low-key, mostly relegated to deftly chosen golden oldies (including a closing Sinatra track) that abet Kim Hong-jip and Lee Jin-hee’s original score.
