Okja second trailer: Bong Joon Ho revisits bond between humans and their favourite companions

South Korea’s acclaimed auteur Bong Joon Ho’s latest directorial venture Okja is all set for its Netflix release on 28 June. Co-written by Jon Ronson and Joon Ho, Okja is the story of a young girl called Mija (Ahn Seo-hyun), who lives deep inside the forests of the Gangwon Province in South Korea. [caption id=“attachment_3706201” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Okja poster.[/caption] It is set in the modern day world. Mija has spent most of her existence raising and spending time with her best friend — the hippo-like creature (a giant mutant pig, if you may) — Okja who is supposedly one of the several super pigs that exist in the world. The animal is then taken away suddenly due to the evils of corporate capitalism by the very same company that sent her to Mija in the first place. What follows is Mija risking everything she has (including her life) in order to prevent the head of the corporate conglomerate — Lucy Mirando (played by Tilda Swinton) and her company Mirando Corporation from hurting her best friend. Mija then teams up with a group of militant animal activists that is lead by Paul Dano. The young girl ends up acquiring several unexpected allies as well as foes along the way. Okja’s latest trailer was released on 15 June and it didn’t waste any time diving straight into highly praising this Joon Ho flick. Having proven his mettle time and time again as an independent, singular and dependable voice in the entertainment industry, Okja manages to arouse the right amount of anticipation and enthusiasm for its release. Joon Ho’s last venture — his 2014 Snowpiercer — was critically acclaimed world over. A sci-fi nihilistic extravaganza that starred Chris Evans along the length of one long train, Okja is diametrically opposite in its approach and story line — with a much lighter tone and nature than Snowpiercer or any other title by Joon Ho previously. The trailer starts off with a haunting rendition of a choral cover of Nine Inch Nails’ song '_ Piggy’,_ after which our screens are infiltrated with flashes of Ahn Seo-hyun’s journey with Okja — heavily interspersed with title cards that feature critical acclaim for the film by noteworthy reviewers (owing to the movie’s premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in May), calling it everything from “eye-popping,” “joyful,”  “unexpected,” and “brilliant” to “thrilling.” Paul Dano’s voice takes over our screen at some point in the trailer, telling Mija that “Everything you believe you know about Okja is a lie”. Other than Ahn and Dano there is no other human voice in the trailer. A very basic and fairly simple teaser for the movie, it ensures that the praise that the movie has garnered already, speaks for itself. We also get silent flashes of Tilda Swinton and Jake Gyllenhaal’s wacky on screen persona from the movie, while Mija tries to find a way to rescue Okja. Okja has also been no stranger to controversy. In the weeks preceding its Cannes premier it was embroiled in the midst of the new official rule, wherein a film that had not had a theatrical release wasn’t allowed to compete for the Palme d’Or.  Additionally, the movie will also not be releasing in South Korea, the country from which the director Bong Joon Ho hails from, as the exhibitors are reportedly upset with the distribution model of the movie, once again owing to its Netflix release, according to a report by The Independent. Okja is looking to be one of the most promising movies of the year.