Overview of Okja
‘Okja’ is the tale of a ‘super pig’ and its caretaker, a young girl called Mija. Their peaceful life comes to a halt when Mirando Corporation takes back the super pig which they have given to Mija’s grandfather. Little Mija goes to Seoul in search of her pet and finally brings it back to her home restoring their serene life in the village.
The movie was released in 2017 and was directed by Bong Joon-ho. It is a multilingual movie starring Ahn Seo-hyun, Tilda Swinton, Byun Hee-bong, Paul Dano, Lily Collins, Yoon Je-moon, Devon Bostick, Shirley Henderson, Daniel Henshall, Choi Woo-shik, Giancarlo Esposito, Steven Yeun, and Jake Gyllenhaal.
Profile
- Name: ‘Okja’
- Genre: Adventure, Drama
- Starring: Tilda Swinton, Paul Dano, Ahn Seo-hyun, Byun Hee-bong, Steven Yeun, Lily Collins, Yoon Je-moon, Shirley Henderson, Daniel Henshall, Devon Bostick, Choi Woo-shik, Giancarlo Esposito and Jake Gyllenhaal
- Directed by: Bong Joon-ho
- Screenplay by: Bong Joon-ho, Jon Ronson
- Story by: Bong Joon-ho
- Produced by: Dede Gardner, Bong Joon-ho, Lewis Taewan Kim, Jeremy Kleiner, Dooho Choi, Seo Woo-sik, and Ted Sarandos
- Cinematography: Darius Khondji
- Edited by: Yang Jin-mo
- Music by: Jung Jae-il
- Production Companies: Plan B Entertainment, Lewis Pictures and Kate Street Picture Company
- Distributed by: Netflix, Next Entertainment World
- Release dates: May 19 2017 in Cannes, June 28 2017 in the United States and June 29 2017 in South Korea
- Running time: 120 minutes
- Countries: South Korea, United States
- Languages: English, Korean
Cast
- Ahn Seo-hyun as Mija, the companion of Okja.
- Tilda Swinton as Lucy Mirando, CEO of the Mirando Corporation
- Paul Dano as Jay
- Steven Yeun as K
- Byun Hee-bong as Hee Bong, Mija’s grandfather
- Giancarlo Esposito as Frank Dawson
- Jake Gyllenhaal as Johnny Wilcox
- Yoon Je-moon as Mundo Park
- Lily Collins as Red
- Devon Bostick as Silver
- Daniel Henshall as Blond
- Choi Woo-shik as Kim Woo-shik
- Shirley Henderson as Jennifer
- Swinton as Nancy Mirando, Lucy’s twin sister and the cruel former CEO of the Mirando Corporation
- Lee Jung-eun as Okja’s voice / Wheelchair woman
- Lee Bong-ryun as Mirando Korea desk clerk
Synopsis
The story begins in 2007, when Lucy Mirando takes over the CEO position at the Mirando Corporation after competing with her twin sister. In an inaugural meeting hosted by Mirando Corporation, Lucy Mirando announces their new experiment to bring ‘super pigs’ into the world. She claims the motive behind developing a new species of pig is to contribute to the livestock. With the increasing rate of population, ‘super pigs’ can feed a good number of mouths and reduce the scarcity of food.
For the new experiment, Mirando Corporation produced 26 piglets and distributed them to farmers in 26 different locations around the world. After 10 years, the corporation will assess fully grown ‘super pigs’ and crown the biggest one as the winner.
Okja is one of the super pigs that was given to Mija’s grandfather 10 years ago by the Mirando Corporation. Occasionally, the corporation sent a man to examine the whereabouts of the super pig. One day, the man brings other team members to Mija’s house. Amused by the size of the pig, the team rewards the grandfather and Mija and starts making arrangements to take the super pig back to New York City for the anticipated festival.
Mija becomes upset by the news, and her grandfather gifts her a golden pig figurine to cheer her up. However, nothing lifts the mood of Mija, and when she returns home, she finds the empty shelter of her pet.
Despite her grandfather’s efforts to stop her, she starts her journey to Seoul to bring back her companion. In her attempt to rescue Okja, Mija meets a group of masked people, and later the team reveals their identities as Jay, K, Red, Silver and Blond. They claim themselves as animal lovers who save animals from abusive captivities.
Jay tells Mija about genetic mutation and the harm it brings to animals. The team plans to stop the mass slaughter of the animals by Miranda Corporation. To disclose the mistreatment of animals by Miranda Corporation, Jay inserts a recording device inside Okja’s ear and asks for Mija’s approval to continue their mission.
To collect evidence, Okja should be taken to Miranda Corporation’s laboratory. When Jay asks Mija for her permission to take Okja to the laboratory, K mistranslates Mija’s reply “Take Okja back to the mountain” as “she agrees to the mission”. Thereafter, one by one, the AFL team members jump into the water from the vehicle in which they are travelling.
Jay’s AFL team is able to disclose the Miranda Corporation’s cruelty towards animals. Due to the mess created, Lucy passes on her CEO position to her sister Nancy.
Nancy makes arrangements to freeze the activities of the AFL. However, as an act of remorse, K saves Mija and Jay from being arrested. The trio of K, Jay and Mija go in search of Okja and discover her in a processing plant. By the time the trio reaches the plant, preparations have already been made to slaughter the super pig. To save her from the slaughter blade, Mija convinces the butcher about the bond that she and the super pig share. She shows him a photograph of her and baby Okja.
The new CEO, Nancy, arrives at the plant, but Mija tries to negotiate with Nancy. Eventually, she barters the golden pig, which her grandfather gifts to save her pet. After the deal, Nancy allows Mija to take the super pig back to her village. As they move out of the slaughtering plant, she sees a drift of pigs raised by the corporation to slaughter.
When Mija and her pet are about to leave the plant, a pig couple pushes their piglet out of the electric fences as a request to save their child. Okja instantly hides the piglet in her mouth before the guards notice them.
The later scene shows the piglet exploring its new habitat with Okja and Mija in their village.
Theme
‘Okja’ shows the tranquil beauty of nature. It shows the peaceful lives of people living in cooperation with nature. The film explicitly shows how nature nourishes people and animals who are in good affinity with it. In the movie, when the grandfather is asked about the secret behind raising such an awesome ‘super pig’, he says he set him free in the mountains and forest with his granddaughter.
Mija represents the odd one in society who runs to save the pig raised for slaughter. She is caught up in the greedy, capitalistic world. Furthermore, the movie questions the rights of animals. The ‘super pigs’ have a high level of intelligence and can understand love. Portraying the raising of such animals for commercial purposes is underlined as a major demerit of factory farming.
Award
Besides being nominated, the film has not received any awards.
Interesting Facts about ‘Okja’
- ‘Okja’ was streamed on Blue-ray and DVD on behalf of The Criterion Collection.
- ‘Okja’ received a four-minute standing ovation when it premiered at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival.
- The Cannes Film Festival authority apologised to the filmmakers for the inconvenience caused while streaming the film.
- The filmmakers created Okja by combining the characteristics of a pig, dog and manatee.
FAQs
- When is the movie ‘Okja’ released?
2017. - Does Netflix have the film ‘Okja’?
Yes. - Who is the director of ‘Okja’?
Bong Joon-ho. - What is the Instagram ID of Ahn Seo-hyun?
@seohyun1018.
