Of course, a Korean production was not going to be content with cloning the international success of Netflix produced in Spain. Instead of proposing a simple robbery movie, but changing the nationality of the assailantsthis ‘Money Heist Korea – Joint Economic Area’ (already in its first and short preview a few weeks ago it seemed to suggest where the shots would go) takes the same concept into a very different framework. Even the storm.
On this occasion, we are presented with a curious uchrony in which South Korea and North Korea open their borders and unite into a single country. The government, but especially the currency, are unified. The beneficiaries are the same as always: those who were already rich. This leads to a plan for a perfect heist, commanded by the Korean version of the Professor (Yoo Ji-tae).
With that starting point, ‘The paper house: Korea’ already becomes something quite different. “Welcome to capitalism,” says one of the characters, endorsing a criticism that is getting worse lately in Korean cinema (you just have to see one of his latest international successes, ‘Parasites’) and that talks about the injustices that flourish because of the system’s imbalances.
On June 24 we will have the opportunity to see if these changes are merely cosmetic or a genuine facelift. At the moment, Netflix’s promise that we would see something simpler circumstantial changes in the franchise seems to be taking shape, although the characteristic icons of the series are well present: masks, monkeys, weapons and an army. Everything in its place.
