Kfc (2012) Review from Vinegar Syndrome!

Director Le Binh Giang had his film KFC rejected upon attempting to release it. The script was turned down by his film school due to the subject matter being too offensive. Fortunately, Le Binh Giang persevered but was rejected graduation from the same school. His film would take five years to complete and would be his debut feature. 

KFC is a dark urban journey through the underbelly of Vietnam’s capital city Hanoi. We meet several morally compromised characters including a group of children running the gauntlet of the cruel and violent city streets. We meet a young obese boy and his father. The father seems to be a doctor of some sort but also preys on people by killing, raping, and eating them. He also feeds human body parts to his overweight son which is said to be causing his obesity, that, and the regular diet of take out from the nearby KFC restaurant. 

Despite the subject matter and rejection of the film Le Binh Giang received a nomination for best film and won a special mention at The Five Flavors Asian Film Festival in 2017. KFC also received a nomination for best film at Q International Film Festival in 2017 for best picture in the Asian Next Wave Competition. 

KFC uses dark despondent lighting to deliver a dark dungeon feel which just adds to its mundane and morbid subject matter. In taking scenes and dimming the lighting you get a rugged and ran down appearance which lends a grittier filming style like in KFC. Director Le Binh Giang was worried the time lapse in filming over five years would affect the outcome of the movie and rightfully so. When you are passionate about something it comes in spurts and at your highest moments of inspiration you need to convey your message of creativity. You need to get it out there when it’s fresh and relevant to you. Personally, I’ve seen projects suffer from this. From what I’ve seen of KFC this time lapse syndrome doesn’t seem overly noticeable.

I will say the style in which the story unfolds is probably the film’s biggest downfall. The movie jumps around from different time periods with the same characters at different ages. I didn’t realize this until deeper into the film. For this reason, I recommend watching a second time. If you go into the film knowing this, you can recognize and take away more from the experience. 

Extreme cruelty, perversion, and violence throughout. Kids are brought into the circle of violence in the film which hits more of a nerve. I’m not 100% certain how the KFC franchise/restaurant fits into the mix except it seems to appear at different times in the film. The obese kid talks about eating KFC chicken and about mixing Coke and Pepsi which he considers the ultimate drink. There are also scenes at the beginning of a character working at a KFC restaurant.

Le Binh Giang also likes to add satire by using these Americanized products especially in one scene which appears on the films cover has an obese boy opting for a human hand to munch on instead of a KFC chicken leg because it’s making him too fat. Not sure how KFC flew under my radar but I’m glad I picked it up finally. KFC is a gritty, filthy, and unforgiving look at a tumultuous and corrupted urban lifestyle.

Directed by: Le Binh Giang
Written by: Le Binh Giang
Produced by: Le Binh Giang
Cinematography by: Nguyen Vinh Phuc
Editing by: Le Binh Giang, Minh Quy Truong
Special Effects: Tony Nguyen
Cast: Ta Quang Chien, Tram Primrose, Hoang Ba Son, Nguyen Tony
Year: 2012
Country: Vietnam
Language: Vietnamese (English subtitles)
Colour: Colour
Runtime: 1h 9min

Studio: Vblock Media Joint Stock Company
Distributor: Dekanalog, Vinegar Syndrome