As the focus for this week’s MV Breakdown we’re taking a look at Tiger JK’s release I Know.
I know turns stereotype upside down, readjusting what you think, and expect from a situation. As we begin, Tiger follows the woman down the streets at nightfall, his movements are well considered as he attempts to keep out of sight, often trying to hide.
Why would a man follow a woman in such a way during the night-time? One assumes the reasons are not wholly innocent. Though this is where Tiger JK’s mv subverts expectation.
Upon meeting the woman in the bar Tiger becomes her victim, he is the one who receives the spiked drink, he is the one to become vulnerable.
Tiger JK holds a very strong, masculine image, this aiding the subversion, the assumed power in the situation lost.
READ MORE: MFBTY discuss the real reason they left Jungle to and set up on their own in our [On The Radar] Interview with MFBTY
What ensues next in I Know feels a little Oldboy-esque, and given that the film is a national icon, why not?
There are torture scenes that allude to waterboarding and he is eventually released without any reason for his treatment, just like Oh Dae-su in the hit movie. Now he must search for that reason.
In a changed appearance Tiger returns to the bar in which he was drugged, finding the woman and striking up conversation with her, she appears to not recognise him. They talk and it appears he believes he has effectively caught her, it is when they are alone outside once more that she hands him a book.
We never actually see the cover of the distressed book, though from the spine we know it is the work of the Roman poet Ovid, therefore is most likely his work Metamorphoses. Metamorphoses covers around two hundred and fifty myths, most including outdoor settings in which mortals are vulnerable to external influences. This is the theme of the I Know mv.
She is telling him she knows who he is, he has not succeeded in trapping her, and she leaves. Leaving him still without a true reason for his treatment.
I Know is a strong mv for another impressive release from Tiger JK, and one of the biggest video highlights from the South Korean music scene this month.
