By Chris Kriofske
Rating: 4.75 cats
Director: Chang-dong Lee
Starring: Ah-in Yoo | Jong-seo Jun | Seong-kun Mun | Seung-ho Choi | Soo-Kyung Kim | Steven Yeun
Original language title: Beoning
Country: south_korea
Year: 2018
Running time: 148
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7282468/reference
Brett says: “This piece is a sort of ‘Hitchcock re-imagined’ film that slowly burns away at the viewer’s sensitivities and perceptions. At the center of the film is a hint of a love triangle among a part-time delivery boy Jong-su, an eccentric former classmate of his Hae-mi, and world traveler extraordinaire Ben. Jong-su’s naiveté is the driving force behind the mysterious narrative as he falls hard for Hae-mi’s peculiar and free spirited personality after a random encounter reconnects the two former school acquaintances at the beginning of the film. Even the circumstances of the reunited encounter is a warped psychological affair that only serves to add more questions to the plot as it plays out. As part of her whimsical nature, Hae-mi jets off to Africa for a trip, leaving Jong-su to care for her cat–which also serves as an eerie Hitchcock-esque plot device–and apartment. When returning, Hae-Mi brings along a friend she’s met while in Africa. The exact nature of the relationship is never fully revealed, but along with Jong-su, the audience is left with a host of suppositions that fill in the rest of the narrative. The slow crescendo of paranoia and irritation attached to this newcomer builds steadily until a rousing final act leaves Jong-su in the viewer in a position to reflect on how things ended up and how a slow burn can sometimes ignite larger fires if left unresolved. It is a fabulous study on perceptions and works best in its ability to leave the unrevealed closeted so that we may feel the intensity building with Jong-su. It’s a thriller that does not fall into alignment with the modern thriller expectations or tropes.”
Chris says: “I like films that aren’t entirely knowable, where motivations and intentions are obscured and shrouded with mystery and yet, the whole satisfies, inviting one to perceive the world differently after the credits roll. BURNING firmly falls into this category; that its intentions aren’t apparent until the very last scene nearly puts it up there with MULLHOLAND DR. and CEMETERY OF SPLENDOR in the canon of slippery, unknowable cinema.
Adapted from a Haruki Murakami short story, it focuses on a peculiar triangle centered on Jong-su (Ah-in Yoo) a young, aspiring writer who runs into an old female friend from his rural village, Hae-mi (Jong Seo-Jun) who now lives in Seoul. They become involved romantically and all seems to go well until Hae-mi’s wealthy, enigmatic friend Ben (Steven Yeun, the standout performance here) enters the picture. To get further into the story would lessen much of the film’s mystique; only know that d irector Chang-Dong Lee, in his first feature since 2010’s great POETRY, sets up any number of expectations only to masterfully defy most of them without leaving the viewer feeling cheated. ‘Haunting’ is word used far too often in film criticism, but that’s the exact tone BURNING leaves one with. 4.5 cats”
Thom says: “This amazingly good film was on many TOP 10 lists & it received nominations from Chlotrudis for Best Film & Best Supporting Actor. I’ve seen most of Lee’s films & loved SECRET SUNSHINE (2007) & POETRY (2010) but this is his most assured film and I kind of wanted it to go on forever. I see so many films that I often find my attention wandering & I sometimes even eye the clock to judge how much time I have left to the ending. So for some reason I misread the noted time & thought the film was 108 minutes so when the time got close I was horrified to think the film would end abruptly and was delighted to find out otherwise. Jong-su is a listless, shy young man who runs his families dilapidated suburban farm and does some piecemeal work in Seoul. His father is forever in trouble with the law, being a serial miscreant, & Jong-su always goes to the c riminal trials. He runs into a childhood acquaintance, the beautiful Hae-mi, whom he tormented in his youth but now falls instantly in love with. She says she’s had work done on her face. As their relationship slowly blossoms Hae-mi asks him to cat-sit her pet as she goes off on a long vacation to Africa. In all the visits to her apartment Jong-su never sees the cat which certainly raises some questions that later come into play. When Hae-mi returns she brings along Ben who she says she met at the airport on a layover. Ben is apparently rich but how he makes his money is never ascertained. He’s friendly to Jong-su but does start an affair with Hae-mi much to Jong-su’s growing frustration. During a marijuana high Ben relates to Jong-su that he travels throughout the Korean countryside setting fire to abandoned greenhouses. Hae-mi tells them both a story about her childhood where she fell down a well on the property near her house and how Jong-su rescued her, although he has n o memory of the incident. Jong-su now spends time going throughout his rural area trying to find evidence of the burnt-out greenhouses. Suddenly Hae-mi disappears and Jong-su goes on a quest to find her also trying to verify the well story, but no one knows where Hae-mi is nor does anyone remember there being a well on her living area. My favourite item about the film is we never find out the truth of any story line nor does the film provide any answers. But the dramatic ending will shake you to its core. 5 cats”