Opiniones de usuarios

As an audience member, films that cover the topic of adoption, there are expected themes of identity involved. But instead we get more of a random style of set-pieces within the conventional moments that represented identity in a unique way.

For the most part, it worked for the character and the story. But there were some that I just couldn't get on board with and some were even so random they were unforgivable.

I really liked Park Ji-Min's performance. I enjoyed the attitude that she gave to the leading character and the spontaneous moments that she orchestrated were largely memorable and one of the strongest parts of the film.

I liked the overall look. It was able to give us some effective imagery in different environments and never feel like different films.

The pacing was gentle. There were some purposeful lingering shots which worked well for the most part. Also, the camerawork was respectful with its wide shots as it let the pictures do the talking instead of taking over and turning it into something that wasn't intended.

As mentioned, I wasn't invested with every decision made. Some of the choices in the narrative in the second half made no sense to me. There were others I appreciated, but just wasn't a fan of them.

Despite that, I thought this was still a good enough drama that was worth my time. It's got a solid leading performance that you're willing to invest in. It also poses some interesting representations on the themes of identity that I've not seen before.

I cannot forgive some of the random moments in the second half. But nevertheless, there was enough engrossing moments to keep me guessing how this would end.

Return to Seoul is an ambitious film, telling the story of a young woman named Freddie, who was born to Korean parents, but grew up in France. She - you guessed it - returns to Seoul, partly motivated to search for them, in her early to mid-20s. From there, the movie plays out sort of the way you'd expect for a while... until it makes some interesting narrative decisions, spanning far more time than I'd expected it would. As such, we get an insight into Freddie and the ways she changes throughout her 20s and into her early 30s.

Tonally, it's very different from The Worst Person in the World, but I got flashes of that film from this; maybe it scratched a similar itch. Each looks at a troubled & flawed, yet interesting, compelling, and sympathetic young protagonist, each spans quite a long period of time, each explores loneliness and the trials and tribulations of early adulthood in a very hard-hitting way, and each is quite visually striking. But like I said, they're tonally different, given Return to Seoul is more of a straightforward drama than a romantic-dramedy, and it gets darker and more in-depth with its exploration of loneliness (which hits extra hard, given what the world's been through since the start of the 2020s).

It's not always clear where the film is going, and some of the decisions it makes are quite jarring (though most work for the story and characters, once the shock wears off). The pacing is quite slow, but the compelling main character, the visually pleasing look of the film, and the amazing acting kept me engaged for almost all of its two-hour runtime. Park Ji-Min gives one of the best performances of 2022, and I was shocked to read this is her first ever movie. A performance like this that's so central makes or breaks this kind of character-focused film, and thankfully, she's up to the task and then some.

This might not be everyone's cup of tea, but I liked it a lot. While it was deliberately-paced, it never lost me, and I found some of the scenes quite moving. It's a very good movie; hopefully it won't go under too many people's radars, as Awards Season ramps up.

I saw this film yesterday and I thought that it's an original and unique film, but somewhat difficult to enjoy. An issue that many people have is that they can't connect to Freddy, the main character, and I get why. Her behaviour is often erratic, and then at times repelling and harsh to others. As she really takes centre stage in this film, it can be hard even for the spectator to put up with her behaviour, even though it is nowhere near outright evil. I thought a bit more about this, and will share my view of it. I won't reveal any detail of the film that you can't find in any generic introduction, so no spoilers, however if you want to watch this and build your own understanding unaffected by my interpretation, you may not want to read on.

I actually know well a person in a similar situation to Freddy, somebody from outside Europe who was adopted to Europe at the age of half a year. There are clear parallels also in behaviour. Being abandoned is a primal experience for adopted children. In these cases an additional thing is that the environment can clearly see that the parents are not the biological parents, and some may think the child "doesn't belong" in the country to where it was adopted. This will add to their experience of being somewhat odd and maybe not really accepted, even though the adoptive parents themselves may not convey anything of that kind. What I see in Freddy is a very strong tendency to keep up and defend her own independence fiercely, particularly if somebody else gets closer. The biological parents have given her away, so it is hard to handle and accept for her if she meets them again and they want some closer contact. I think there is much fear of being abandoned again involved. She may also have tried extra hard to become a proper French person when growing up, potentially facing some prejudice but also encouragement there, and she may identify South Korea as a place that abandoned her, even though there is also curiosity and a certain feeling of connection that she has difficulties allowing for herself. So she develops this rather ambivalent relationship to South Korea and the people there, sometimes behaving extra strange, sometimes getting closer, then again wanting to run away when indeed somebody gets a bit closer. There may also be an element of trying to prove life wrong, trying to show to herself that ultimately she isn't rejected by South Korea and her biological parents, but with a lot of suspicion and self protection at the same time. So thinking about this a bit longer, ultimately her behaviour makes a lot of sense to me, even in its superficial inconsistency.

So after a day I think this is actually very well done and convincing, and I'll give it 8 stars, even though I hadn't felt like that yesterday when the film ended. Note, explanations are not normally given in the film. She does what she does but she really isn't communicative about her motives, so we can only speculate. But it makes all sense to me, given also my personal knowledge of such a person.

The film offers a fresh and nuanced perspective on the complexities of identity, home, and emotional upheaval. The central character's multi-year quest to return to her place of birth serves as an intense focal point for exploring the intricate emotions and challenges related to adoption and self-discovery. However, a minor drawback lies in the occasional reliance on clichés, which briefly detract from the otherwise innovative approach.

The narrative structure stands out for its inventiveness, seamlessly weaving multiple timelines in a way that enriches the emotional landscape. The fragmented narrative is both audacious and purposeful, reflecting the protagonist's evolving inner world.

Beyond visual appeal, the film's cinematography serves as a narrative tool, adding layers of meaning to characters and themes. The score acts as the emotional backbone, elevating key moments and offering another layer to the viewer's experience.

In summary, the film emerges as a deeply affecting and intellectually stimulating exploration of identity, adoption, and the pursuit of true belonging. With its compelling storytelling, captivating performances, and visually arresting cinematography, it provides not just entertainment but a profound cinematic experience.

I could not watch this film without any expectation or prejudice, as I know someone who has a sibling that is an adopted Korean child. However I still tried to keep an open mind, and I think the film is executed well.

Freddie is the only character that is really fleshed out and I think that's right. There are several other characters, notably Freddie's father, that are treated with respect by the film but they are not given a lot of depth. But since it's not their story that is being told they all have to take a back seat to the little girl that it's all about.

After watching this I did a little digging and I found that adoption, foreign or not, is culturally, politically and therefore historically laden in South Korea. You have to want to go looking for it as the film does not push the subject too heavily, but it certainly has several scenes referring to this subject from the institutional rather than the personal viewpoint.

I do think the film has some problems in finding the right tone and there are segments that do not help progress the story. The whole birthday party segment might be nicely shot but does not really add anything.

All in all it's a good film and it triggered me to learning a bit more about its subject matter.

I think I may have warmed to this film better had I not taken an instant dislike to "Freddie" (Park Ji-min). Now it's certainly a testament to this actor that she is able to successfully - and pretty immediately - engender a sense that her character is a rather selfish, manipulative and unpleasant individual; but I'm afraid I struggled to remain engaged as her troubled story of adoption and of her re-introduction to her birth family is played out over the next two hours. "Freddie" appears to have been happily brought up by a couple in France, so her increasingly thoughtless behaviour doesn't really have an anchor - and as we progress and she becomes more obnoxious - as exemplified by her final scene in the car with poor old "Maxime" (Yoann Zimmer) - I found the story has just about run out of merit. The acting is generally good. The efforts from her slightly dipso dad (Oh Kwang-rok) is convincing as he has to reconcile the discovery of his long-lost daughter with his dependency on the bottle and her own pretty obvious disdain for the man. It also offers us quite an interesting insight into just how adoptions worked as the decline of the French colonial system in post-war Korea led to many children being offered by parents who hoped that a childhood and education in France would offer greater opportunity, but again with "Freddie" that isn't really developed. What has turned her into this rather objectionable person is rather left aside. It has an element of "be careful what you wish for" to it, and is, at times, an interesting observation on the stresses of the post-adoption processes but I just didn't like or care about her and so my enthusiasm just waned.

What stands out the most about this film is its refusal to take the easy route. While viewers may think they can predict the direction after the first act, they are mistaken. The narrative defies predictability, mirroring the unpredictable nature of wounded souls and those who never feel truly at home.

The protagonist's actions may seem foolish, but what truly captivates is the striking humanity portrayed with raw realism, making it impossible to abandon the desire and hope for her to find solace within. I was left speechless when I found out that this is Ji-Min Park's debut role. A role that made me shed tears on more than one occasion and that is her merit in making us see so well that everything she is, is the result of her life's circumstances.

The experiende Oh Gwan-rok, in the role of the biological father, is also outstanding, but this is not just a film of performances. It boasts brilliant scenes, expertly paced storytelling, daring technical choices, and a secure, risk-taking direction, all complemented by a flawless soundtrack.

PS: The main theme of this and the one of "Decision to Leave" are two haunting melodies that linger in my mind, compelling me to delve deeper into the history of South Korean music.

I give the good first. The look and feel of the visuals is pleasantly crunchy and polished. The flow is okay, but suffers from chaptering.

Then comes the bad and disappointing. This movie to me, makes broken people look cliche and unimaginative. The main character seems to take all the cliche things broken people do like risk taking, drugs, alcohol, dancing, casual sex, big decisions in a blink... You name it. It feels like every broken people without direction does these. Real people are not that boring and unimaginative. Identity can and most often is found in much smaller things than these cliche grandiose.

I didn't get anything really from this. I feel most of the "story" were supposed to be in their faces that the director seemed to love capture. They just didn't really convey anything more complex than basic emotions.

Return to Seoul: A stranger in a strange land, adopted as a bay from South Korea and raised in France, 25 year old Freddie (Ji-Min Park) returns. It is a bit of a culture shock but she quickly makes friends. She is persuaded to contact her birth parents through the adoption agency and eventually her father responds. All does not go swimmingly especially as Freddie's free spirit clashes with Korean reticence and patriarchal norms. Freddie herself however is self-centred and even cruel to friends and family. The film captures snapshots her life for her first two weeks as an returnee in Korea, two years later, five years after that and finally a year later, eight years since her first return visit. She develops in some ways, degenerates in others. An interesting tale of loss, acceptance, search for identity and longing on the part of Freddie. Directed and written by Davy Chou. 8/10.

Inspired by the life of Laure Badufle, the screen-writer, "Return To Seoul" takes us on a journey of regret, anger, sorrow and wondering what could have been. This film puts an exciting spin on the "adoptee wants to find their biological parents" genre with its depiction of all of the stages Freddie, the protagonist, goes through on her journey of reconciling with her biological parents and also finding her own identity. Davy Chou, the director, captures incredibly Freddie's stance on reuniting with her father, which shows that she is torn between wanting to meet him and being angry with him for giving her up in the first place - this ambivalence keeps the whole narrative thrilling in an otherwise slow pace/slow burn picture like this. What I must appreciate is the truly realistic approach to the legislative side of how adoptees can find their parents, that helps the film being believable. Also I completely admired the striking performance of Park Ji-min in the titular role and I couldn't believe that this was actually her first film ever.

To clearify things quick, if your favorite movie is either "The Hangover" or "Avengers" there is really no point to watch this.

Following a french adopted girl with origins from S-Korea, as she in a sudden jumps onto a plane to S-Korean, being just into her 20s a unpathed journey stats.

Without going hard into the detailed story, its a mental trip inside the feelings and experiences of people who has been moved into a total different place quickly after being born, setup with a new familiy, identity and country.

How much do you lose of your roots, identity, feelings etc.

Life can be rough, life can be wild, when you search your soul to the bottom, things can be visable.

The main character is wild, unpredictable, searching and yet very hard to decifer, yet its the strength of the movie, as well as putting a light towards all the koreans that was shipped worldwide in a hope of a better world.

The "Anybody" dance scene is one for the books.

Return to Seoul is a captivating film that presents an intimate and complex portrayal of Freddie, although the larger context of her life is missing. However, the film's commitment to staying in the moment keeps the audience engaged. While the film does not have a strong emotional impact, it remains focused on Freddie's search for her identity and origins. Nevertheless, the movie lacks originality and does not distinguish itself from other films with similar themes. Despite this, Return to Seoul is still a well-made film that provides a compelling character portrait, albeit with some rambling sequences that do not add much to the story.

I really wanted to like this film, but I really really didn't. It showed great promise - a young French woman of Korean ancestry finds herself in Seoul and decides to try and find her birth parents - but never lived up to it or anywhere close. It could have been a great "finding one's identity" piece, but instead just had me gradually losing the will to live.

I have two main criticisms of this film. The first is that it was FAR too slow and WAAAAY too long. There is literally a sequence about five minutes long where all that is happening is the main character dancing, not spectacularly well and we only see her from the waist up. Absolutely no point, except to perhaps, yet again, show the difference between this lively and extroverted European-raised woman and her two more subdued Korean friends, who do not join her. When I finally escaped the cinema you could have told me the film was actually 5 hours long and I would have believed you.

My second complaint is that the main character, who is on screen for virtually every interminable minute, is thoroughly unlikable. No fault of the actress, who is very effective, but the material she is given to work with depicts a selfish, manipulative, cruel young woman who is mean to everyone who is unlucky enough to get close. There is no explanation for her meanness - by her own account her adoptive parents were good to her and we only see her adoptive mother briefly and yes she gets yelled at - so one can only presume that she is just plain vile. This makes her journey of self discovery even harder to sit through.

In truth the only thing I enjoyed about this film was the bag of Licorice Allsorts I snagged on my way in!

The first and longest chapter is an engaging drama of adoptee (Korean born, raised in France) searching for birth parents and the ensuing cultural difficulties encountered with her biological father and his family. As soon as the "two years later" inter title appears the film lurches from one disconnected episode to another with characters (one Korean boyfriend, one French, plus an older French man) appearing and disappearing without any explanation. This is a shame as the first part offered a lot of promise with the communication and translation difficulties superimposed on the difficulty of re-encountering birth parents. The rating should really be 8/10 for part 1 and 4/10 for the rest.

Davy Chou's moody drama about a Korean-French adoptee, Freddie (Park Ji-Min) who returns as a young woman to seek out her biological parents. Chou's approach is a bit oblique. Freddie's path never follows a straight path and the filmmaker seems to purposely keep the viewer at arm's length.

This isn't to say the movie is without emotion. The story takes place over an eight year period, which allows Freddie's character to find herself. Park Ji-Min was a first time actress, and is given an incredibly difficult role, doubly so because her dialogue is often brief and to the point. The most telling line is given to another actress who observes Freddie and remarks: "You are a sad person." Freddie is something of a free spirit, but much of the performance is internal.

Thomas Favel's cinematography captures the atmosphere while maintaining Chou's slightly distanced POV. RETURN TO SEOUL has a palpable sense of a journey not quite completed, yet mildly fulfilling nonetheless. Fans of this year's PAST LIVES should be particularly interested (JOY RIDE to an extent as well).

This film tells the story of Freddie, a French woman of Korean heritage who is drawn into the painful throngs of family fractures, cultural dissonance and self-discovery all at once as she somewhat accidentally finds herself seeking to meet her biological parents and spending time in the country of her birth, South Korea.

Her impulsive and selfish nature through the film reflects her difficulty finding any purpose in her life. Her friend describes her as a 'very sad person', which comes across in all of her interactions. She acts insensitively towards other characters and Korean cultural norms and rarely concerns herself with the feelings or needs of those around her. Despite all of Freddie's flaws, the performance of Ji-Min Park is delivered with such nuance that you relate to the character's often erratic behaviour and locate a universal search for belonging and purpose in her.

This film provides an emotive reflection on the need for answers in life, the desperation of the unknown, and the loneliness of being the only one in your own mind and body. I would recommend watching this film alone, and allowing yourself to be submerged in the chaotic melancholy of the main character's existence.

I found the story very interesting in the beginning of the movie and Park Ji-min's impressive acting caught me immediately. Great locations in the movie, another impressive acting by Oh Kwang-rok and beautiful songs playing! It is one of the movies where emotions really mix up together while watching. You are touched my complecency of Frédérique in the first part but then you start to feel her pain and finally you really align with her life. Showing her life through 9 years is a great way to create empathy between the audience and the character where you can feel her ups and downs in life but also to see other character's lives. I loved this movie and started to wait for director Davy Chou's new movie already.

This is a very weird movie, in that it takes South Korean actors, playing as they do in South Korea, but in a movie done the European way. Once you get through this, you get to know Freddie, a woman that was abandoned by her South Korean parents and adopted by French people. Her introduction to South Korea doesn't go smoothly, she is self centred, toxic and manipulative, but also very loud, in a culture where all this is more than frowned upon. She makes everyone around her very uncomfortable, and by extend she makes you uncomfortable. The movie takes you on her journey to find herself, over 7 years, from the first time she arrives in Seoul. She tries to meet her parents through the foundation that allowed her parents to adopt her. She finds out that the foundation protects parents a lot more than she protects the kids, allowing her to send only 3 messages to her birth parents, before all contacts are cut off. She meets her father very fast, but struggles for years to meet her mother. In the meantime, she gets more and more toxic, and manipulative, hurting everyone around her, but putting it all on Seoul rather than herself. The character is extremely unlovable, which takes you away from having any feeling for what is happening to her. This is too bad, because the exercise of a European movie filmed through the eyes of South Korea would have been very interesting.

Retour à Séoul is an unconventional character study with bold directorial choices and an amazing performance by Ji-Min Park in her debut role which is hard to believe.

Exposition is extraordinarily wonderful, even though the pace of the movie changes after second act, it still remains unpredictable at all times. Despite being a long movie i loved the long long closeup shots of protagonist where you can hardly see anything on the face but under the surface she try to process a mountain of emotions.

As an audience it's hard to emphatise with young protagonist as she moves in life with her erratic and cold behaviour. At times i manage to understands the choices she makes as i see her life going through identity crisis, at another times her choices looks close to evil when she is destructive to everyone around her; friends, biological family and even to her adoptive mother.

Film has some unexplainable scenes and choices in the third act which I could only describe as a bizarre but overall direction of this movie is amazing. Couple of scenes from movie has definitely stayed with me where Freddie just leave her ballerinas leave.

Another one when freddie meets her biological mother, that very long scene of Closeup to freddie's raw emotions while her mother gently pat her.

All in alll, except some flaws i loved this movie. Most of the time it was hard to like the protagonist or understand even, but I think that the point, without being in that position, we can't.