Burning

While the movie has some good acting, direction and cinematography, the overall plot is paper thin and drawn out. This is based on a short story, and a short film would probably suit it better. I completely understand it is a "slow burn" movie, but it really did not have to be 2,5 hours long. The first 1,5 hour is simply to set up the premise. Should have been 30min at most to get it going.

That being said, the film does feel smarter in hindsight, when reflecting back on what characters said and you understand the underlying meanings of what they were actually implying and talking about. Don't expect a huge mystery plot though. This movie is 75% drama, with some mystery and thriller elements sprinkled on top.

An amazingly graceful Korean story, exciting the viewer's attention and not letting go until the end. The film isn't for a wide audience, lasts 2 and a half hours, it goes slowly and asks a lot of questions. But the plot is built correctly, so that the viewer can understand the characters and start thinking about the questions that have arisen. The independent film seems to be divided into 2 parts: the first tells the story of a love triangle, and the second goes to a fascinating detective thriller. Director Lee Chang-dong wonderfully plays with the viewers' imagination who are trying to understand the thoughts of the main characters and their intentions. I liked very much the juxtaposition of the main characters - the writer Lee Jong-soo, who cannot see the hidden meaning and thus awakens a strong hunger inside himself, which doesn't allow him to sleep and to enjoy a life, to create; his opponent, Ben, a kind of rich Gatsby, quite the opposite one, he is filled with inspiration and understands the true beauty of all things, thus filling himself and everyone around him with a mysterious special flame. The narration is slow, during this time you can fully enjoy the visual component, excellent camera work. Scene setting, editing, actors' play - everything works for the picture and its success. No wonder that the film won a prize at the Cannes Film Festival.

What I really liked about the movie was the psychological tension building up during the film. You keep wondering what happened and are just left with a few clues which could be interpretated in several ways. The film brings some suspense which reminded me of some Hitchcock movies from the past. There was also a big difference with Hitchcock though: whereas Hitchcock uses strong acting, imagery and sound to build up the tension, in Burning there are not much scenes which please the eye, it's just all so... normal as is the acting. Furthermore, the script is slow... with several scenes which leave you wondering why you had to witness this information at all. This resulted in several people snoring in the Cinema I saw this screening. In all honesty, the film breathes an atmosphere simalar to the books of Murakami, which in my opinion also tend to be more poetic and slow - certainly no page turners and neither is Burning. So if you really like the books of Murakami, this is the film for you I suppose. Overall experience: bit boring, intriguing, weird, not much to please the eye or ear, interesting storyling. Worth to see it? YES, but prepare for a long sit and bring some coffee to keep awake.

It's the rare film that gets its value upon reflection rather than during watching. It's not boring as such, but with its extremely long runtime it does generally feel slow paced and often runs the risk of being quite dull. Luckily though, the pure sense of mystery that surrounds the three core players (our protagonist included) and the film's world as a whole keeps things intriguing throughout. As the narrative progresses, however, and the core mystery of the piece arrives, things get a lot more intriguing and this intrigue lasts long after the haunting finale. That's where the film really gets its merit. None of the enigmas are definitively answered, and this leads to an extremely subtle - yet wholly rewarding - experience that allows you to draw your own conclusions of what it was actually about. The picture could be about several different things, and it all depends on the individual spectator response. This, as well as the complete lack of on-the-nose exposition, is very refreshing in today's age of cinema where nothing is left to the imagination anymore. We are not told, or even explicitly shown, anything integral to answer the core mystery and this allows you to reflect on all of the intricacies of several different scenes in order to draw your own conclusions. It really is a one of a kind experience that will leave you scrutinising for days, discovering a new narrative possibility upon every thought. Its slow pace and the sense that it's not really going anywhere might make it seem hard to get through initially, but once it's over it becomes a rich, rewarding experience. 8/10

Based on the short story "Barn Burning" by Haruki Murakami: in Paju, South Korea, Jong-su (Yoo Ah-in) is a young aspiring writer from a dysfunctional family doing odd jobs while also looking after the family farm nearby. He reconnects with a former classmate Hae-mi (Jeon Jong-seo) whose affections later turn to the very rich Ben (Steven Yuen). Ben's unusual character take everyone down a mysterious path.

At two and a half hours, the film is perhaps too long especially as the first half begins to get dull at a certain point. This thankfully changes when the story and its energy get very mysterious. Here is where the film earns many points for its uniqueness and its subtle ways to lure the viewer into its web. In a good way, this segment is rarely frightening but always intriguing. Also, class difference plays a major role but without being obviously so.

The audience is teased overall with only a minimal amount of information - just enough to understand while still yearning for more by the end. While a bit more information might have raised the film overall, it's still fair to say that the tease pays off for the most part. - dbamateurcritic