Sarajin sigan

Saw this at the Imagine filmfestival 2021, usually in Amsterdam but now 100% online. As one fellow reviewer wrote: watching this is indeed "lost time" (one of the alternative film titles). I cannot explain how everyone can be so positive about this movie, with the exception of two fellow reviewers and me.

It is not a real detective, no whodunit in the traditional sense. Nothing is revealed in the end and we are left as confused as we were before the finale. I sat it out while waiting for a rational explanation, how the former cop maintains his looks and his own memories, though everyone sees the teacher in him, and he is treated accordingly. Intriguing, as it is exactly that same teacher whose death he was investigating. When the credits appeared, I was puzzled, but not in the positive and healthy sense after the usual detective story.

If only things had come together properly. It didn't and that's what is wrong with this movie. Things aren't explained and it feels incomplete. The first part draws you in with the mystery about the wife dissociating. Bae Soo Bin gets your sympathy from the beginning. Then there is a shift to the other actor. You want to keep watching to see how things are explained but it only partially satisfies.

"Me and Me" has a very creative storyline. Many moments in the first part of the movie occurred again in the second part - but differently. When I watched the movie the first time, I did not know what happened. So I watched it a second time. Then it all made sense. The title confused me at first, but after watching the second time, I understood the reasoning for both titles. The Korean title which is translated in English as "Vanished (or Disappeared) Time, and the English language title, "Me and Me" both have significant meaning. One reviewer did not understand why the English language title, but I think they are both meaningful. The cast was the best! I would watch this movie again.

The acting is great but I hate it when I watch a movie to the end and understand nothing.

This movie starts out great. It's engrossing, capturing the viewer's attention and it holds that attention all the way through. We tolerate the confusing plot line because we naturally expect everything will be explained and resolved in the end. But then it isn't. It just... stops.

Perhaps some may see in this a complex, hidden-meaning morality story, but no, the Emperor has no clothes. This is just a poorly-written film. Which is a shame because the acting is superb, the directing is excellent, and the story keeps one's attention all the way through.

But then both writer and director betrays the audience by dropping a totally open ending right in our laps, no rhyme or reason for anything that happens. They don't even offer us a "what if?" ending, any conjecture, or any kind of explanation at all. It just thuds like a cow plop, leaving us to wish we hadn't just wasted time on such a senseless film.

Trying to see something in this film that isn't really there doesn't make it a good film. It winning some awards doesn't make it a good film. Anyone can write a nonsensical script and have good actors and a good director hold audience attention. Making that film actually tell a story and have a purpose-- that is what requires writing skill. Sadly, that is what is blatantly missing in this film. There's not even a hint of an ending, which makes this a waste of viewer time.