Desaparecimento: O Garoto que Retornou

Vanishing Time: A Boy Who Returned is a South Korean fantasy drama that convinces with an intriguing story mixing fantasy and reality with great acting performances despite a few minor lengths in the middle section. The film has a lot of depth as it deals with the topics of friendship, life and trust in a gripping way. The two main characters are authentic, dynamic and sympathetic and most viewers will care about their fates until the very end. The camera work is accurate and slow, the light techniques add a lot of atmosphere, the Locations are mysterious and original, the soundtrack underlines the movie's atmospheric parts and even the special effects are gorgeous yet down-to-earth which is a perfect mixture most Asian fantasy movies fail to achieve.

The story revolves around the friendship of two young outsiders that most viewers might identify with because they are both profound, sympathetic and resilient. Su-rin is a teenage girl whose divorced mother died and who has moved to an island with her stepfather. She doesn't really get a long with her busy stepfather, fails to make new friends and is often seen as weird because of her interest in the occult. She's a creative, emotional and smart Girl who even develops a secret sign language. Sung-min is a joyful, optimistic and quirky orphan boy who has a crush on the mysterious girl that is so different from all the others. He works very hard to get closer to her and gradually develops an intense friendship and even romantic relationship to the older Girl despite his friends' negative comments. One day, the young couple and two teenage friends discover a mysterious cave in a forest where they find a shining egg in a hidden lake. When Su-rin returns to the cave to look for a lost hairpin, the three boys break the mysterious egg and provoke a supernatural event that will have immediate, short-term and long-term consequences for everyone involved as well as for their families and the island's small community. Telling you anything more would take away from the creative plot.

While the event that kicks the story off is a supernatural one, the rest of the story is particularly realistic and has a strong emotional, philosophical and psychological touch. Heart-breaking moments and thoughtful passages meet brief moments of hope and joy. The story remains interesting until the end that some might see as a happy and others as a sad ending which makes it even more interesting depending on your point of view.

Vanishing Time: A Boy Who Returned is a particularly great movie for intellectual teenagers because of the two brilliant main characters but anyone who likes profound dramas or thoughtful fantasy movies should give this clever film a fair chance. Once again, South Korean cinema has managed to create a profound teenage movie that easily beats Hollywood's current wave of teenage movies around the Hunger Games or Insurgent franchises.

It took me a while to finally pick this movie up to watch, after watching other more recent blockbusters. In hindsight, I should have watched it when it was released. I could easily place this movie as a romance - in the end, it depicts what sacrifice one would make in order to save his loved one. Very good story telling, not a moment of dullness and really engaged you into the story till the end. "Time" is indeed the most precious and valuable asset we all have.

I have seen many stories and movies of magic in my life.This is the best magical movie I've ever seen in my life.This movie is better than harry potter series😇

There's nothing left to say about the Korean film industry. I've already praised highlighting all the best stuffs. One thing they lack is the awards winning capability, like perhaps the Oscars. Cinematically and entertainment perspective, they always give a top notch product. Particularly, the kind of emotions they use, is very closely appeals to my culture, probably for the rest of the world as well. All I have heard about this was a fantasy film. Beyond that, it was a little romance, a little emotional and a little thriller.

There are a large number of people outside the South Korea follow the Korean films. Though this one is definitely an under-noticed a great piece of work. I don't know this director, but he wrote and made it pretty awesomely. This kind of tale very much suitable for anime. It's going to be just like another 'Your Name'. If they decide to make it with the small changes, I'm absolutely on to it.

The title is not really enchanting for a fantasy film. But definitely makes sense on what it narrates. This is a fantasy film, though, since time involved in it, it automatically a small part of science fiction too. They had well covered all the loopholes and flaws. They did not detail out all minute things, but if you think little intelligently, you will get all the answers for your doubts. For instance, how that asthma boy had died.

From a small Korean island town, the story followed a teenage girl, Soo-rin who recently moved in there with her stepfather. She was considered a weirdo in the school for being lonely. Then a boy named Sung-min befriends her and become girlfriend-boyfriend. One day they along with two other boys venturing to the nearby mountain forest, discovered a glowing object. In the next minute, everything has changed. All of them disappeared, except the girl. Now the town is enraged by her little story.

❝Let me grow to 6ft. Earn $10 dollar before age 30.❞

Nobody knows what had happened, including Soo-rin, until a man who approached her telling some strange story. She finds a reason to believe that, but not anyone else. It goes on like they are fighting to tell the truth to the world, but it was beyond reality. Adds more complication every time they try to explain it. Without any options to solve it, where the remaining narration heads and ends were told quite nicely, emotionally.

The story was simple, but the details makes is more complex. Easy to follow, there's always an explanation for everything you see. Contents wise, it is a well balanced for children's and the grown- ups viewing. Whenever a film theme involved messing with time, it has to be very clever. Because time naturally does not exist in the universe. It is the human's creation to understand everything's existence. I think they have designed this story with the characters so well. It could be a time travel theme too, if you take it from a different perspective.

Two hours long film, but that did not bother me. Because I well merged with the story. The twist came early itself as the storytelling demanded it. But there were many turns in the later parts. Especially the entire second half is less excitement if you are a fantasy film fan. Though it gets tense for every scene, and creates curiosity about the conclusion. Not the best ending, yet very suitable one. What I am impressed with it was how smartly they used the graphics. They did not require higher end. Simple and believable visuals, compared to Hollywood's similar style flicks. One such interesting fact was, they wanted the story to lead the film than the colourful graphics.

Nice performances. The locations were good too. There are some moments that reminds other films. Nothing like it stole from them, though for the similarity in the thematic and the situations. The overall film theme was not out and out fresh. It simply changed a few rules and with the kind of development, it created its own identity. As for me, this is one of the top ten fantasy films of the decade and top ten in all time Korean fantasy film. As I said, if you love this genre, then it is a must see. Highly recommended!

9/10

Like another review on this website, I too started it very late, with the intention to continue it the following day. Midnight to be precise. And It's now 3am and I'm writing a review of it on imdb. I don't think I've ever reviewed a movie on IMDb.

So that should be enough to at least get you to watch it.

It's a brilliant film on so many different levels. And it kept on giving.

I raise my glass to Um Tae-hwa. Well done. I hope to see something from him again soon.