Doce de Menta

This is film art that makes no concessions to 'entertainment'. A man commits suicide at the start of the film. Then the filmmaker brilliantly flashes his life before us in short scenes moving backwards in time. The emotional power of each scene is built on our knowledge of what is yet to come for this corrupted and despairing man. And that power keeps intensifying, reaching an almost unbearable level of sadness and empathy. Not since Sophie's Choice have I seen a film so unflinching in its despair. Everything about this film demonstrates greatness: the screenplay, the cinematography, the performances, the wisdom and humanity. It's not an easy film and there were many walk-outs the night I saw it at the New Directors Festival in New York, but it will stand the test of time. Should be required viewing for every 18-year-old.

A smart film! We get to follow a man back in time (in the "wrong" chronological order!?). At first he seems to be a cruel, evil and bitter man. But the further back in time the film takes us we get another picture. A picture of how an ordinary nice guy turns in to a sadistic man by the "system". Maybe the film makers wants us to see that no man is born evil.

while it may take being Korean (and being part of the "386-generation" that really went through all the turbulent events of this movie's timeline) to fully appreciate this movie, it is nevertheless a powerful, graphic, and grippingly emotional commentary on South Korea of the the last twenty years. Director Chang-dong Lee masterfully presents the plot in reverse chronological order, and protagonist Kyung-gu Sol handily goes from broken buisnessman to lovesick schoolboy by the movie's end/his troubled road's beginning. In a way, this movie is perhaps Korea's unique and tragic answer to a movie like "Forrest Gump." "Na ottoke" ("what do I do?") - indeed, what does one do when faced with such experiences? Easily one of the best Korean movies I've seen to date.

"Peppermint Candy" was really a nice surprise of a movie. Initially it started out a little bit strange and slow, but the story quickly kicked in and got under my skin. And once that happened, the movie just swept me away.

The movie starts out where we see a very trouble man at a reunion of sorts and he ends up committing suicide at an oncoming train. Then the story leads us back in time, lettings us travel to crucial points in the man's past, seeing what caused the man's current state of mind at the suicide point. So this was a reverse travel, seeing how the man's psyche changed gradually.

I must say that "Peppermint Candy" was really a beautiful movie, and it was a real visual treat to watch. Especially the train scenes, watching the train drive on the track, but it was filmed in reverse (just pay attention to the surroundings around the tracks, and you will see), and that was a major important factor to the movie, as it was metaphorical for taking us further back in time, to another milestone in the main character's history.

"Peppermint Candy" is a strong story-driven movie, but it is also driven by some amazing acting performances. The actors and actresses really did great jobs with their given roles, and they made the movie really come to life on the screen. Especially Kyung-gu Sol (playing Yong-ho) did an amazing job with his acting, just as what he did in the 2002 movie "Oasis". He is phenomenal at this kind of serious acting.

This is another great movie from Third Window Films, and they do deal in movies that are not mainstream Hollywood types of movies. So these movies might not be suitable for the average audience, but appeals to a more sophisticated and mature audience, who want more than just mindless entertainment, but prefer something with depth and meaning, something to challenge us and make us think. And "Peppermint Candy" is just that kind of movie.

If you like Korean movies, and like movies that are heavy on the story-driven aspect, then delve into "Peppermint Candy", because it is really a breathtakingly beautiful movie, and the story is so well told that it will stick with you for a while. And the reverse chronological order in which the story is told was just a touch of genius.

At the beginning and at the end of the film I did not like his character and his horrible nature. but a good story. at the beginning of the storyline presented by people who are very depressed and suicidal, we will be presented with a flow of flasback back to the steps of the past, step by step from various character changes and behavioral conditions experienced. I was curious that I read on the internet this film raised the issue of tragic events in 1980 (Gwangju Murder) through individual figures. Through this film, the director seems to want to illustrate the dramatic effect of the cruel event, the victims were not only civilians, but also "perpetrators", soldiers who had just carried out orders. we can be prejudiced about this film but we can reflect on life that someone's future that might be destroyed can also be formed by a dark past.