Peppermint Candy

"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.

I was really impressed by the plot line of this film. I first wonder why he has to die and why he is so destructive. Then the plot goes reverse into the past while it untangles the mystery why he became that reckless. Chronologically placed scenes are bound together with one key 'peppermint candy'.

Kyung-gu Sol really plays the roll well. He plays it not just as a violent, but solitary and vulnerable man. Through his exquisite acting, we learn his character and even historical background. Without him, this film would be a husk.

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.

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.

If you manage to not be annoyed during its opening minutes that features a deranged asshole with suicidal tendencies putting up an extraordinary display of craziness before killing himself by getting run over by a train, you just might be able to enjoy Peppermint Candy and even end up being impressed by it too. Told in reverse chronology, this film covers the past 20 years in the life of that stupid maniac & depicts the events that eventually led to his suicide while also showing that he was not such a weirdo from the beginning but was slowly transformed into one by the Korean 'system'.

Nicely directed by Lee Chang-dong for the manner he has narrated this story, well-written too for how the events depicted in the life of the protagonist clash with relevant moments of Korean history, manically performed by its lead actor that also included few moments where he went completely over the top & was hamming like a freak, and displaying fine technical execution throughout its runtime, Peppermint Candy is a sad portrait of a young life wasted away by cynicism & loss of love that didn't really work as well as I would've liked & eventually felt much longer than its runtime.