Sorum

South Korea is rapidly gaining on established Asian moviemaking countries like Japan and Hong Kong by producing a number of distinct high caliber films in recent years. Though it's advertising makes it seem like a horror movie, "Sorum" is probably more accurately described as a psychological drama/ character study.

A young man moves into a run-down apartment building and soon gets into a relationship with a neighbor. Both the characters and the building have traumatic histories, and over time the ghosts of their past come to light. Viewers expecting a horror movie are likely to be disappointed, but "Sorum" is a subtle and atmospheric drama highlighted by fine direction and action. My main criticism would be that the "secret" of the main character is rather obvious, and telegraphed early on. But this is a minor point, and "Sorum" is recommended for those open to a creepy and challenging drama. 7/10

As unlikely as it may seem for a thriller/horror flick, Sorum is a heartbreaking study of love's fragility, set in a crumbling tenement with a dark past in room 504, into which moves the protagonist, a 30-ish orphan taxi-cab driver, still seeking the maternal affection only haltingly admitted in his transient life. He meets a troubled neighbor, an externally tough, but vulnerable worker at a nearby 7-11, and bonds with her by helping dispose of the abusive husband who dies during one of his daily bouts of beating. This shared secret, however, is not the only secret uniting the two lovers and the other tenants of the apartments, inescapably implicated in the unfolding of the barely concealed tragedies that lie at the broken but eerily (if cruelly and perversely) nurturing heart of 504. Incisive psychologically knowing acting, supernatural forebodings, and a progressively tension building mystery are economically and seamlessly integrated in a profoundly affective portrait of the redemptive potential and ghostly possibility of abyss attending our attempts to break into family intimacy.

Less a ghost story, then a quietly chilling character study, this Korien film about Sun-yeong, a young taxi driver who move into room 504 of a dilapidated, run-down apartment building, where two tragedies have occurred, one thirty years in the past, the other much more recent (the previous owner committed suicide), and befriending an elderly writer as well as a abused middle aged woman, survives on the psychological horror, great cinematography, and good characterization, more than outright scares and gore. More for the intellectual art-house crowd than those interested in 'J-horror'. And while one can surely see where the film is going, you still find your breath tightening when you get there. Not a film for everyone, but I liked it well enough for what it is and didn't view it expecting it to be what is isn't.

My Grade: C+

I've never seen anything quite like this picture before - it's an amalgamation of suspense, supernatural, and social realist genres and is well worth seeking out.

The film chronicles the various goings-on in the lives of several tenants of a crumbling Seoul highrise, primarily through the eyes of a new leasee who becomes caught up in their morally compromised existences. As the film progresses, we come to realize we know less about our narrator then we thought, and that he may be as capable of evil as the other characters.

To sum this film up is difficult, and I haven't even scratched the surface here. It's beautifully written, acted, and directed (by a first-time helmer no less!) and worthy of attention.

I don't understand all the great reviews of "Sorum" that I've read on this site, for this movie is extremely disappointing. It is presented to us disguised as a ghost movie -or, more precisely, as a ghost movie inscribed in the Asian horror movie stream-, but the truth is it's merely a badly executed drama with bits of thriller.

It has a good starting point. The basic idea that the plot outline is developed (to call it something) from is a good one -not too complex, but good enough for an interesting and tense movie. The acting is very good. The cinematography and the understanding of the space and the environment is excellent, and this is the best point of the movie, the one where the director shows that he's got talent -we might want to remember that this is apparently his debut. However, the pacing is just disastrous, and it isn't an exaggeration to say that absolutely nothing, or very little, actually goes on for most of the movie's running time. We're just shown scenes of the main characters' lives and how they get on and interact with one another. The main focus is on the character of Sun-yeong, a 30-year-old taxi driver who moves in to a gloomy old apartment complex in Seoul. He gets acquainted with his young and mysterious female neighbor, Yong-hyun, and, to a lesser extent, with the latter's girl-friend and with an unsuccessful novelist -the only four people who stay in the building after a tragic event that happened not long before. For most of the movie's duration, we see the characters speak to each other, do things together, we watch their thoughts, feelings, etc. but nothing really interesting or revealing happens. This is obviously thought of as "character development", but nothing meaningful is contained in all that long series of uneventful events, if I may use that expression. To put it clearly, the movie is extremely boring for the most part, the pacing is awful, and it's easy to guess that the director wanted to be subtle in his process of revealing crucial information, but clearly failed at this.

Most comments talk about the very last part of the movie. I won't deny that it does have some interest, and it's quite horrible and daunting, more in accordance with the general tone of the movie. However, again, the resolution is absolutely confusing and it is necessary to watch the movie again to bring all the missing or unclear pieces together -which, in my opinion, is clearly a serious flaw, because the general public should be able to fully understand every movie at a first viewing, even though they might want to go back for additional or more engrossing detail, but the point or central message of the movie should be delivered without any confusion.

I can't recommend this movie to either the Asian horror movie fans or the fans of the cinema d'auteur.