It’s been a long time since I’ve posted a review, but I’ve been watching a lot of movies lately and need somewhere to digest it. I wonder if I can one day be consistent with putting out reviews. But probably not.
First encounter in a long time between Jong-su (left) and Hae-mi (right)
Synopsis and spoiler-free section:
Burning (Korean: 버닝 Beoning), directed by Lee Chan-dong, begins with a chance encounter between the protagonist of the story, Lee Jong-su (played by Yoo Ah-in) and his childhood friend, Shin Hae-mi (played by Jeon Jong-seo). Although it had been years since Jong-su has seen Hae-mi, and Jong-su initially does not even recognize her, they quickly re-form bonds before Hae-mi leaves for her trip to Nairobi. When Hae-mi returns, Jong-su waits for her at the airport, only to be introduced to Ben (played by Steven Yuen), an enigmatic, wealthy, charismatic man, who Jong-su later learns has a dark hobby. A thriller full of mystery and jealousy ensues for our protagonist and his relationship between his childhood friend and her new lover. This story is based on Haruki Murakami’s short story “Barn Burning” from The Elephant Vanishes.
Beautiful shot of Jong-su running through a farm field
Slow, but gratifying build:
Look, this movie is a long one, sitting at 148 minutes, just shy of 2.5 hours. However, I would argue that this movie is excellent at executing the slow build of tension and anxiety that shrouds the entire film, and absolutely necessary in hindsight. What you get as a result of this is a realistic look at what one can actually do when they witness something unknown unfolding in front of them. That being said, there were some parts where I felt myself feeling that the movie was progressing a little slow, but the movie sparked enough intrigue to keep me interested throughout. In the end, I felt that the overall effect was worth the wait.
Jong-su being introduced to Ben when he picks up Hae-mi
Keep in mind the point-of-view:
For this movie, it is very important to keep in mind the point of view from which we are seeing the other characters. We are only shown scenes which Jong-su can see himself, and as a result, only know what Jong-su knows, so we unravel the mystery as he does in the film. In addition, we see the daily struggles he faces, internally with his interactions with other characters in the movie, and externally with his physical labour jobs. Through his POV, we explore his working-class struggles (discussed further in the next section) and his struggle with what this does to his masculinity.
Hm, do you think rich people are happier people? *thinking emoji*
Social-class struggles – what it means for men, and what it means for women:
Throughout the entire film, we watch our protagonist, Jong-su, struggle with problem after problem to do with his predicament of being an impoverished wannabe-novelist, and his inability to escape it. Ben is his exact character-shadow, in looks, in personality, in cultural knowledge, and more importantly highlighted in this movie, in social class. This movie uses these two social opposites to explore the power dynamics between the rich and poor — about what they are allowed to do, what they can get away with, and the effect on the male psyche.
A secondary discussion about class struggles is through the female lead, Hae-mi. Through her, we see social pressures of being a lower-class woman in this society, having to do with vanity, sexuality, and agency (or the lack of) in her own life. Again, keep in mind that this is seen in Jong-su’s point of view, so this commentary is filtered through the lens of someone who romanticizes Hae-mi. Still, we can empathize with the character objectively through what she says and how she acts.
Recommended for:
So, as I mentioned, this movie is pretty long – and not like a traditional (Hollywood) thriller where clue after clue is dropped one after another, nor is it one where you are certain of what the end goal is. The extra-diegetic music is not used as a device to necessarily excite, but more as a way to help build tension and a mild anxiety. It is a quiet film filled with lonely characters. Because of that, I can’t recommend it to people who are looking for the traditional thriller because this film isn’t that – it offers more of a study on the characters, their surroundings, and their social predicaments by cutting down on some qualities of the traditional thriller.
Specific scene analysis (spoilers section!):
If you haven’t seen my other reviews, this section below is reserved for talking about scenes and themes which I personally found interesting, with specific references to things that happened and plot points. Skip to the TLDR; section.
Can you taste the nectarine?
Hae-mi:
There aren’t many characters to choose from in this movie, but Hae-mi is my favourite. Although she is heavily romanticized as this film is shown from the point of view of Jong-su, and some expressed that she felt like a character built from the “male-fantasy”, I thought the problems she brought up in the film were very worthy of discussion, and I thought Jeon Jong-seo’s performance as Hae-mi was spectacular. She was very believable as this debt-riddled girl, struggling with tough questions like finding meaning in life, and superficial yet very relevant questions like balancing the double standards of society in terms of her looks. When she was younger, she was called “ugly” by Jong-su, a boy she admired — so she got plastic surgery. The result of that is she becomes in debt, and despite now being conventionally prettier, she gets shamed for taking advantage of it. I really sympathized with her situation,2 and wanted the best for her. Of course, this isn’t that kind of movie. It shows how society traps women in this endless cycle of the hunt to meet societal standards of beauty, and then paying for it when it is reached. We further see this cycle instilled in other women of this movie, namely Hae-mi’s coworkers, who one of them remark that there are many of them (the girls) who are in the same situation.
The ending:
There really could have only been two endings: either Jong-su kills Ben, or Ben kills Jong-su. The former happened. It was a very powerful scene, a boiling over of Jong-su’s suppressed emotions of anger, sadness, and jealousy. He is angry at Ben’s lack of consequences, sad about the loss of Hae-mi, and jealous of Ben’s ability to have it all. In a movie that portrays such unfairness in life, Ben was going to get away with it all without legal repercussions, leaving Jong-su to be the one to serve what he would deem as “justice”. We are shocked, but probably not disgusted by this act, and maybe even agreed with Jong-su’s action, wishing such justices could occur in real life. But alas, Burning is a movie and this is a movie review; I don’t wish to engage in an argument about morality and punishment right now.
Hope you’re not tired of reading yet!
TLDR;
Recommended for: People who are looking for a thoughtful thriller with subtle storytelling, a “slow burn” (hehe) if you will…
Not recommended for: People who are looking for a traditional thriller, people who aren’t willing to be patient for action
Ratings:
Visuals: 8/10 – I thought the visuals in this movie were great. They were good at creating a very lonely, “cold” mood that helped shroud the movie in mystery. Most notably, I felt like I could “feel” the weather — the cold, dry air that made Jong-su’s breath visible, the gross-ness of the rainy, crowded city, the lonely sunsets. I think these were the most beautiful visual features of the film, even though the locations are not the most conventionally “pretty”.
Sound: 7/10 (?) – To be honest, I don’t remember much of the soundtrack, other than a few notable parts (won’t get into it here) near the heights of tension. So, I can’t really give it an accurate score. That being said, I think that the lack of music added to the tension, making this movie feel all the more authentic and adding to the loneliness of the characters.
Overall enjoyment: 8/10 – Burning has been on my mind ever since I watched it a month ago – and I’ve watched quite a few movies since. Like I mentioned, the slowness of the movie did get to me at some points, but when I chose this movie to watch, I really was looking for a traditional thriller with a little more action. That was what I expected, and I think that may have affected my judgement a little. However, I still enjoyed the film immensely, and the fact that I still think about it speaks to its quality.
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