By Rosario Brenda Gonzalez
Burning is a 2018 Lee Chang-dong film which competed at the Cannes Film Festival. Although it did not win an award, it was nevertheless chosen as the best film in the competition by the International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI).
Lee Chang-dong is the revered South Korean filmmaker whose minimum output — a mere 6 movies in 21 years – are all considered exceptionally made films with great character studies of people in the margins of society because of their economic standing, age, gender and disability.
Burning, his most recent film features three main characters in their twenties who might as well represent the millennials in search of that most elusive but hardly articulated goal to one’s existence: life’s meaning in a seemingly meaningless world.
Jong Su (played by South Korean actor Yoo Ah-in) is from the rural town of Paju and, after finishing his degree in Creative Writing worked as a delivery man at the same time trying to write his first novel. Haemi was performed credibly by the newcomer Jeon Jong-se, who is Jong Su’s supposedly childhood friend that he cannot remember, while Ben, the enigmatic and wealthy laid back boyfriend of Haemi is Steven Yeun from “The Walking Dead”.
Haemi first told Jong Su that they knew each other when they were kids, but she had plastic surgery, so he wouldn’t remember her. That was when, as a promo girl, she made Jong Su win in a raffle. And he did win a pink watch, which he eventually gave to Haemi. They went out to eat, had their first sexual encounter, and parted ways because Haemi would embark on an African trip. Still, she asked Jong Su to go to her apartment to feed her cat while she’s away. The latter was willing to comply only to discover that there was no cat in Haemi’s apartment, although there were signs to the contrary. This is the first obvious mystery in this film inspired by Haruki Murakami’s 1993 short story “Barn Burning”. There are many more. In fact, the entire film is one mystery thriller.
The major mystery in the plot is when Haemi disappeared, and Jong Su set out to prove whether Ben is behind this all too sudden occurrence. Jong Su, who grew up without a mother, aspires to be a writer but has to earn a living so that he can work on that first novel. But he has to contend with a father who is accused of a criminal offense, a house in disarray, and other mundane domestic concerns. Haemi is in credit card debt, lives in a cramped apartment, and has been cut off from her family due to some unclear disagreements. She is also seriously into meditations on life, art, and freedom. Both Jong Su and, to a certain extent, Haemi are hindered by their daily grind from coming up with definite personal, much less political, beliefs. Jong Su saw an opening into a closer and perhaps more intimate relationship with Haemi, only to be jolted back to reality when he was introduced to Ben, Haemi’s new boyfriend, whom she met on her brief African trip, a logical result of her many debts.
Together Jong Su, Haemi, and Ben had some common experiences revealing each one’s distinct and strange character traits. Ben, with no regular job, dazzled his new companions with his Porsche car, house in an affluent part of Seoul, and almost limitless free time to indulge in food, books, and social events. He also revealed to Jong Su that he is used to burning greenhouses and that he will soon burn one near Jong Su’s house. It shocked Jong Su, prompting him to frantically search all the greenhouses in his neighborhood, monitoring them in case Ben undertakes his weird hobby, which he claims is ignored by most everyone.
Upon Haemi’s disappearance, Jong Su has no one else to suspect but Ben. Jong Su’s anxious quest and mounting rage will lead to an ending that will fail to resolve the many questions of this mystery thriller. It will come after a series of eerie coincidences punctuated by Ben’s often condescending, even superior attitude camouflaged by a calm demeanor and polite manners.
Clearly, the characters’ search for the elusive life’s meaning, although only articulated by Haemi, is largely dependent on their particular milieu. Lee Chang- dong is not one to make easy resolutions of his movies’ plot. There are always signs and symbols that will guide his viewers. There are, however, no clear answers to questions raised or one explicit ending to a movie’s conflicts.
The mystery of “Burning” is buried in its outstanding cinematography of dusty roads and green fields as well as in the modern architecture of South Korea and in the adept acting of its three main leads: Yoo Ah In’s often passive yet slow burn anger, Steven Yeun’s ambiguous behavior and Jeon Jong Seo’s free spirit, grit and creativity. It is one mystery that is unraveled in the details of every frame of this movie’s 148 minutes on screen. How the police can be suspicious of a man in an old truck parked in a high-end village while reportedly disregarding the continuing burning of greenhouses by a bored and privileged citizen. How lower-class people need monotonous and routinary jobs to earn a living while rich people go around indulging themselves even without any apparent regular source of income. How Trump has invaded South Korean television viewing. How North Korean pronouncements are heard in Paju, which is near the demilitarized zone. Clues and foreboding scenes are scattered for an aware audience to digest.
This mystery-solving experience is well worth your time. #
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Rosario Brenda Gonzalez is a long-time development worker who discovered South Korean films and television series during the pandemic. She was encouraged to review 18 South Korean movies, 2 South Korean television series, and 1 Japanese television series upon realizing that many of these tackled social issues in an informative and entertaining manner.
A BA Journalism graduate of UP Diliman, Ms. Gonzalez has been a project evaluator and development management trainer for more than three decades. Prior to that, she was a human rights and church worker.
