Directed by: Lee Nan / 이난
Release date: September 2011
Director Lee presents three vignettes connect by an array of images—look for, for example, an E.T. watch, goldfish, a sprig of evergreen. In “Between”, Han-chul is not a happy guy, but why he is so tormented is not exactly clear. Maybe it is the pressure from his job selling computers? Maybe because he is sexual dysfunctional? Maybe it’s because he keeps attempting and failing to commit suicide? Or maybe it is because is mourning members of his family who died, perhaps in a fire. In “Among”, Hyo-ri gets dumped by her boyfriend and gets hit by a car and seriously injured. Or not. Was it all hallucinations? Finally in “Distance”, Su-hyuk’s grandfather was killed in a worksite accident. He goes after the boss responsible but ends up (SPOILER) beating the first guy, Han-chul, to death by mistake instead.
Director Lee Nan seems to have the cinematic skills to presenting a story well … if he ever got around to including one. The film presents glimpses into the lives of three people who seem to be suffering depression after the death of a loved one, but never gives the full storyline, leaving the spectator to guess (intuit?) what is supposed to be happening. I confess I am a minimalist: I don’t care how experimental a film is, if I at least can pick up what the filmmaker is trying to say, this film I could not, not even with the obscure hints—goldfish, E.T. watches—along the way. My take: D
Director Lee really likes extreme
close-ups.
This one represents the chaos in Han-chul’s apartment
and, we might
guess, in his life.
No comments:
Post a Comment