Film review: 'Burning' (2018)

Throughout the history of thriller film, Burning is perhaps one of the most inconclusive films in terms of mystery. However, emotionally, he was very satisfying. This film was built slowly but very measurably, sticking us through unexpected ways while giving enough space to accumulate so much emotional weight. All of this then leads us to the peak moment, so that we feel very much in need of a release. Can't any. Required.

"God, just one release and I will be relieved," we thought.

And BAM! Burning gives it the right way and time.

I can describe Burning with a simple description: a love triangle that ends in a crime story. But I will be sorry. This film is far more complex than that. After all, I don't know whether the description really represents or not. I could have watched this film more than 10 times, and in the end, it still wouldn't be entirely sure of what (I think) I saw. Burning is full of uncertainty and that is precisely what makes it very stressful.

We as spectators, just like the characters in the film, don't exactly know what really happened and see other characters through their own glasses; perceptions that are actually only ambiguous products from life experiences that are only brief with the person in question. Are they really like what we think?

Let's start with our main character, Jongsu ( Yoo Ah-in ), a village man who aspires to be a writer even though he currently only dwells as a courier in Seoul. Jongsu is quiet and not so expressive. He is just an ordinary man who is not at all striking. But an SPG section he met accidentally on the street said that they knew each other. He said they were classmates in the village. Jongsu gawking.

"I'm plastic surgery," the SPG chattered. This girl's name is Haemi ( Jeon Jong-so ), an optimist, full of enthusiasm, and seems very innocent. When hanging out, Haemi then told Jongsu that he was studying pantomime. It didn't take long, Jongsu was invited to play at Haemi's apartment and they did something right there.

It's clear that Jongsu immediately felt tied to Haemi. He even wants to be asked for help to feed Haemi's cat as long as Haemi goes to Africa on a journey to find an identity. Every day Jongsu visits Haemi's apartment, and every day he confides while imagining Haemi.

Yes. Masturbate. Jongsu does have a life that is a little, um, odd. He is always alone and has no friends. We hear that his father is in trouble, but we don't need to know exactly what. We know that the mother has left him. We know Jongsu regularly visits his father's garden in the village. The film tells the details of Jones's life slowly and painfully, but it feels like the big picture is still blurry.

But what's more opaque is Ben ( Steven Yeun) Jongsu met Ben when he picked Haemi at the airport when he returned from Africa. This situation creates an uncomfortable triangle relationship. Ben is Haemi's traveling companion. But they seem to be very familiar. Are they invented? I have no idea. Haemi seemed to be enjoying herself while walking with Ben, but she also tried to always invite Jongsu. Ben never seemed to mind.

Jongsu has a bad feeling about Ben. Something is strange with Ben; he is a socialite, has a Porsche car and a luxury apartment, but it seems he doesn't have a job. His personality is smooth but almost empty, maybe even has a psychopathic talent. Ben tells Jongsu and Haemi that he has never cried for life. Steven Yeun's appearance is extraordinary; he creates a cool, mysterious character.

This film does have a criminal thriller packaging. But he feels more like the study of character psychology. Or perhaps more appropriate: character psychology study games. We see something quite a lot, but we still don't know much. What does Ben mean to Jongsu? Or against Haemi?

Or about Haemi himself. Can he be trusted? Did Jongsu use to save Haemi when he was trapped in a well? Or is it just Haemi's essay? The story of this film is like a story between two men who are very different from a plain woman trapped in the middle. Is that true? The ultimate truth is an impossibility in Burning. We are tricked into making assumptions that are not necessarily true.

When Haemi suddenly disappeared, Jongsu was almost completely convinced that the culprit was Ben, even though there was no clear evidence. This provoked Jongsu to follow Ben. Jongsu remembers that Ben once said that he likes to burn greenhouses; nothing, but only to see the greenhouse burning. And the next target said, Ben while smiling, is very close to Jongsu. Jongsu really believes in this until he checks all the greenhouses in his village. Jongsu found nothing. Is Ben really a burner or just playing with him?

The film was produced by director Lee Chang-dong from a short story by a famous Japanese writer, Haruki Murakami. The plot feels natural to walk even though the background is changed to in Korea. Lee's film amazingly captures the nuances of solitude and pent-up desire that are often found in Murakami's works. The main point is what Haemi told Jongsu before leaving for Africa: "Everyone is hungry for something."

Burning a great achievement in terms of creating suspensions. We are successfully guarded to feel uncomfortable in its very long duration, almost 3 hours. The narrative method is perhaps the cinematic application of the Schrodinger Cat theory. This theory states that a cat that is inserted into a radioactive box, is in a state of life and death simultaneously. We do not yet know the status of the deceased cat or not before we see the contents of the box. Whether intentionally or not, Lee even slipped the style Schrodinger Cat into Burning. Jongsu regularly feeds Haemi's cat, but he never sees the cat's appearance. Even so, the food is always used up.

I deliberately carried around the theory of quantum physics so that it would be called an intellect.

Lee did not create his Schrodinger Cat with fake manipulation. Instead, it does so by giving the background a situation that is so complex as to create tension. There are differences in social strata and striking personality between Jongsu and Ben. Does Jongsu feel jealous of Ben? Or is Jongsu angry because Ben doesn't appreciate Haemi like he likes Haemi? When Haemi told stories to Ben's friends, Jongsu caught a glimpse of the yawning Ben who was bored. And perhaps not knowing it all, Haemi even comfortably danced bare-chested in front of Ben.

There is a kind of sensation of danger that sneaks in Burning. And we don't know for sure what that is. I prefer to think that what happened is not what it seems. Because the choice is indeed more comfortable. However, there is still a sense that blocks what happened as we thought. It's more terrible to imagine, but it's okay because Jongsu has got a release. The radioactive box of Schrodinger's cat was decided to be destroyed.

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