Let's get away from Hollywood for a bit today.
Lee Chang-dong is one of my favorite filmmakers, and "Burning" lived up to my very high expectations for it. A young man named Lee Jong-su (Yoo Ah-in), estranged from most of his family, falls in love with a dreamy, childlike young woman named Hae-mi (Jeon Jong-seo). He looks after her apartment and pet cat while she's traveling. When Hae-mi returns with a sinister new acquaintance, Ben (Steven Yeun), Jong-su continues their friendship, but worries over the new relationship.
"Burning," much like Lee's last film, "Poetry," is full of ellipses. There's a mystery that plays out in the second half of the film, one that none of the characters discuss directly, but which has devastating consequences for everyone. Our hero is has to decide whether Hae-mi is trustworthy, and if a crime happened that he has no real evidence for. On a more existential level, he has to decide whether it's worth spending so much time and attention on things of dubious tangibility. Should he keep coming around to feed a cat who never shows himself? Should he keep working on a novel that may never materialize? Hae-mi herself is frequently elusive, a young woman with no connections, a flighty temperament, and an unstable position in society.
I adore Lee Chang-dong films because the storytelling is so cinematic. The pace is slow, but the narrative hums along, giving us plenty of character-building moments, and setting up many elements that pay off in satisfying ways. Jong-su isn't much for conversation, so the majority of his investigations and realizations play out silently. We watch him take care of his absent father's farm, and then a scene later he wanders into the back of a courtroom, where we learn more about his father's fate. Ben's wealth and status are made apparent long before Jong-su pegs him as "The Great Gatsby," his coldly spacious apartment contrasting with the cluttered homes of Jong-su and Hae-mi.
And then there's the spiritual and emotional journey that Jong-su goes through - all the ups and downs of his mostly one-sided romance with Hae-mi and his doubts over what to do when Ben appears in their lives. Steven Yeun does a fantastic job of playing Ben as a cold-blooded, careless elite, who slowly reveals the extent of his sociopathy. However, it's Yoo Ah-in who delivers the most memorable performance. There's such an intimacy to the story and to Yoo's work. The ending is terrifically bizarre and unexpected, but it makes complete sense for the character.
A similar, but more bluntly realized film is Michael Pearce's debut feature "Beast," a thriller set on the British island of Jersey. A young woman named Moll (Jessie Buckley) works as a tour guide and lives at home with her wealthy parents, in order to help look after her ailing father. However, Moll chafes at the social expectations and familial obligations placed on her by her overbearing mother, Hilary (Geraldine James), and police office brother Harrison (Oliver Maltman). One night, she's helped out of a bad situation by a poacher, Pascal Renouf (Johnny Flynn), and they become romantically involved. However, Pascal is suspected of being involved in a series of disturbing murders.
"Beast" is a winning mix of the usual tropes of romance and crime films, anchored by a fierce performance from Jessie Buckley. I wasn't sure what kind of story it was telling at the outset, and the various twists and turns left me guessing up until the end. However, I was always fully invested in Moll's growing pains, her tensions with her family, and her rising guilt and inner turmoil as the investigation goes on. I think it's her difficult family dynamics that are really the key to the picture, since it gives us clear antagonists to root against, and provides additional stakes to the romance. Also, Geraldine James makes a wonderfully hateable evil screen mum.
Pearce's filmmaking has a few rough edges, but he does some interesting things with the editing and sound design, and takes plenty of advantage of the gorgeous Jersey scenery. There's nice handling of the different tones, as the movie shifts from romance to thriller. Moll has occasional nightmares that add just the right amount of ambiguity and lurking violence to the mix. At the same time, the portrayal of the romance is lovely and sensitive. This is a great start for Michael Pearce, and I look forward to seeing more.
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