I don't know where to start.
This movie is complete fire - from screenplay to the actors. The build-up over the two hours to the end is one of the best I've seen. I feared that I would lose my focus along the way, but once I was invested in the characters, I was hooked.
What Lee Jong-su is going through reminds me of
Fright Night
with a touch of Hitchcock without knowing quite what's the truth.
A true Korean masterpiece. Korean movies are benchmark for gory/gruesome thrillers, what Japanese animation movies are for feel good genre.
The movie builds up slowly, you need to stay invested and you will be treated with an awesome spine-chilling thriller.
Lee Chang-dong movies may not be aesthetically pleasing like Park Chan-wook's classics (The Handmaiden et al) but have more soul to it and real worldly.
A meet-cute leads Jong-su to be saddled with feeding pixie dream girl Hae-mi's cat while she's on a trip to Africa, but his high hopes are dashed when she returns with the sophisticated Ben. Sometimes it seems like he has something to worry about, sometimes it doesn't. But Burning is a highly-internal Noir, and as it starts to turn into a thriller, it feels like there's a vanishing long before anyone vanishes. There are perfectly reasonable explanations, though not always, with Jong-su a would-be writer who doesn't know what to write about because the world is very literally a mystery to him, and we're along for the ride. Is he uncovering clues, or is he jumping to conclusions? Whichever it is, we're doing it too. If things are sinister, they are sinister because we want them to be. Or maybe they really are. A lesser film might have given us a more solid answer, or an ironic twist, at the end, but we're left with our thoughts, judging our own paranoia perhaps. When Korean films are a touch long (and this one is), you can almost count on there being a structural pivot that sends the story in a strange direction. And it looks gorgeous, its locations as interesting as its characters, so it's well worth the time invested.
I'll be honest, I didnt really care for it. I was really excited to watch it, and story-wise, meh. I've read Murakami's other works, and I love Steven Yeun, so I was looking forward to it and nothing really happened. It was like 3 hours of build up with no payoff?
I will say, it had some *excellent* scenes, good dialogue, and oh my god this has to be Steven Yeun's best performance. I loved him in Sorry To Bother You, and I Think You Should Leave, and he somehow combined like 4 different characters creepily into one. Brilliant actor and friend of Conan.
But in the end it felt like none of it went anywhere, if that makes sense? Classic Murakami/
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Comments 1 - 15 of 15
Realenur
I don't know where to start.This movie is complete fire - from screenplay to the actors. The build-up over the two hours to the end is one of the best I've seen. I feared that I would lose my focus along the way, but once I was invested in the characters, I was hooked.
What Lee Jong-su is going through reminds me of
Windill
A good movie that takes you by the stomach and leaves you uncomfortable.Jumping Elephant
A masterpiece.Fastkit
Amazing!!jakeindiana93
Astonishing - completely deranged. I've never seen a film built on this immense an amount of discomfort.ArkRyan
Serious filmmaking.Edit: can feel shades of Hitchock in the thriller part of the film
JasonACas
wowMuthukumaran
A true Korean masterpiece. Korean movies are benchmark for gory/gruesome thrillers, what Japanese animation movies are for feel good genre.The movie builds up slowly, you need to stay invested and you will be treated with an awesome spine-chilling thriller.
Lee Chang-dong movies may not be aesthetically pleasing like Park Chan-wook's classics (The Handmaiden et al) but have more soul to it and real worldly.
Siskoid
A meet-cute leads Jong-su to be saddled with feeding pixie dream girl Hae-mi's cat while she's on a trip to Africa, but his high hopes are dashed when she returns with the sophisticated Ben. Sometimes it seems like he has something to worry about, sometimes it doesn't. But Burning is a highly-internal Noir, and as it starts to turn into a thriller, it feels like there's a vanishing long before anyone vanishes. There are perfectly reasonable explanations, though not always, with Jong-su a would-be writer who doesn't know what to write about because the world is very literally a mystery to him, and we're along for the ride. Is he uncovering clues, or is he jumping to conclusions? Whichever it is, we're doing it too. If things are sinister, they are sinister because we want them to be. Or maybe they really are. A lesser film might have given us a more solid answer, or an ironic twist, at the end, but we're left with our thoughts, judging our own paranoia perhaps. When Korean films are a touch long (and this one is), you can almost count on there being a structural pivot that sends the story in a strange direction. And it looks gorgeous, its locations as interesting as its characters, so it's well worth the time invested.edo18
I absolutely loved the build-up, but I was disappointed by the ending. So close to being a flawless movie...acoltismypassport
Fantastic.Emiam
6+/10heat_
Cut 20-25 mins and that movie is a blade.boulderman
Great until the end whereby there are lots of interpretations as to whatWas his father covering for me for one thing. Guessing Ben was bad as well
gobberpooper
I'll be honest, I didnt really care for it. I was really excited to watch it, and story-wise, meh. I've read Murakami's other works, and I love Steven Yeun, so I was looking forward to it and nothing really happened. It was like 3 hours of build up with no payoff?I will say, it had some *excellent* scenes, good dialogue, and oh my god this has to be Steven Yeun's best performance. I loved him in Sorry To Bother You, and I Think You Should Leave, and he somehow combined like 4 different characters creepily into one. Brilliant actor and friend of Conan.
But in the end it felt like none of it went anywhere, if that makes sense? Classic Murakami/