Burning (2018)

Original title

버닝

Directed by

Lee Chang-dong

Genre

drama film, thriller film

Country

South Korea, Japan

Runtime

2h 28m

Rated

NR

Rating

7.4 of 10 from 1,836 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A young deliveryman reconnects with a childhood friend and then meets her mysterious new boyfriend. He grows suspicious of the man and fears for his friend's safety.

tenseunsettlingslow-burnambiguousmelancholicatmosphericsuspensefulcerebral

What happens

Burning (Korean: 버닝) is a 2018 South Korean psychological thriller film co-written, produced, and directed by Lee Chang-dong. The film is based on the short story "Barn Burning" from The Elephant Vanishes by Haruki Murakami, with elements inspired by William Faulkner's story of the same name. It stars Yoo Ah-in, Steven Yeun, and Jeon Jong-seo. The plot depicts a young deliveryman, Jong-su (Yoo), who runs into his childhood friend, Hae-mi (Jeon). They soon meet an enigmatic young man named Ben (Yeun), whom Jong-su becomes suspicious of, and he begins to believe Hae-mi is in danger. The first film by Lee after a hiatus of eight years, the film premiered on May 16, 2018, at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival, where it competed for the Palme d'Or; it ended up receiving the FIPRESCI International Critics' Prize at the festival. It was released the following day in South Korea and on October 26, 2018, in the United States. The film received widespread critical acclaim, with praise for its sense of unease, ambiguous narrative, and performances. It was selected as the South Korean entry for Best Foreign Language Film at the 91st Academy Awards; although it was not nominated, it became the first Korean film to make it to the final nine-film shortlist. It received numerous other accolades, and was included on several critics' "top ten" lists for the year 2018, notably those of The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and the Associated Press. It has been regarded by some critics as one of the best films of the 21st century, and it was voted as the best Korean film of all time on Korean Screen, from a poll of over 150 critics from 28 countries, displacing movies like Parasite (2019), Oldboy (2003) and The Housemaid (1960). (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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