Burning (2018)
Gema Shisila
Burning (Korean: 버닝; RR: Beoning) is a 2018 South Korean-Japanese psychological drama film[3][4] 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.[5] 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 critical acclaim from critics,[6] 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,[7][8] 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.[9]
Lee Jong-su, an aspiring young novelist, performs odd jobs in Seoul. One day he runs into Shin Hae-mi, a childhood neighbor and classmate, at a promotion at which he is making a delivery. Jong-su initially does not remember her, but Hae-mi tells him she had plastic surgery. Jong-su gives her the pink watch that he won at the promotion. Later, she tells him about her upcoming trip to Africa and asks him to feed her cat, Boil, while she is away. Before Hae-mi's departure, Jong-su's father, a cattle farmer in Paju, becomes entangled in disagreeable legal affairs, and Jong-su has to return to the farm. Jong-su visits Hae-mi's apartment, where he receives instructions about feeding the cat. They then have sex.
After Hae-mi departs, Jong-su dutifully feeds her cat, although he never sees it. He does, however, presume that a cat is there because he finds feces in the litter box. He begins habitually masturbating in Hae-mi's apartment. One day Hae-mi calls, saying she had become stranded at Nairobi Airport for three days after a bombing nearby. When Jong-su comes to pick her up, she arrives with Ben, a man whom she met and bonded with during the crisis. The three go out for dinner, where Hae-mi cries and confesses that she wants to disappear. Ben is wealthy, but does not give a clear answer when asked what he does for a living.
At Jong-su's farm, the trio smokes cannabis and Hae-mi dances topless. After Hae-mi has fallen asleep on the sofa, Ben confesses that every two months, he burns an abandoned greenhouse as a hobby. He notes that Jong-su's rural neighborhood is full of greenhouses. When asked when his next burning will take place, Ben claims it will be very soon and close to Jong-su's house. Jong-su chastises Hae-mi for disrobing in front of other men. She quietly gets into Ben's car and they drive off.
Jong-su keeps watch around the neighborhood to see if any greenhouses burn down, but none do. One afternoon, in front of an intact greenhouse that he is inspecting, he receives a call from Hae-mi, which cuts off after a few seconds of ambiguous noises. Jong-su becomes worried as she does not answer any of his calls, and begins to investigate after her phone number becomes disconnected. He convinces the landlady to let him into Hae-mi's apartment so that he can feed her cat. Hae-mi's apartment is unnaturally clean; her suitcase remains, and all signs of the cat are gone. Jong-su begins staking out Ben's Gangnam apartment and following him to see where he goes. When he sees Ben's Porsche parked outside a restaurant, he goes inside to confront him. Ben insists that he did burn down a greenhouse near Jong-su's house. A young woman approaches the table, apologizing to Ben for being late. As the three of them leave the restaurant, Jong-su asks Ben if he has heard from Hae-mi and whether she has gone on a trip. Ben says he has not heard from her, and he doubts she has gone on a trip because she could not afford it. Ben says Jong-su was the only person she trusted and that it made him jealous for the first time in his life.
One day, Ben finds Jong-su waiting outside his place and invites him up to his apartment. Ben has a new cat, which he claims is a rescued stray. In the restroom, Jong-su finds a pink watch, similar to the one he gave Hae-mi, hidden in a drawer containing other pieces of women's jewelry. When Ben's cat runs out of the apartment, Jong-su finds that it answers to the name "Boil." Jong-su silently leaves the dinner party Ben is hosting, despite Ben's pleas for him to stay.
Jong-su asks to meet Ben in the countryside, claiming he is with Hae-mi. Ben sees that Hae-mi is not there and asks Jong-su where she is; Jong-su stabs him to death. Jong-su douses Ben's car and body in gasoline and sets them on fire, tossing his blood-soaked clothes in as well. He stumbles naked to his truck and drives off.
In 2016, it was thought that Gang Dong-won and Yoo Ah-in would feature in the film, but an official announcement was not made.[14] On September 5, 2017, it was announced that Yoo Ah-in had been confirmed for the role of Jong-su.[18][19] Three days later, newcomer Jeon Jong-seo was cast for the role of Hae-mi based on auditions which began in August.[20][21][22] On September 20, Steven Yeun joined the film as Ben.[23][24]
The first film directed by Lee Chang-dong in eight years,[13] Burning was widely predicted by film critics and insiders to be an in-competition entry at the upcoming 2018 Cannes Film Festival. Lee's 2007 film Secret Sunshine and his 2010 film Poetry both premiered as in-competition entries at the Cannes Film Festival.[27][28] In April 2018, Burning was among the lineup of in-competition entries announced for the 2018 Cannes Film Festival.[29][30]
Burning was sold to more than 100 countries and territories at the March du Film in Cannes Film Festival. This included Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, Singapore, the United Kingdom, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Spain, Greece, Poland and Turkey.[31] In South Korea, Burning premiered in theaters on May 17, 2018.[32] It was released in the United States on October 26, 2018.[33] Film rights were acquired by Energia Entusiasta for Latin America. On April 29, 2019, Netflix released Burning on its streaming service.[34]
In its opening weekend in France, the film attracted 53,876 audience in total, ranking third at the box office behind Mile 22,[41][42] while in its opening weekend in the United States, the film made $26,130 from two theaters. The film had its widest release in its third weekend, playing in 27 theaters and grossing $76,608.[33]
Geoff Andrew of Time Out was similarly positive, hailing it as a "movie rich in teasing ambiguities and possible lies... Lee's interest lies not in crime-solving but in exploring Jongsu's emotional confusion... Both a slow-burn suspense drama and an intriguing enigma, his film is beautifully executed".[53] Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter reacted enthusiastically to the film, writing that "[t]his is a beautifully crafted film loaded with glancing insights and observations into an understated triangular relationship, one rife with subtle perceptions about class privilege, reverberating family legacies, creative confidence, self-invention, sexual jealousy, justice and revenge".[54] For The Canadian Press, David Friend said the film includes "simmering layers of subtext and tension build over the film's two-and-a-half hour runtime".[55]
Burning was selected as the South Korean entry for the Best Foreign Language Film category 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.[68][69]
In late 2019, Burning also appeared on the "Best films of the decade" lists of Rolling Stone,[82] The A.V. Club,[83] Associated Press,[84] The Boston Globe,[85] Indiewire,[86] Insider,[87] and Film Comment.[88]
Five years after its release in 2018, \u201CBurning\u201D is already edging toward the timeless: A powerfully ambiguous tale of love, eros, innocence, and simmering violence that has the bones of a thriller but the air of a cautionary existential fable. Based on a Haruki Murakami short story called \u201CBarn Burning,\u201D the movie departs from its source in critical ways, notably in more clearly hinting at what one of its three main characters \u2014 the sophisticated and possibly psychopathic Ben, as played (brilliantly) by Steven Yuen (\u201CMinari,\u201D \u201CNope\u201D) \u2014 is actually up to. (Whatever it is, it ain\u2019t burning greenhouses.)
In my 2018 Boston Globe review of the film, I wrote \u201C\u2018Burning\u2019 \u2026 is a beautifully cryptic slow burner that lingers long in the senses. It plays like one of Patricia Highsmith\u2019s unsettling power-play suspense tales, but with the talented Mr. Ripley off to one side while his victim (or one of them) assumes center stage. \u2026 There are moments that defy categorization but that land with a mysterious, expanding hush. They can be as small as the smile and barely perceptible wink Ben gives Jong-su (Yoo Ah-in) in a party scene, inviting him in on a joke the younger man doesn\u2019t quite get. They can be as luxuriant and lengthy as a sequence at sunset at Jong-su\u2019s farm, Hae-mi (Jeon Jong-seo) impulsively singing and dancing in the nude and then Ben confessing to awful doings as the light almost unnoticably fades away. The awful doings may in fact be a metaphor for something even more unspeakable. \u2026 \u201CBurning\u201D could be about metaphor, actually \u2014 about the way people make things stand in for other things, ideas for ideas, emotions for emotions, until the only way to cut through the abstraction is with obsession, or violence.
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