Burning, the 2018 FIPRESCI Prize-winning film from South Korea, has a mysterious quality to it, and not just because this romantic drama-thriller also belongs (perhaps most of all) to the mystery genre. Slow paced, understated, it's the kind of film that can create tension in simple moments like silence, watching, following. It appears there could be a simple, straightforward solution: Ben is a serial killer who has murdered Hae-mi, and Jong-su is putting the pieces together. But is it that simple?
1. What was the significance of Jong-su being a writer? Jong-su is trying to craft a novel; perhaps he's finding his subject as he goes. An elderly man (a career counselor?) remarks to Jong-su that protagonists are always "crazy". This may be telling the audience to ask questions about Jong-su himself. Ben also tells Hae-mi to ask Jong-su what a metaphor is. Why is that exchange in the film, and why are we being told to look for it?
2. What is the significance of Hae-mi's well story? It sows doubt in Jong-su's mind about Hae-mi's honesty. He goes back and forth trying to find out if the story is true. Is it a literal truth or does it refer to a spiritual state?
3. What is the significance of the "Great Hunger" theme? When Hae-mi describes an African sunset and her desire to disappear in it, the line is presumed to be innocent and is forgettable on first viewing. Does it provide any answers as to Hae-mi's disappearance?
4. Why does Jong-su set fire to part of a greenhouse? He's frightened of what Ben can do, but comes close to doing it himself. Is Jong-su what he is afraid of?
5. Why William Faulkner? Ask a literary expert, I don't know.
6. Why the subplot of Jong-su's father being charged with assault? This doesn't fit in anywhere into the Ben-Hae-mi plot. A red herring? A useful explanation as to Jong-su's psychology?
7. Why does Jong-su question whether Boil the cat lives only in Hae-mi's mind? He never sees Boil until at Ben's home. Is Boil a smoking gun or is he an illusion?
8. What's the significance of North Korea being within sight of the main setting and their propaganda being in earshot? A sense of place, or perhaps a sign we should look at divisions in Korean society, a Korea with both struggling youth and Great Gatsbys.
9. Why is Jong-su's military service mentioned so briefly? One wonders what we can learn from where he went, what he saw and what happened to him.
10. Why the conversation on how the Chinese are like the Americans? We're directed to think about people who put them in the centre of everything and people considerate of others. Ben is the type who puts himself in the centre; is Jong-su too?
With so many mysteries, Burning is the kind of film that demands repeated viewings and thought, a psychological mystery waiting to be decoded.
1. What was the significance of Jong-su being a writer? Jong-su is trying to craft a novel; perhaps he's finding his subject as he goes. An elderly man (a career counselor?) remarks to Jong-su that protagonists are always "crazy". This may be telling the audience to ask questions about Jong-su himself. Ben also tells Hae-mi to ask Jong-su what a metaphor is. Why is that exchange in the film, and why are we being told to look for it?
2. What is the significance of Hae-mi's well story? It sows doubt in Jong-su's mind about Hae-mi's honesty. He goes back and forth trying to find out if the story is true. Is it a literal truth or does it refer to a spiritual state?
3. What is the significance of the "Great Hunger" theme? When Hae-mi describes an African sunset and her desire to disappear in it, the line is presumed to be innocent and is forgettable on first viewing. Does it provide any answers as to Hae-mi's disappearance?
4. Why does Jong-su set fire to part of a greenhouse? He's frightened of what Ben can do, but comes close to doing it himself. Is Jong-su what he is afraid of?
5. Why William Faulkner? Ask a literary expert, I don't know.
6. Why the subplot of Jong-su's father being charged with assault? This doesn't fit in anywhere into the Ben-Hae-mi plot. A red herring? A useful explanation as to Jong-su's psychology?
7. Why does Jong-su question whether Boil the cat lives only in Hae-mi's mind? He never sees Boil until at Ben's home. Is Boil a smoking gun or is he an illusion?
8. What's the significance of North Korea being within sight of the main setting and their propaganda being in earshot? A sense of place, or perhaps a sign we should look at divisions in Korean society, a Korea with both struggling youth and Great Gatsbys.
9. Why is Jong-su's military service mentioned so briefly? One wonders what we can learn from where he went, what he saw and what happened to him.
10. Why the conversation on how the Chinese are like the Americans? We're directed to think about people who put them in the centre of everything and people considerate of others. Ben is the type who puts himself in the centre; is Jong-su too?
With so many mysteries, Burning is the kind of film that demands repeated viewings and thought, a psychological mystery waiting to be decoded.