After the action thrill of The Swordsman (2020-also reviewed) I took a look at the titles yet to be played in the Korean cinema bundle at the 2021 Glasgow Film Festival. Noticing this to have the shortest runtime of the set,I got set for a viewing at the midnight hour.
Note:Review contains some plot details.
View on the film:
Patrolling the Han River with failed actor Ji-hoon, editor/writer/director Jung-Eun Lim makes a wonderful debut into film, with a dip into the stylised river of the French New Wave (FNW), which clearly inspired Lim in following the disenfranchised and disheartened loners Ji-hoon and Eun-yeung finding each other in criss-crossing fluid hand-held camera moves across the Han River.
Filmed on location, Jung-Eun brings the FNW in the moment style along to draw a warm,intimate atmosphere between Ji-hoon and Eun-yeung long conversations,in long, extended walk and talk tracking shots filmed in grainy black and white across the back streets of Seoul at dusk.
Welcomed to the end of the line with a delicately composed dash of colour for the final shot, with Lee Seung-hun giving a terrific turn as the pent up with frustrations Ji-hoon, whilst Park Seo-eun brings a refined elegance to the pressures from work weighing Eun-yeung down,before she encounters Ji-hoon at midnight.
