Sorum

As unlikely as it may seem for a thriller/horror flick, Sorum is a heartbreaking study of love's fragility, set in a crumbling tenement with a dark past in room 504, into which moves the protagonist, a 30-ish orphan taxi-cab driver, still seeking the maternal affection only haltingly admitted in his transient life. He meets a troubled neighbor, an externally tough, but vulnerable worker at a nearby 7-11, and bonds with her by helping dispose of the abusive husband who dies during one of his daily bouts of beating. This shared secret, however, is not the only secret uniting the two lovers and the other tenants of the apartments, inescapably implicated in the unfolding of the barely concealed tragedies that lie at the broken but eerily (if cruelly and perversely) nurturing heart of 504. Incisive psychologically knowing acting, supernatural forebodings, and a progressively tension building mystery are economically and seamlessly integrated in a profoundly affective portrait of the redemptive potential and ghostly possibility of abyss attending our attempts to break into family intimacy.

An obscure brilliant film, but not recommended for the faint of heart.

Yoon Jong-chan's masterful first feature film is a vision into the "heart of darkness" which relies on brilliant acting, cinematography and directing-- not gratuitous gore-- to tell a disturbing psychological horror story which hints at the supernatural.

The beautiful and painterly visuals transform a drab tenement into a hallucinatory house of horrors without ANY special effects, cliché jump cuts, or loud sound effects.

One of the best films I've seen in years. Left me thinking and questioning reality long after the film ended.

Check it out-- if you can find it.

I don't understand all the great reviews of "Sorum" that I've read on this site, for this movie is extremely disappointing. It is presented to us disguised as a ghost movie -or, more precisely, as a ghost movie inscribed in the Asian horror movie stream-, but the truth is it's merely a badly executed drama with bits of thriller.

It has a good starting point. The basic idea that the plot outline is developed (to call it something) from is a good one -not too complex, but good enough for an interesting and tense movie. The acting is very good. The cinematography and the understanding of the space and the environment is excellent, and this is the best point of the movie, the one where the director shows that he's got talent -we might want to remember that this is apparently his debut. However, the pacing is just disastrous, and it isn't an exaggeration to say that absolutely nothing, or very little, actually goes on for most of the movie's running time. We're just shown scenes of the main characters' lives and how they get on and interact with one another. The main focus is on the character of Sun-yeong, a 30-year-old taxi driver who moves in to a gloomy old apartment complex in Seoul. He gets acquainted with his young and mysterious female neighbor, Yong-hyun, and, to a lesser extent, with the latter's girl-friend and with an unsuccessful novelist -the only four people who stay in the building after a tragic event that happened not long before. For most of the movie's duration, we see the characters speak to each other, do things together, we watch their thoughts, feelings, etc. but nothing really interesting or revealing happens. This is obviously thought of as "character development", but nothing meaningful is contained in all that long series of uneventful events, if I may use that expression. To put it clearly, the movie is extremely boring for the most part, the pacing is awful, and it's easy to guess that the director wanted to be subtle in his process of revealing crucial information, but clearly failed at this.

Most comments talk about the very last part of the movie. I won't deny that it does have some interest, and it's quite horrible and daunting, more in accordance with the general tone of the movie. However, again, the resolution is absolutely confusing and it is necessary to watch the movie again to bring all the missing or unclear pieces together -which, in my opinion, is clearly a serious flaw, because the general public should be able to fully understand every movie at a first viewing, even though they might want to go back for additional or more engrossing detail, but the point or central message of the movie should be delivered without any confusion.

I can't recommend this movie to either the Asian horror movie fans or the fans of the cinema d'auteur.

It is easy to identify most films which are classified as Horror cinema. A large part of them have blood, gore and other gut wrenching scenes. It should come as a relief to horror cinema admirers that 'Sorum' is a different type of horror film. There is blood but it is shown in a very dignified manner. This has somewhat led to its being called an intelligent man's horror film. This film's dramatic elements bring viewers closer to the tragedy which happened three decades ago. Each character is closely observed to ascertain how his/her presence is related to events happening in present times. A wide variety of characters are represented in Sorum namely a young taxi driver, a talkative barber, a failed writer and a harassed wife. South Korean film 'Sorum' had its Indian premiere during 7th International Film Festival of Kerala 2002. Film critic Mr.Lalit Rao has experienced that watching it in 2015 is as interesting as it was in 2002 when he watched it during the film festival.

South Korea is rapidly gaining on established Asian moviemaking countries like Japan and Hong Kong by producing a number of distinct high caliber films in recent years. Though it's advertising makes it seem like a horror movie, "Sorum" is probably more accurately described as a psychological drama/ character study.

A young man moves into a run-down apartment building and soon gets into a relationship with a neighbor. Both the characters and the building have traumatic histories, and over time the ghosts of their past come to light. Viewers expecting a horror movie are likely to be disappointed, but "Sorum" is a subtle and atmospheric drama highlighted by fine direction and action. My main criticism would be that the "secret" of the main character is rather obvious, and telegraphed early on. But this is a minor point, and "Sorum" is recommended for those open to a creepy and challenging drama. 7/10