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Review: Burning (버닝) (2018)
After I first watched this movie, I was a bit confused about what I should be taking away from the movie, so I looked up a few discussions. I think the point of the movie is to not be certain about the events of what had happened and to come to your own conclusions, just as our main character did.
Anyway, the story was interesting. I'd say it was an ok film. I wouldn't say it was amazing because it wasn't a movie that spoke to me personally, but after doing some thinking and reading discussions, I can see the care that was put into creating the movie.
Spoilers.
Story
I read that this movie was based on a short story by Haruki Murakami. I haven't read anything by that author, but I have heard that his stories take a little bit of getting used to. I guess I could sort of see that here in that it took me a bit of time to understand the pace and direction of the story.
Anyway, the story focused on our main character Lee Jong-su. He bumped into a friend from his village called Shin Hae-mi and essentially in love with her. After her trip back from Africa, she befriended and possibly dated a rich guy called Ben. At the same time, Jong-su's dad was being sued for bodily harm and property damage.
After a small disagreement between Jong-su and Hae-mi (in which he compared her to a prostitute), Hae-mi seemed to had disappeared. Jong-su stalked Ben in hopes of finding out if he did anything to her. He ultimately came to the conclusion that he did, and Jong-su ended up stabbing Ben to death.
In terms of the discussion I'd been seeing about the story itself, a lot of it was centered around what actually happened to Hae-mi, which is understandable. The first thought that popped up in a lot of people's minds was that Ben killed her, but I think people were quick to acknowledge that all of the clues we'd seen were supposed to lead Jong-su to jump to that conclusion. Instead, most of the other popular theories were that Ben had either sex trafficked Hae-mi, or that Hae-mi had committed suicide. In particular, I think Detectivegringo @ Reddit had an interesting analysis that I will borrow from in the next two paragraphs.
The sex trafficking makes more sense if you consider the shadiness of Ben. He had a lot of money but no one could figure out what he did (possibly illegal activity). He'd also called his work "play," which was another hint. And the circumstances around Hae-mi's living condition just made her an easy target (not having any close family or friends).
As for committing suicide, we could see that Hae-mi was battling some isolation and mental health issues. She'd said that she'd been stuck in a well as a kid despite people in town saying that there was no well next to her home. The well might've been a metaphor for her feeling trapped and isolated. Perhaps that was why Jong-su's mom left as well, because she'd recognized the well and needed to get away from it.
Does the truth matter though? I was half expecting Hae-mi to pop back up at the end of the movie, disproving Jong-su's theory that Hae-mi was dead, but what would that change? What's done is done, and I don't know that Hae-mi would be attached enough to Ben to actually hate Jong-su for killing him.
Production
The acting was pretty good from the three main characters of Jong-su, Hae-mi, and Ben. I had no complaints.
In terms of the cinematography, I did find myself paying attention to what was not on screen, which I don't see as a bad thing. Instead, what was on screen made my brain try to piece together what was happening out of frame, or off screen completely, which I guess goes with the theme of this movie of not knowing the truth.
I did feel that there was a lot of explanatory dialogue, that could've been spread out a bit. For example, Jong-su and Hae-mi went drinking soon after they reunited, and Hae-mi was talking a lot of philosophy. It was a lot to digest, which isn't bad, but at that point, it felt a little forced. That's just nitpicking though. Overall, it didn't change my impression of the movie at all.
Characters
Lee Jong-su
Jong-su had studied creative writing but he was working as a part-time delivery man. He had to move back to the rural as his father was in prison, probably to tend to the cow.
I think that Jong-su's mind worked in the very same way as most of ours do. I think he was easily convinced by what he saw, whether it was good or bad.
When Jong-su had first met Hae-mi, he didn't recognize her at all, but he gave in to her insistence and believed that she was indeed his childhood friend. In fact, several people come into his life separately with nothing but their assurances that they are who they are. Jong-su had been eating at a noodle shop that was supposedly owned by Hae-mi's family, but they really had no proof, though the younger lady did bear a resemblance to Hae-mi herself. Later on, Jong-su's mom reappeared in his life 16 years after leaving but again, there was nothing to prove that she was who she said he was (though Jong-su probably would've been able to recognize her). But Hae-mi was definitely the fishiest, as she said that she'd gotten plastic surgery and that was why she looked so different.
On the other hand, I think Jong-su was also easily convinced to think the worst of people. It's clear that he was jealous of the bond between Hae-mi and Ben, as Jong-su liked Hae-mi (though I wonder how much of it was just because Hae-mi was the only girl he really knew). His suspicions that Ben had done something to Hae-mi grew more serious as he saw Ben with already another female companion, Hae-mi's pink watch in his possessions, and a cat in his house who answered to "Boil," Hae-mi's cat's name. It seemed to be too much of a coincidence, but at the same time, it's not entirely possible. A possible explanation could just be that Ben and Hae-mi were dating (and Hae-mi had left her watch at his place) and had broken up (thus the new girlfriend). As for the cat, it's hard to say whether they were reacting to the name "Boil," or whether it was just a chance thing.
Up until he stabbed Ben, I wouldn't exactly blame Jong-su for all of his thoughts. He didn't see any downside to befriending Hae-mi at first, and when he couldn't contact Hae-mi, it was reasonable to think that something had happened to her, as opposed to her having left everyone behind.
Jong-su stabbing Ben was a bit surprising, but I see it as an expression of his conviction. He stabbed Ben because he was sure that he did something to her, no matter what that something was.
Shin Hae-mi
Hae-mi was a country girl hustling in the city. She also seemed to long for a larger purpose in life, the "Great Hunger" she was seeking in Africa.
Hae-mi seemed like a fun-loving gal but I think she was using certain tricks to cope. I already mentioned Hae-mi talking about the time she was stuck in the well, but it might've been an expression. Hae-mi was also learning pantomime, in which she said the trick was not to imagine the missing object, but to forget that the object was not there. In that way, I can see Hae-mi trying to pretend her problems do not exist in order to survive. She'd also mentioned how seeing the sunset in Africa made her want to disappear, just as the sun did beyond the horizon. I think she might've been drunk that time, and it was probably quite close to her true thoughts.
In the interactions we saw between Hae-mi and Ben, it seemed pretty clear that there was "something" there, at least on Hae-mi's side. She seemed to like playing coy with him, and Ben flirted right back, but as we saw her try to dance the Great Hunger, Jong-su saw Ben yawn, signalling that Ben was probably getting tired of her, and that it was time to get rid of her. This would support the sex trafficking theory.
Hae-mi was probably living beyond her means. Her family said she had huge amounts of credit card debt, and they didn't want to see her until she'd cleared it all up. As well, she was living in a tiny apartment but managed to fund a trip to Africa (which was probably very expensive). This would suggest the theory that Hae-mi had to disappear to evade debt collectors.
There's also some question as to whether Hae-mi truly was who she said she was. As we know, Jong-su didn't recognize her. He said that she seemed more like Hae-mi as he spent more time with her, but that could also be confirmation bias (which we see in false confessions and such.). Hae-mi bringing up the well accident was another strange thing, since Jong-su had no recollection of it. Even the house she'd supposedly lived in had been burned down so there wouldn't be anything to reconcile this Hae-mi with the Hae-mi of his childhood.
I actually thought that Hae-mi and Ben were in some partnership to scam Jong-su or something, based on how shady they both were, but that's more of a wild theory than anything well-supported.
Ben
Ben was a very mysterious guy. He was rich and well-cultured, so why was he hanging out with Hae-mi? I did think that he saw her as a sort of plaything, as did his friends (more on that later). In all of the times that women flirted with him, Ben seemed to respond, but not in a sincere way.
What did Ben think of Jong-su? He said that he'd felt jealous of Jong-su, but was he just trying to rile him up?
After the second party, in which Ben invited his second girlfriend, he reminded Jong-su that he was supposed to tell him something about Hae-mi. This would've been a strange thing to do if he had done something to Hae-mi, but it also might've been a calculated step he'd taken to throw Jong-su off of his tail.
A lot of people were discussing the fact that Ben had agreed to meet with Jong-su because he said he was with Hae-mi. If Ben had done something to Hae-mi, he'd known that she wouldn't be with Jong-su and would've treated that meeting suspiciously. Again, he could've been playing 3d chess to try to trick Jong-su. We already knew that Ben knew that Jong-su was stalking him and yet he did nothing to stop him, so maybe that was his way of trying to convince Jong-su that he had nothing to hide.
One thing for sure is that he didn't expect Jong-su to stab him. In addition to that, he seemed pretty rattled as he was dying, even though he'd mentioned that he wasn't really much of an emotive guy. I don't know that that says anything about what he did to Hae-mi though. It just proved to me that he didn't think Jong-su would do anything to him.
There was the tangent about Ben's hobby of burning down greenhouses. Again, this might've been a metaphor for him ruining the women around him. There was someone in a Reddit thread who said that makeup and burning are the same in Korean, but I couldn't find anything to corroborate it. We did see a scene in which Ben was doing the makeup for his new girlfriend near the end of the movie, and perhaps that was his act of "burning a greenhouse," of sending her away to ruin.
Lee Yong-seok/Dad
Jong-su's dad only ever appeared in the courtroom. He was convicted for assault and property damage. It was revealed that he'd always had anger issues, which was why Jong-su's mom left. Did he pass on any of that to his son? The only aggressive thing Jong-su had ever done was stab Ben and set him on fire, but that's pretty aggressive.
Mom
Jong-su's mom decided to reconnect with him after 16 years, but it's clear that their reunion wasn't great. She was talking about her own problems, how she needed money. Jong-su wanted to help her, but she knew that he couldn't do much. More importantly, Jong-su's mom was constantly distracted by her phone, smiling much more at her message notifications than at her own son.
Themes
Burning
Of course, I have to talk about the title of the movie. The obvious connection is to Ben's hobby of burning greenhouses. He found a euphoria in it. He said he'd only do it to useless greenhouses that no one cared about anymore. Again, the popular theory is that his hobby of "burning greenhouses" is really that of hooking in isolated women and then trafficking them.
I was thinking about how after burning a greenhouse, the only thing remaining is the frame. So burning doesn't completely deteriorate something, but it can leave something unprotected. I know I talked about Hae-mi being isolated, but Jong-su seemed to be on his way to becoming more isolated. Throughout the movie, he was in a constant state of reconnecting with people and then having that connection broken. He met Hae-mi and even loved her, but she was gone before he could apologize. He returned to his hometown because there was a problem with his dad, but he only saw him in the courtroom and wouldn't see him again in the outside world for 1.5 years. And he'd reconnected with his mom, but it was clear that she didn't really love him as a mother should to a son.
Pantomime
As I mentioned, Hae-mi said that the trick to pantomime was not to think that the missing object was there, but to forget that it didn't exist. This probably applied to the problems that Hae-mi was dealing with her personal life.
I think that it also might've applied to Jong-su as he tried to piece together what happened to Hae-mi. There were a lot of gaps in the clues he found, but maybe it was convenient to pretend that they didn't exist.
I also think that Jong-su might've subscribed to this idea as he continued to visit Hae-mi's flat while she had disappeared. He'd often go there to masturbate, sometimes to work, and even to bring girls there. Though he said that he loved Hae-mi, I wonder if he was fixated on the time that they'd spent together and thought that he was in love without thinking that she might've treated other guys the same when she wasn't with him.
Class differences
I think there was a clear intention to portray class differences in this movie. I saw it the moment we met Ben.
He was very wealthy, so much so that Jong-su got suspicious about why he was hanging out with them. As I mentioned, I got the sense that he was treating them like playthings. Ben found Hae-mi cute, like you might find a pet.
This was exacerbated when Jong-su and Hae-mi were invited to spend time with Ben's friends. Hae-mi got really exciting describing her trip to Africa, and you could see that Ben's friends were egging her on and laughing at her. They wanted Hae-mi to do the dance in the middle of the restaurant and they were watching on as if this was entertainment.
There were also signs of this when Ben was talking about burning down greenhouses. He talked about it as if it was no big deal, but I think he can afford to do so because he's seen as a well-to-do man. On the other hand, Jong-su's dad was thrown in jail for property damage for throwing a chair. Yes, he'd fractured a man's thumb, but the court proceedings informed us that the victim only needed 6 weeks to recover, which I hardly think warrants a 1.5 year sentence.
Those in power treat the law as a philosophical and intellectual game, whereas it really is life-or-death for those who struggle.
Overall
This was an interesting movie, but I can see why it would be unsatisfying for some people. I'd only recommend it to people who are familiar with these sorts of drama films that aren't supposed to give a clear answer.
Anyway, the story was interesting. I'd say it was an ok film. I wouldn't say it was amazing because it wasn't a movie that spoke to me personally, but after doing some thinking and reading discussions, I can see the care that was put into creating the movie.
Spoilers.
Story
I read that this movie was based on a short story by Haruki Murakami. I haven't read anything by that author, but I have heard that his stories take a little bit of getting used to. I guess I could sort of see that here in that it took me a bit of time to understand the pace and direction of the story.
Anyway, the story focused on our main character Lee Jong-su. He bumped into a friend from his village called Shin Hae-mi and essentially in love with her. After her trip back from Africa, she befriended and possibly dated a rich guy called Ben. At the same time, Jong-su's dad was being sued for bodily harm and property damage.
After a small disagreement between Jong-su and Hae-mi (in which he compared her to a prostitute), Hae-mi seemed to had disappeared. Jong-su stalked Ben in hopes of finding out if he did anything to her. He ultimately came to the conclusion that he did, and Jong-su ended up stabbing Ben to death.
In terms of the discussion I'd been seeing about the story itself, a lot of it was centered around what actually happened to Hae-mi, which is understandable. The first thought that popped up in a lot of people's minds was that Ben killed her, but I think people were quick to acknowledge that all of the clues we'd seen were supposed to lead Jong-su to jump to that conclusion. Instead, most of the other popular theories were that Ben had either sex trafficked Hae-mi, or that Hae-mi had committed suicide. In particular, I think Detectivegringo @ Reddit had an interesting analysis that I will borrow from in the next two paragraphs.
The sex trafficking makes more sense if you consider the shadiness of Ben. He had a lot of money but no one could figure out what he did (possibly illegal activity). He'd also called his work "play," which was another hint. And the circumstances around Hae-mi's living condition just made her an easy target (not having any close family or friends).
As for committing suicide, we could see that Hae-mi was battling some isolation and mental health issues. She'd said that she'd been stuck in a well as a kid despite people in town saying that there was no well next to her home. The well might've been a metaphor for her feeling trapped and isolated. Perhaps that was why Jong-su's mom left as well, because she'd recognized the well and needed to get away from it.
Does the truth matter though? I was half expecting Hae-mi to pop back up at the end of the movie, disproving Jong-su's theory that Hae-mi was dead, but what would that change? What's done is done, and I don't know that Hae-mi would be attached enough to Ben to actually hate Jong-su for killing him.
Production
The acting was pretty good from the three main characters of Jong-su, Hae-mi, and Ben. I had no complaints.
In terms of the cinematography, I did find myself paying attention to what was not on screen, which I don't see as a bad thing. Instead, what was on screen made my brain try to piece together what was happening out of frame, or off screen completely, which I guess goes with the theme of this movie of not knowing the truth.
I did feel that there was a lot of explanatory dialogue, that could've been spread out a bit. For example, Jong-su and Hae-mi went drinking soon after they reunited, and Hae-mi was talking a lot of philosophy. It was a lot to digest, which isn't bad, but at that point, it felt a little forced. That's just nitpicking though. Overall, it didn't change my impression of the movie at all.
Characters
Lee Jong-su
Jong-su had studied creative writing but he was working as a part-time delivery man. He had to move back to the rural as his father was in prison, probably to tend to the cow.
I think that Jong-su's mind worked in the very same way as most of ours do. I think he was easily convinced by what he saw, whether it was good or bad.
When Jong-su had first met Hae-mi, he didn't recognize her at all, but he gave in to her insistence and believed that she was indeed his childhood friend. In fact, several people come into his life separately with nothing but their assurances that they are who they are. Jong-su had been eating at a noodle shop that was supposedly owned by Hae-mi's family, but they really had no proof, though the younger lady did bear a resemblance to Hae-mi herself. Later on, Jong-su's mom reappeared in his life 16 years after leaving but again, there was nothing to prove that she was who she said he was (though Jong-su probably would've been able to recognize her). But Hae-mi was definitely the fishiest, as she said that she'd gotten plastic surgery and that was why she looked so different.
On the other hand, I think Jong-su was also easily convinced to think the worst of people. It's clear that he was jealous of the bond between Hae-mi and Ben, as Jong-su liked Hae-mi (though I wonder how much of it was just because Hae-mi was the only girl he really knew). His suspicions that Ben had done something to Hae-mi grew more serious as he saw Ben with already another female companion, Hae-mi's pink watch in his possessions, and a cat in his house who answered to "Boil," Hae-mi's cat's name. It seemed to be too much of a coincidence, but at the same time, it's not entirely possible. A possible explanation could just be that Ben and Hae-mi were dating (and Hae-mi had left her watch at his place) and had broken up (thus the new girlfriend). As for the cat, it's hard to say whether they were reacting to the name "Boil," or whether it was just a chance thing.
Up until he stabbed Ben, I wouldn't exactly blame Jong-su for all of his thoughts. He didn't see any downside to befriending Hae-mi at first, and when he couldn't contact Hae-mi, it was reasonable to think that something had happened to her, as opposed to her having left everyone behind.
Jong-su stabbing Ben was a bit surprising, but I see it as an expression of his conviction. He stabbed Ben because he was sure that he did something to her, no matter what that something was.
Shin Hae-mi
Hae-mi was a country girl hustling in the city. She also seemed to long for a larger purpose in life, the "Great Hunger" she was seeking in Africa.
Hae-mi seemed like a fun-loving gal but I think she was using certain tricks to cope. I already mentioned Hae-mi talking about the time she was stuck in the well, but it might've been an expression. Hae-mi was also learning pantomime, in which she said the trick was not to imagine the missing object, but to forget that the object was not there. In that way, I can see Hae-mi trying to pretend her problems do not exist in order to survive. She'd also mentioned how seeing the sunset in Africa made her want to disappear, just as the sun did beyond the horizon. I think she might've been drunk that time, and it was probably quite close to her true thoughts.
In the interactions we saw between Hae-mi and Ben, it seemed pretty clear that there was "something" there, at least on Hae-mi's side. She seemed to like playing coy with him, and Ben flirted right back, but as we saw her try to dance the Great Hunger, Jong-su saw Ben yawn, signalling that Ben was probably getting tired of her, and that it was time to get rid of her. This would support the sex trafficking theory.
Hae-mi was probably living beyond her means. Her family said she had huge amounts of credit card debt, and they didn't want to see her until she'd cleared it all up. As well, she was living in a tiny apartment but managed to fund a trip to Africa (which was probably very expensive). This would suggest the theory that Hae-mi had to disappear to evade debt collectors.
There's also some question as to whether Hae-mi truly was who she said she was. As we know, Jong-su didn't recognize her. He said that she seemed more like Hae-mi as he spent more time with her, but that could also be confirmation bias (which we see in false confessions and such.). Hae-mi bringing up the well accident was another strange thing, since Jong-su had no recollection of it. Even the house she'd supposedly lived in had been burned down so there wouldn't be anything to reconcile this Hae-mi with the Hae-mi of his childhood.
I actually thought that Hae-mi and Ben were in some partnership to scam Jong-su or something, based on how shady they both were, but that's more of a wild theory than anything well-supported.
Ben
Ben was a very mysterious guy. He was rich and well-cultured, so why was he hanging out with Hae-mi? I did think that he saw her as a sort of plaything, as did his friends (more on that later). In all of the times that women flirted with him, Ben seemed to respond, but not in a sincere way.
What did Ben think of Jong-su? He said that he'd felt jealous of Jong-su, but was he just trying to rile him up?
After the second party, in which Ben invited his second girlfriend, he reminded Jong-su that he was supposed to tell him something about Hae-mi. This would've been a strange thing to do if he had done something to Hae-mi, but it also might've been a calculated step he'd taken to throw Jong-su off of his tail.
A lot of people were discussing the fact that Ben had agreed to meet with Jong-su because he said he was with Hae-mi. If Ben had done something to Hae-mi, he'd known that she wouldn't be with Jong-su and would've treated that meeting suspiciously. Again, he could've been playing 3d chess to try to trick Jong-su. We already knew that Ben knew that Jong-su was stalking him and yet he did nothing to stop him, so maybe that was his way of trying to convince Jong-su that he had nothing to hide.
One thing for sure is that he didn't expect Jong-su to stab him. In addition to that, he seemed pretty rattled as he was dying, even though he'd mentioned that he wasn't really much of an emotive guy. I don't know that that says anything about what he did to Hae-mi though. It just proved to me that he didn't think Jong-su would do anything to him.
There was the tangent about Ben's hobby of burning down greenhouses. Again, this might've been a metaphor for him ruining the women around him. There was someone in a Reddit thread who said that makeup and burning are the same in Korean, but I couldn't find anything to corroborate it. We did see a scene in which Ben was doing the makeup for his new girlfriend near the end of the movie, and perhaps that was his act of "burning a greenhouse," of sending her away to ruin.
Lee Yong-seok/Dad
Jong-su's dad only ever appeared in the courtroom. He was convicted for assault and property damage. It was revealed that he'd always had anger issues, which was why Jong-su's mom left. Did he pass on any of that to his son? The only aggressive thing Jong-su had ever done was stab Ben and set him on fire, but that's pretty aggressive.
Mom
Jong-su's mom decided to reconnect with him after 16 years, but it's clear that their reunion wasn't great. She was talking about her own problems, how she needed money. Jong-su wanted to help her, but she knew that he couldn't do much. More importantly, Jong-su's mom was constantly distracted by her phone, smiling much more at her message notifications than at her own son.
Themes
Burning
Of course, I have to talk about the title of the movie. The obvious connection is to Ben's hobby of burning greenhouses. He found a euphoria in it. He said he'd only do it to useless greenhouses that no one cared about anymore. Again, the popular theory is that his hobby of "burning greenhouses" is really that of hooking in isolated women and then trafficking them.
I was thinking about how after burning a greenhouse, the only thing remaining is the frame. So burning doesn't completely deteriorate something, but it can leave something unprotected. I know I talked about Hae-mi being isolated, but Jong-su seemed to be on his way to becoming more isolated. Throughout the movie, he was in a constant state of reconnecting with people and then having that connection broken. He met Hae-mi and even loved her, but she was gone before he could apologize. He returned to his hometown because there was a problem with his dad, but he only saw him in the courtroom and wouldn't see him again in the outside world for 1.5 years. And he'd reconnected with his mom, but it was clear that she didn't really love him as a mother should to a son.
Pantomime
As I mentioned, Hae-mi said that the trick to pantomime was not to think that the missing object was there, but to forget that it didn't exist. This probably applied to the problems that Hae-mi was dealing with her personal life.
I think that it also might've applied to Jong-su as he tried to piece together what happened to Hae-mi. There were a lot of gaps in the clues he found, but maybe it was convenient to pretend that they didn't exist.
I also think that Jong-su might've subscribed to this idea as he continued to visit Hae-mi's flat while she had disappeared. He'd often go there to masturbate, sometimes to work, and even to bring girls there. Though he said that he loved Hae-mi, I wonder if he was fixated on the time that they'd spent together and thought that he was in love without thinking that she might've treated other guys the same when she wasn't with him.
Class differences
I think there was a clear intention to portray class differences in this movie. I saw it the moment we met Ben.
He was very wealthy, so much so that Jong-su got suspicious about why he was hanging out with them. As I mentioned, I got the sense that he was treating them like playthings. Ben found Hae-mi cute, like you might find a pet.
This was exacerbated when Jong-su and Hae-mi were invited to spend time with Ben's friends. Hae-mi got really exciting describing her trip to Africa, and you could see that Ben's friends were egging her on and laughing at her. They wanted Hae-mi to do the dance in the middle of the restaurant and they were watching on as if this was entertainment.
There were also signs of this when Ben was talking about burning down greenhouses. He talked about it as if it was no big deal, but I think he can afford to do so because he's seen as a well-to-do man. On the other hand, Jong-su's dad was thrown in jail for property damage for throwing a chair. Yes, he'd fractured a man's thumb, but the court proceedings informed us that the victim only needed 6 weeks to recover, which I hardly think warrants a 1.5 year sentence.
Those in power treat the law as a philosophical and intellectual game, whereas it really is life-or-death for those who struggle.
Overall
This was an interesting movie, but I can see why it would be unsatisfying for some people. I'd only recommend it to people who are familiar with these sorts of drama films that aren't supposed to give a clear answer.