- South Korea
BURNING
Synopsis
“Burning” (South Korea, 2018) by Lee Chang-dong follows Jongsu, a young man who delivers parcels and wants to become a writer. He runs into Haemi again by chance, a woman who used to live in his neighbourhood. She asks him to feed her cat while she travels to Africa. When she returns, she has Ben at her side, a wealthy, worldly man she met on her travels. One evening, at the farm of Jongsu’s father near the border with North Korea, Ben tells them about his unusual hobby: burning down greenhouses. Shortly afterwards Haemi disappears, and Jongsu’s unease turns into obsession.
Lee Chang-dong has turned Haruki Murakami’s short story “Barn Burning” into a film about class differences, envy and the impossibility of being certain of one’s own perceptions. The narrative remains suspended to the end between thriller and interior study. “Burning” screened in competition at Cannes in 2018 and received the FIPRESCI Prize of the international film critics there. It was shown at Around the World in 14 Films in Berlin in 2018.
Festival
Shown at the 2018 edition of Around the World in 14 Films.
