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Park Chan-wook

Decision to Leave: Dancing with Darkness

October 31, 2022 by Steve Norton Leave a Comment

Directed by Park Chan-wook, Decision to Leave follows Hae-Joon (Park Hae-il), a young and successful Busan detective who lives apart from his wife during the week. After a man falls suspiciously from a mountaintop, Hae-Joon is sent to investigate. In the process, he finds himself attracted to the victim’s widow, Seo-rae (Tang Wei). Seo-rae is strangely unfazed by her husband’s tragic death and the two have instant chemistry between them. However, as their relationship causes compromise, Hae-Joon’s world gradually begins to slip away.

Having won Best Director honours at Cannes 2022, Decision to Leave is a gripping tale of one man’s dance with his inner shadows. Featuring stunning visuals and a gripping narrative, Decision to Leave is the type of film that will undoubtedly draw in its audience and make them want to stay for the journey. This is a twisty noir tale where good is gradually swallowed up by the darkness yet may still find something beautiful on the other side. While performances in the film are strong across-the-board, without question the best performance lies with Tang Wei. With the cold-heartedness of a black widow spider, Tang Wei plays her character with such sympathy that the viewer is quickly drawn into her web. There is a brokenness about her but also a ruthless and calculating nature that makes her intriguing to watch. 

As with much of director’s work, Leave is yet another stunningly visual film. Here, Chan-wook wants to blur boundaries between worlds. As detective watches over his suspect and he does so with stunning effect. Through his use of interconnected scenes, crisp colors and even surprising snow, Chan-wook throws fantasy and reality into a blender in ways that accentuate the storytelling. For just one example, as Hae-Joon watches over his suspect, the iconic director removes the distance between characters, as the detective appears to stand in her presence. In this way, Chan-wook visually showcases the boundaries that are being crossed, as Hae-Woo’s interest in Seo-rae becomes more than professional. 

And this is very much a film, which wants to explore what it means to sit in the midst of gray areas. 

What makes Leave an interesting film is that it seems to dip its toe into the waters of social agenda. With an eye on assisted suicide, Leave seems to be interested in discussing the lines between murder and justice. As the body count continues to grow, there are those whose deaths seem justified by request while others are more clearly fueled by malicious intent. As such, Leave attempts to point out the differences between these two notions, highlighting the value in allowing one to decide when their life is ready to end. 

At its heart though, this is ultimately a film about dancing with the darkness. As Hae-Woo leans into his investigation, the life that he has enjoyed suddenly begins to lose its appeal. At first, Hae-Woo is a man of energy and conviction, happily married and fully dedicated to his work. Although, his downfall begins to occur as he attempts to understand evil instead of bringing it to justice. The more he allows himself to compromise his intentions and beliefs, the more he begins to lose his soul and, gradually, the world that he has treasured along the way. (In this way, the film’s title also seems to take on a double meaning as Hae-Woo gradually makes the decision to lean into temptation, as opposed to keep his principles.)

In Decision to Leave, the darkness is alluring, even if it remains destructive.

Decision to Leave was available in theatres on Friday, October 28th, 2022.

Filed Under: Featured, Film, Reviews Tagged With: Cannes, Decision to Leave, Park Chan-wook, Park Hae-il, Tang Wei, TIFF

TIFF ’22: Decision to Leave

September 15, 2022 by Seun Olowo-Ake Leave a Comment

Decision to Leave is directed by Park Chan-wook and stars Park Hae-il and Tang Wei. After Detective Hae-jun (Park Hae-il) investigates the apparent suicide of a man in Busan, he becomes enthralled by the man’s widow, Seo-rae (played by Tang Wei). While he visits his wife every weekend in Ipo, Hae-jun begins a strange relationship with Seo-rae that jeopardizes his case, career, and marriage.

I had questions for Hae-jun because it really didn’t take much for him to fall for Seo-rae, as though he had been waiting for a reason to escape his marriage. At some point in the film, Hae-jun’s wife notes that he gets sad when his life is peaceful and that he needs murder and violence to be happy. I think this aptly describes Hae-jun and explains the reason for his decisions which drive the story. He is drawn to danger; it is why he works as a detective and why he begins a relationship with Seo-rae, even though the viewer can see fairly early on that that can’t end well.

The film looks incredible, and the actors provide some amazing work within it. Tang Wei especially does such a great job of infusing her character with so much innocence that it seems fake, and we don’t know if we can fully trust her. With its beautiful shots, amazing performances and mysterious story, Decision to Leave is compelling and charming right till the end.

Decision to Leave is not playing at TIFF ’22. For screening information, click here.

Filed Under: Featured, Film, Film Festivals, Reviews, TIFF Tagged With: Decision to Leave, Park Chan-wook, Park Hae-il, Tang Wei, TIFF, TIFF22

The Handmaiden – A Delightfully Twisted Tale

October 21, 2016 by Darrel Manson Leave a Comment

 The Handmaiden takes us on a twisting road of deceptions, double- (even triple-) crosses in a crime drama that straddles worlds. Inspired by a novel set in Victorian England, the story has been transferred to the colonial period in Korea, a time that is tied to the traditions of the past and the emergence of modernity. The house in which most of the story takes place is a blend of both Japanese and English styles. The characters come from the aristocratic world and the world of the streets. The film uses both Japanese and Korean (with different colored subtitles so we know which language is being spoken).

Sookie (Kim Tae-ri) is a young woman chosen to be the new handmaiden for Lady Hideko (Kim Min-hee), a beautiful young heiress who has lived most of her life in Korea as the ward of her uncle, Master Kouzuki (Cho Jin-woong). When Sookie arrives she is in awe of the opulence of the home. But things are not as they seem. There are limits to where Sookie is allowed to go. The basement is especially off limits. There is a kind of dark feeling to this house despite the richness of the surroundings.

handmaiden3

The twists begin when we learn that Sookie is not really a servant, but a thief who has been recruited by The Count (Ha Jung-woo), a slick conman posing as nobility, to befriend Lady Kideko and help The Count woo her. The plan is for The Count and Lady Kideko to elope, claim Lady Kideko’s wealth in Japan, then have her committed and steal her money. But as the story unfolds there are far more twists, with secrets coming to light all along the way—including a love story. The less said about the surprises, the better. After all, that’s what makes this kind of movie so enjoyable—the way we keep feeling off-balance until the end.

handmaiden1

As with most crime films, The Handmaiden touches lightly on some of the darker side of life: crime, physical and emotional abuse, soft porn and the lasciviousness that feeds on it. But it does so in a way that avoids explicit portrayals. This is a story that spends a lot of time on the sinful nature of people, yet there is a small bit of the virtuousness of love that offers redemption from the depravity. That too is a way the film tries to balance very different worlds that clash in the story—by providing the chance for love to defeat all the plots of those who seek to do harm.

Photos courtesy of Amazon Studios/Magnolia Pictures

Filed Under: Film, Reviews Tagged With: crime story, erotica, Japan, Kim Min-hee, Kim-Rae-ri, Korea, LGBT, Park Chan-wook

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