Burning is a slow, tense, and unsettling film. Released in 2018 from director Chang-dong Lee, the South Korean film follows the story of Jong-su (Ah-In Yoo) whose life worsens when he bumps into an old childhood friend Hae-mi (Jong-seo Jun). Hae-mi asks him to look after her cat while she goes on a trip overseas and when she returns she introduces him to Ben (Steven Yeun). Ben, Jong-su and Hae-mi’s lives begin to tangle and things become complicated as Jong-su’s suspicions of Ben increase.
Burning was advertised as a hybrid film blending all the best and bleakest parts of the psychological thriller, drama and mystery genres. The result is a fantastically unsettling film which although slow for the first half develops rapidly and keeps you on the edge of your seat, surprising you right until the very end. When first released at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival Burning rightfully received rave reviews with almost unanimous positive praise for its ambiguity and ability to create unease.
The lack of background music, the bleak colour scheme and the construction of shots to appear as though someone is watching Jong-su all combine together to help build this tension. Add in a splash of mystery – whether things have gone missing or whether they never even existed in the first place – and finish it off with an ambiguous ending that lets the viewer decide just how sinister the story really was. Boom, you’ve got yourself an Academy Award-shortlisted foreign film. Burning was the first South Korean film to make the final shortlist for Best Foreign Language Film while the following year Parasite became the first South Korean film to actually be nominated (and win).
Not only is Burning a well-shot and visually incredible film, but the story itself is also artistically created through the blending of two short stories, both of the same name. With stronger connections to Barn Burning by Japanese author Haruki Murakami (published in 1993) Burning shares elements of mystery and intrigue while building off the plot of the story and the characters. However, Burning is also inspired by the elements of vengeance, class conflict and the influence of fathers taken from William Faulkner’s Barn Burning (1939). For me, this was a really interesting concept that encouraged me to dig deep and explore both stories once I finished the film – a deep dive that actively changed my perspective on the film (and made me want to immediately watch it again!).
Although maybe not everyone’s style of film, Burning is a masterpiece of storytelling and creative expression, combining multiple short stories with the talents of an incredible cast and crew to create a tense and gritty story that’s never quite what it seems. For lovers of mystery, drama and a pinch of psychological thriller, this film is the perfect thing to watch on a rainy afternoon.
Score: 4.5/5