Low key and yet pretty involving film about angst 18 year old whose world is seemingly falling apart with the separation of his loved one.
Film is very much done in the realism fly on the wall style of the Dardenese Brothers. (the guys who did L'infant and Rosetta and Lorna's Silence among others of course) Film is somewhat played out of order--film has scenes of the guy happy with his high school sweetheart coming after he's been beaten and had his arm broken by the girl's father, and after he's already been told to get lost by her as well....with its scenes of a love gone wrong plot and a tormented young man, film is kind of like a Korean take on 500 days of summer but much less whimsical.
The plot is kind of nominal---The guy basically broods, he gets a job delivering take out food on a mo-ped...but mostly uses it to stalk his ex, and his ex's friends when his ex cannot be found. (the fast food place keeps calling him to ask why he's not back yet to make another delivery) The guy does various things to make you wonder if he's just a normal kid really depressed over his breakup or is he going to cross the line into a darker kind of depression.
As a low key yet realistic (and naturalistic for what its worth) study of a love torn, broody, and generally pessimistic young man trying to mull a potential future for himself in a city in Korea--the film keeps you involved enough--although the ending when it comes may seem a little abrupt--the little coda that pops up right after the end but before the credits roll is just perfect enough to offer you the insight that nobody ever knows what the heck they're doing...and that you probably shouldn't brood so much over the actions of someone else because of that fact anyways. Its not a bad way to end the movie, not a bad way to end it at all.
Film is very much done in the realism fly on the wall style of the Dardenese Brothers. (the guys who did L'infant and Rosetta and Lorna's Silence among others of course) Film is somewhat played out of order--film has scenes of the guy happy with his high school sweetheart coming after he's been beaten and had his arm broken by the girl's father, and after he's already been told to get lost by her as well....with its scenes of a love gone wrong plot and a tormented young man, film is kind of like a Korean take on 500 days of summer but much less whimsical.
The plot is kind of nominal---The guy basically broods, he gets a job delivering take out food on a mo-ped...but mostly uses it to stalk his ex, and his ex's friends when his ex cannot be found. (the fast food place keeps calling him to ask why he's not back yet to make another delivery) The guy does various things to make you wonder if he's just a normal kid really depressed over his breakup or is he going to cross the line into a darker kind of depression.
As a low key yet realistic (and naturalistic for what its worth) study of a love torn, broody, and generally pessimistic young man trying to mull a potential future for himself in a city in Korea--the film keeps you involved enough--although the ending when it comes may seem a little abrupt--the little coda that pops up right after the end but before the credits roll is just perfect enough to offer you the insight that nobody ever knows what the heck they're doing...and that you probably shouldn't brood so much over the actions of someone else because of that fact anyways. Its not a bad way to end the movie, not a bad way to end it at all.
