Chang-dong Lee sets the narrative like Citizen Kane meets Memento (this is only description here as this is 1 year prior to Memento)—the “peppermint candy” is the “Rosebud” if you will – lost innocence told in flashback, but structured in a reverse chronological order like Memento. The interludes are even stronger than Memento– Chang-dong Lee simply cuts to the same reoccurring shot of train tracks—gorgeous work
It’s a political film, an anti-war film, a sort of “making of a monster” but here it’s his suicide—spans 20 years, the peppermint candy (a little on the nose) is a bit like the butterflies in All Quiet on the Western Front as well- symbolic-
Timeline titles and opens on the train tunnel
Bookends with the gathering of friends (haunting coda as it’s the victim)
Disillusionment after war/military—it breaks him
A freeze frame in the bookends as well- first as the train comes at him, then on his face at the end of the film
A mystery with the first viewing—“what drove this man to suicide?”
The reoccurring train motif is very inspired—it’s fabulous film form- not just in the great interludes (think Breaking the Wave’s establishing shots) but in the forward moving narrative flashbacks
It’s not as heavy as 1997’s debut Green Fish but Chang-dong Lee loves his use of green—the apron at the barbers, the signs just sitting there in the parking lot, glasses and bottles like Ozu
A great tracking shot moving in on a barred window with the naked lovers inside at 75 minutes—Chang-dong Lee doesn’t put style in every shot, but a spot here and there (think middle and end of Burning) to great effect
A tragic love story like the other works I’ve seen
A great long-take apprehending a criminal as a cop—we’re on the train tracks (yet again) and green forest
Kyung-gu Sol is the protagonist- lost, complex (which sometimes looks a little like inconsistency but we’re in good hands with Chang-dong Lee)
Like Burning and Green Fish there are short scenes with bursts of great violence – he flips out at a café—starts (as a civilian now) barking military orders—long take- shot behind his head for part of it- clearly PTSD
Kyung-gu Sol is a tough hang during that first hour when you’re solving the riddle- mean to kids and dogs
Like Burning we have the larger context here- student protest on TV
Great shot from inside the café– Chang-dong Lee frames the open doors—during this scene he’s teaching a girl how to ride a bike
Everyone asks why he became a cop—“you always wanted to be a photographer”- army is coming into view—he’s changed and hardened—disillusioned and corrupted- it’s tragic
We get the reveal of the limp (which is the entire film), the horrific climax at the railroad
The epilogue is Eden, heaven, the peppermint candy origin—freeze frame ending on face with train noise accentuated like Pacino in The Godfather hinting at the nightmare coming
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