148 mins |
Rated
Not Rated
Directed by Chang-dong Lee
Starring Steven Yeun, Ah-In Yoo, Jong-seo Jeon
Featuring a talk by Professor Rick Warner, UNC Film Studies
A brooding, mercurial thriller of sorts adapted from a short story by Haruki Murakami, Burning is widely regarded as one of this century’s most accomplished films. In both South Korea and abroad, Lee Chang-dong’s visceral portrait of class-based rage and revenge struck a chord with audiences living in an era in which the excesses of global capitalism have become increasingly apparent and alarming. The film concerns a recent college graduate, Jong-su (Yoo Ah-in), who aspires to be a fiction writer. After falling in love with a young woman from his past who mysteriously vanishes, Jong-su begins to suspect foul play on the basis of thin but persuasive evidence that points to Ben (Steven Yeun), a Gatsby-like entrepreneur. Burning’s reputation as a masterpiece has been overshadowed somewhat by the more seismic, Academy Award-winning breakthrough of another class-conscious South Korean thriller, Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite (2019). But Burning is arguably the better, more intricate work despite being less overt in its themes. Burning, no less than Parasite, is a film of rare power and insight made by a visionary writer-director at the height of his talents.
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Featuring a talk by Professor Rick Warner, UNC Film Studies
A brooding, mercurial thriller of sorts adapted from a short story by Haruki Murakami, Burning is widely regarded as one of this century’s most accomplished films. In both South Korea and abroad, Lee Chang-dong’s visceral portrait of class-based rage and revenge struck a chord with audiences living in an era in which the excesses of global capitalism have become increasingly apparent and alarming. The film concerns a recent college graduate, Jong-su (Yoo Ah-in), who aspires to be a fiction writer. After falling in love with a young woman from his past who mysteriously vanishes, Jong-su begins to suspect foul play on the basis of thin but persuasive evidence that points to Ben (Steven Yeun), a Gatsby-like entrepreneur. Burning’s reputation as a masterpiece has been overshadowed somewhat by the more seismic, Academy Award-winning breakthrough of another class-conscious South Korean thriller, Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite (2019). But Burning is arguably the better, more intricate work despite being less overt in its themes. Burning, no less than Parasite, is a film of rare power and insight made by a visionary writer-director at the height of his talents.
