(1) Regarding the idea:
The core of the film is based on an unsolvable contradiction: Desire drives people to constantly ask about the meaning of existence, but the world is complex, like an unsolvable mystery, which will never give the correct answer.
Looking for the meaning of existence outside of existence is destined to be a tragedy of falling into nothingness. But even so, there are still many people who refuse to give up and continue to pursue the meaning of life. The pain, confusion, anger, and the sins that arise from hard pursuit but no release, outline the reality that all sentient beings are suffering.
Li Cangdong believes that there is widespread anger in reality. All classes are angry for their own reasons, and because they cannot find a clear object of anger, they feel powerless and suffering. He wanted to tell people's anger, especially the anger of the younger generation recently, and the movie "Burning" came into being.
"Burning," dubbed the Angry Project by the playwrights, is an adaptation of Haruki Murakami's short story "Burning the Barn," which combines Faulkner's "Burning the Horse Barn." Haruki Murakami's virtual and real approach reveals a kind of Zen wisdom and beauty, which is very suitable for expressing the virtual and real in reality, and it is also very suitable for the enigmatic world that this film wants to express. Faulkner is a master of writing suffering, and he has explained the indifference of society, the separation and alienation between people, and the pervasiveness of evil in human nature. In fact, Li Cangdong's other films also have the taste of Faulkner: the meticulous portrayal of human endurance, allegorically condensing the suffering of the entire human being, forcing the audience to stand at a higher level than the role and a more universal perspective To understand the plot, he not only sympathizes with people in suffering, but also ruthlessly exposes their inferiority, and at the same time points out a way out, revealing full of humanistic care.
(2) About the script and expression:
The movie "Burning" adopts a narrative that combines reality and reality, and the plot consists of two parts: reality and fiction. The real part of the film is that Zhong Xiu meets her childhood neighbor Hui Mei, drinks and chats together, and Hui Mei inspires Zhong Xiu's creative inspiration. Low-level people, pantomimes, little and great hunger, Africa, cats, women, these have all become his creative material. Zhong Xiu, who was returning from the checkout, saw the scene of the couple kissing at the next table, and then glanced at Emi, who was sleeping on the table. Zhong Xiu took out her mobile phone and started to create, and the film immediately entered the illusory world of the novel.
This method of connecting the virtual and the real highlights the authenticity of subjective feelings, which is very consistent with the theme that the director wants to express. The director induces the audience to be angry with Zhongxiu, burn together, and then complete a sinful murder together.
There is no solid evidence at all, why do you always think Ben is a perverted murderer when watching the movie? This is the director's little trick, but it is enough to fully pull out the dark side of the audience. The director takes Zhong Xiu as the main point of view, leading the audience to observe Ben's behavior with an imaginary. The audience predicts that Ben is a bad person, and will compare all his words and deeds with the perverted murderer. In order to prove that they are right, they will lose objectivity.
Burning plastic sheds may just be burning plastic sheds. It is Zhong Xiu who thinks of burning useless people; Zhong Xiu is always the one who ignites the fire in the film. It is Zhong Xiu who dreams of burning plastic sheds and smiles again; Ben talked about The bass voice in my heart may only refer to feeling the inner voice, but it is Zhong Xiu who thinks of the pleasure of killing; Ben said that you should not judge, but accept the laws of nature, and it is Zhong Xiu who thinks of rationalizing crimes; makeup may be just makeup, but Zhongxiu was thinking of cremation (화장 in Korean means both makeup and cremation)... It's not so much that Ben is suspected of being a pervert, it's better that he brought out Zhongxiu's fear and dark side. Jong-soo has a tendency to rationalize his self-behavior, he struggles to prove the existence of that well, why? Because there is a well, it means that she has saved Emi, and Emi will fall in love with her, and with love, there will be a reason for revenge.
The director brought out the "inherent evil in human nature" and asked the audience to join Zhong Xiu, pick up a knife, and stab Ben to death. There are no open endings, the novel is about a downright tragedy. In the ending scene, Zhongxiu lied that he and Huimei came to Ben together. Ben asked where Huimei was as soon as they met. If Emi was killed by Ben, he wouldn't ask that, and he wouldn't even come to the appointment. He wondered why Zhong Xiu wanted to kill him, but before death came, he hugged Zhong Xiu tightly.
In Faulkner's words, "he was cowardly and murderous," and the murder was how Faulkner's "human stupidity" destroyed much of the good in the world. Director Li Changdong lets the audience participate in the tragedy, and then reflects on why he has come this far.
Is what the naked eye sees real? Real feelings are also real. The movie is fictitious, but the viewing experience is real, and the audience's own dark side pouring out through Zhong Xiu's anger is also real.
Everyone has a dark side, and it is painful to be aware of one's own dark side. Many people do not want to admit it, so they choose to avoid it, but escaping makes people avoid their responsibilities as a human being. Only by looking directly at your darkness, acknowledging and accepting it, understanding its destructive power, and then resolutely doing good, can you be liberated.
(3) Regarding imagery:
Li Changdong pointed out, "It's not just the plastic shed, such images that transcend meaning and concept are scattered in every corner of the film, such as pantomime, well, cat, Ben..."
"Well": Wells appear frequently in Haruki Murakami's novels, often representing the key imagery that dominates the fate of the protagonist. "Well" has both positive and negative meanings. "A well with water symbolizes the source of life": Hui Mei and Zhong Xiu said that she fell into the well when she was a child, waiting for rescue, and saw Zhong Xiu's face. This is an expression of love. Ben once told Zhongxiu that Huimei was more lonely than she thought, and that Zhongxiu was a special existence in her heart. Ben said that he was rarely jealous, but he was jealous of Zhongxiu. The jealousy he said was exactly that love. As for the negative connotation of a well, that is, "a waterless well", in Haruki Murakami's image, a dry well symbolizes fear, darkness, estrangement and bondage": Zhong Xiu learned from her mother that it was not a water well, but the one that once existed The well is a dry well. It was this dry well that Zhong Xiu found an excuse to kill Ben.
"Plastic shed": There is nothing in the plastic shed. It is transparent and empty, which refers to "nothingness". At the same time, the plastic shed is also an entity, created for a certain purpose, referring to "existence". This is the core philosophical content discussed in the whole film, existence and nothingness.
"Mime": The oranges in the pantomime, Emi said, "Don't imagine that there are no oranges, forget the fact that there are no oranges, you can eat oranges at any time." That is: in the face of nothingness, don't imagine that life is meaningless, forget The fact that life has no meaning, enjoy the moment, you can feel the sweetness of life at any time.
"Cat": The cat in the film is also very interesting. It not only represents the element of Haruki Murakami, but also has the meaning of Schrödinger's cat. It has both and nothing. It corresponds to a line of Ben. I am here and elsewhere. This refers to people's choices. You choose your current self, and other possibilities for you will collapse. This corresponds to the tragedy of Zhong Xiu killing Ben in the novel. At the moment when the crime happens, the better self will also collapse. We have our destiny and our own choices.
As for Ben, the less prejudiced he is, the more objective he can see. Don't see Ben as a villain, you can find that he lives a transparent and transparent life. A lot of what the director wants to say is said by the character of Ben, both good and evil. To understand evilly is the darkest sin, and to understand positively is to warn the world.
(4) Combustion
Burning is desire; if desire is not balanced, burning is anger, a force that can breed evil; burning can also be a choice, burning the malicious self, you can have a better self . As Ben said in the movie, I am both here and there; as Ben said in the novel, he wants to burn the barn to seek a moral balance.
Burning the barn is a metaphor that ultimately points to people's choices. In countless possibilities, according to your inner bass voice, create the most ideal yourself and lead to a better future. This is what Li Cangdong, who is very humanitarian, wants to discuss with the younger generation who are struggling in confusion and anger.
Faulkner has always said, "Man is indestructible because he has a simple idea of freedom."
"Burning" is a very good film with a very high degree of completion. It achieved the highest score in the magazine, but it failed in the awards. It is called the biggest bead in Cannes this year. Villeneuve also highly praised the film, and he solved it like this: regret is also art.
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