A good director must be a storyteller. Zhang Zhexiu can not only tell stories, but also make up stories. I don't know where the prototype of this story in his mind came from, but it vaguely made me see some familiar shadows. People often say that the cruelty of life goes far beyond novels and movies. Conversely, the themes of all film and television works also come from life. Such a cruel and even unbelievable story on the surface is not a myth far away. Because we can never measure how dark the sin of human nature can be.
The beginning of the film is an ordinary day in a big city, a small incident in a bank. An official bank clerk flatly declined an old man applying for a loan. There's nothing special about this kind of thing, it happens every day around us, we're used to it, and we don't feel anything wrong with it, unless we happen to be the old woman sitting across from her. But more often, we are the bank clerk with a handsome face but aloof like a robot. No matter how much the pain of others is, it has nothing to do with us.
Hae-won, who was ordered to take a vacation due to stress and emotional outbursts, returns to her hometown, a remote island isolated from the world. It was her childhood friend Jin Funan who came to greet her. Funam and Hae-won are two very different types. Haiyuan has fair skin, meticulous facial features, looks pure and pure, and has a strong bookish air, while Funan is a typical rural girl, with dark skin, round face, strong body, and a smile with a heartless look. Their childhood experiences of playing together made them bond. Now that Funan sees Hae-won returning home, sincere joy ripples on his face. And Haiyuan has been away from home for many years, and she doesn't know what happened on this island, nor does she understand Funan's life.
Hae-won, who has settled down, begins to rediscover the friendship with Funan from many years ago. Funan's enthusiasm also ignited her long-closed heart. It seems that the years of separation have not brought much estrangement between them. Funan takes care of Hae-won's food and daily life thoughtfully, making her feel at home. But Funan's smiling face hides an unknown secret.
On this island like an independent kingdom, people follow a completely different set of rules from the outside world. Here only men are the real masters, women are just accessories, especially young housewives like Funan. In addition to her work, she is only a tool for men to vent their sexual desires, and it is not exclusive to her husband. Even her uncle can occupy her body at will. Her husband treats her like a kitten and puppies, beating or scolding her when he is unhappy, and he doesn't shy away from looking at her when he recruits prostitutes from outside the island, and Funan seems to have become numb to all of this. Her long-term patience has blocked her sensory perception, and she may have been forced to accept this fate deep in her heart, being used as a tool. Only when she is with her daughter and close friend Hae-won does she smile sincerely.
However, this patience is not endless. After a long silence, she finally had the opportunity to break out. One day, Funan found out that her daughter had also been raped by her husband. This is a reality she cannot accept no matter what. She began to think of escape. After failing to seek help from Hae-won, she finds prostitute Mi-ran and begs her to take the child away from the island. Yet fate always seemed to play cruel jokes on her. After the plan failed, not only was she beaten by her husband, but her daughter was also killed in the tussle. Funan's world collapsed in an instant.
The development of the film here, Funan's life trajectory has been basically clear. The childhood memories are interspersed, depicting the different life paths of Hae-won and Funan, and their personalities also form a sharp contrast, the kind and warm Funan, the cold and selfish Hae-won, one left the island to pursue a new life in the metropolis, the other One stayed to face the cruel life. If nothing else, their lives should have returned to the right track after a brief intersection, but life is not a monotonous script that remains unchanged. Hae Won inadvertently became the last straw that broke the camel's back. When she saw that Funan lost her beloved daughter, she instinctively chose to escape without telling the truth, and she ignored Funan and tried to escape independently. He was so passionate but was treated so coldly, and finally gave up the last line of reason, rose up and killed.
"Don't die in silence, just explode in silence", the moment when Funan broke out, has an intriguing plot. After busy farming, she straightened up, smiled at the dazzling sun, then turned to the neighbors and said: I spoke to the sun just now. She seemed to have received the apocalypse, and finally made up her mind at that moment. Say goodbye to the oppressed and enduring life, and seek justice from all those who have wronged her.
From here, the emotions of the viewers have changed from depression to exhilaration, and bloody scenes have gradually filled the movie screen. However, when I watched it, I didn't feel horror, but an inexplicable pleasure. Funan's scythe was swung down, and bystanders who were once indifferent and even agitated shrank to death, the aunt who used to be cynical was forced to jump off the cliff, the uncle who treated her as a plaything was cut off, the savage and shameless husband's Fingers were bitten off, and the corpse was smeared with miso. The pain and humiliation that Funan has endured over the years is gradually relieved in the process of revenge.
However, there is still an unfinished account, and that is the grievance between Hae Won and Funan House. Memories take us back to many years ago. Hae-won's playful kiss left an imprint on Funan's heart. In order to protect Hae-won, Funan was knocked out by four boys and even gang-raped, while Hae-won hid behind a tree and stole it. Look, since she was a child, she was an indifferent and selfish girl, maybe she never used true affection for Funan. This time, she stood at a high place and saw everything, but still chose to remain silent. Funan pretended to be her and went to Seoul to look for her, probably just wanting an explanation. What used to be true love was Hae Won's usual "unkindness", which was the opportunity for Funan to finally give up her patience and rise up to kill.
However, the kind-hearted Funan belonged to Ai Haiyuan after all. She chose to die in Haiyuan's arms and under Haiyuan's flute. At the temporary moment, what flashed in her mind must be the good times that the two of them spent together in childhood. She finally got rid of all the pain in the world and went to another world.
After going through all the cruelty, Hae-won, who has returned to her daily life, seems to have undergone some changes. The brilliant director dropped his last tear gas here. Hae-won tore open the letters that Funan wrote to her, and when she saw Funan's thoughts soaked in between the lines, she also shed tears of regret like us. If she had opened these letters earlier, if she had replied to Funan, if she had given more sincerity and love to Funan, perhaps this tragedy would not have happened. Where there is love, sin is contained; where there is no love, sin flourishes. Funan died in sin with an incomparable thirst for love, and I hope she left us not just some feelings that have nothing to do with her.
Finally, I would like to talk about the Korean actress Seo Young-hee who plays the role of Kim Funan. She interprets Funan's mental journey very vividly. From the cowardly and forbearance at the beginning to the outburst of anger at the end, the emotional changes are subtle and convincing, and it is definitely the performance of the actress. In short, this movie gave me too many surprises, and it also gave me more confidence and expectations for the development of Korean movies. At the same time, I can't help but wonder: When will our domestic films reach the depth of exploring human nature, and our director's debut film can also achieve such a blockbuster?
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