"August Photo Studio" is still the usual warm-hearted tone of Korean love movies. It uses indifferent narration to make death extremely simple. Director Xu Qinhao used a lot of brush and ink to portray the man guarding the photo studio, and the camera followed his busy work meticulously and slowly. Occasionally, he would rest on a chair and look at the street outside the window. The old man wearing a mask paced slowly, and the blue pickup truck drove by. He witnessed a moment in the lives of many strangers, and everyone smiled for that moment. This profession brought him the magic of calming his heart and saying goodbye to his grief.
Regarding that love, both of them were tacit. There is no warm confession, everything is secret and shy. He took pictures of her, she smiled so brightly, her face was beating with fresh life, what a bright emotion it should be. It's just that twilight has come to his life.
He went drinking with friends, chatting, urinating in the corner, and whispering, I'm dying. The friend was stunned for a moment, then slapped him on the back, insane. The two men stumbled up and down the empty street laughing and drunk. He went into his father's room late at night, pulled his quilt over and slept beside him. In the rainy night, he covered his head and wept deeply. He got mad at his father, who always didn't understand how to play a VCR. He began to fear separation.
Finally, he sat in front of the camera and took a picture of himself. He buttoned his coat, straightened his glasses, and the corners of his mouth rose at the last moment. This was his last smile. All the letters he wrote to her were put into boxes and never sent.
The film begins with a man's slow voice: "Since my mother died, I suddenly realized that everyone will eventually disappear..." Finally, it was the same voice: "The feeling of love will fade, just like Old photos, but you will always stay in my heart, you will always be beautiful, until the last moment of my life, thank you, goodbye." The curtain of life is over, but love has not had time to really begin. All the heaviness and enthusiasm melt into the viewer's heart, involving clear and deep pain.
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