Things I Watched: Burning

I’ve mentioned before on this blog that I’m a big fan of Haruki Murakami. I consider the Wind-up Bird Chronicle to be high on my favourite books of all-time. One of the reasons I like it so much is because it deals with the concept of overcoming past trauma. It’s arresting in its exploration of that uncomfortable state of being that comes from not being fully in control of one’s environment. Lee Chang-dong’s Burning — itself inspired by a Murakami short story called Barn burning — shares a whole heck of similarities. In my opinion, it’s an absolute masterclass of film-making!

Set in modern day Seoul, the film follows aspiring young novelist, Lee Jong-su. One day he bumps into an old friend, Shin Hae-mi, working a dead-end job as an event promoter. He doesn’t recognize her at first because of she’s recently undergone plastic surgery – fairly popular in South Korea. Later they sleep together and she tells him about the ‘great hunger’ she’s seeking in life. This leads to a spontaneous trip to Africa whereupon she meets Ben, an elusive nouveau-riche type. The three then become embroiled in a complex love triangle culminating in Hae-mi’s disappearance. All the while Jong-su’s estranged father is facing judicial reprimand owing to an attack on a government official.

I know it’s lapse of me to say without explaining but I can’t understate how loaded the film is with metaphors. Central to this is distrust, especially towards figures in power. This is most evident through Ben, the privileged ‘Gatsby’ type who informs Jong-su one day of his proclivity for burning greenhouses – ‘nobody will miss them’. After a figurative goose chase, it becomes obvious that it’s a metaphor for power. The way Jong-su becomes embroiled in the situation gives heady weight to the turmoil that comes from him losing trust in others. The film, like many of Murakami’s books, expertly considers the personal impact of it, alongside other potent themes including class disenfranchisement, love, family tension, and politics.

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