Return to Seoul

There are so many amazing things about this film. The soundtrack + score, the cinematography, the acting, the exploration around the intersection of culture and identity… the list goes on.  But the thing that really struck me was the passage of time. Moments that seem to last forever, a moment of peace or happiness that seem like they could end any moment and then the boldness to show us the moment that follows, and months or years that pass in a second. I can’t imagine a more honest portrayal of how we feel time pass.  I think one of the main ways we experience time is when we experience an emotion and we link that feeling to the last time we felt that emotion. When we’re constantly feeling the same emotion, time feels like it’s moving slowly, and when we feel so many different emotions, life feels blistering fast. The fact that this film only takes place when Freddie is in Korea parallels this emotion-based passage of time. But here I go philosophizing, I’m sorry.  This movie is so sad. It’s about sadness. Watching a sad person who is extremely lost. Lord knows I’ve been there. I don’t like to think about those times but it does remind me how far I’ve come. I never found what I was looking for, but I did start to find myself. And I think Freddie does too. Which makes the brutally heartbreaking ending a sort of happy ending.  Can I also just say there’s some really incredible cinema coming out of Korea right now? I will definitely be keeping tabs on new developments out of the peninsula.