3-Iron

I was initially displeased with the open-ended resolution but, upon further reflection, have come to conclude that it ties in beautifully into this romance between spectres, beings between presence and absence, in a state that both is and isn't. It is taken for granted that the object is defined by its presence, rather than its phenomenal experience: its representation. A photograph is one such representation; it speaks of the existence of an object even in its absence. This movie fascinated me in a similar manner to that in which Tae-Suk attached himself to the various representations of self found within others' belongings (photographs, posters, and various other objects that indicate presence despite the literal temporary absence of the individual); even within absence, others remain seen, unlike him. Sun-Hwa's image is, on the other hand, a pervasive reminder, as her picture hangs everywhere, functioning as an object of admiration and desire for others while she remains silent and neglected, unseen even by Tae-Suk. The later rearrangement of the photograph depicting her in a stranger's house, and its repeated modification towards the second half of the movie is a significant fragment, representing the compromise of the gaze and how the object is manipulated through intuitive and inherent filters by the beholder. The romance between two ghosts, as one can only be seen by the other, is that much more compelling, especially compared to other pieces of the same vein, because of the film's full commitment to its identity and deliberate illustration of the silent rebellion of the disenfranchised: the commitment I am speaking of is, of course, the complete absence of explicit dialogue between the two leads, excluding the final confession of love. This silent identity is not treated as a deficiency despite the social dispossession that it entails; in fact, when Tae-Suk attempts to escape his identity in spite of Sun-Hwa's silent objections through golf (representative of a higher class and status), the result is devastating. In this full acceptance of the ghost's place of exilement, this movie made me helplessly fall in love with it. I blame myself for my original qualms about the resolution: I wanted to be indulged in a satisfying fantasy and ignored the very nature of the relation with dispossession of the body, in its literal form as well as in the form of the space one claims ownership over. It is a perfect unraveling— one who freely navigates the constrained body of the host ascends to a freedom over the constraints of his body, which was previously untended to due to a previous contentment with his parasitic position within others' half-absences. There is so much more to say about this movie but, all in all, it was a perfect watch for me.