Burning (2018)

Recently watching Yukiko Mishima's"Dear Etranger" - where an everyday male is pushed to his limits, but rather than exploding violently, returns to a calm after a passive aggressive outburst - I was struck by the hero's choice to keep on the straight and narrow, rather than let that tension get the better of him. Based on the Haruki Murakami short "Barn Burning" (and also William Faulkner's story of the same name), "Peppermint Candy" director Lee Chang-dong chooses to let that tension out violently, allowing it to boil to an inevitable conclusion.

Adapting the character backgrounds, their interactions, however, are reasonably faithful to the original short. Jong-su (Yoo Ah-in) is somewhat of a lowly figure in Seoul. A farmer's son, he works low-level jobs while holding his ambition of becoming a writer. By chance he meets an old school friend from his farming village, Hae-mi (Jun Jong-seo) and the pair get chatting, meeting on several occasions before consummating their born-again friendship. But, having saved some money, she intends to travel to Africa, asking Jong-su to take care of her (non-existent) cat.

On her return, following an attack on the airport in Nairobi, Hae-mi returns, though not alone. Asking him to meet her at the airport, Jong-su is surprised to see her accompanied by the suave Ben (Steven Yeun); the trio then going for a meal together. Intrigued by his writing, Ben often accompanies Hae-mi whenever she meets up with Jong-su. Though feeling uneasy about being the third wheel and out-of-place among Ben's high society friends, Jong-su is also suspicious of Ben's wealth for one so young and mysterious about his earnings.

His father imprisoned for a violent outburst, Jong-su has to return to his family farm to tend to its needs. It is on the farm, after smoking some weed together, that Ben reveals to Jong-su his passion for burning greenhouses: ones simply asking to be burnt down. This only adds to the man's mystery. Indicating that he has found his next "victim" nearby to Jong-su's farm, Jong-su is obsessive in trying to figure out which it will be. After receiving a call from a distressed Hae-mi, she subsequently disappears, leaving him to obsessively pursue Ben in order to find answers to both Hae-mi's whereabouts and the puzzle of the next greenhouse.

The first thing to note about "Burning" is that it is long. At two-and-a-half hours with a slow pace, Lee allows a long of time for the suspense to rise, which he does well. Jong-su's life is coming to a low point: his dad in prison, taking over a failed farm and no clear career path or love life to speak of. Almost as if researching for a novel, he plots the possibilities for Ben's next barn attack, as well as staking out his home - this has become what he lives for. But the length doesn't drag too much; come the end, you are searching for numerous answers. "Burning", much like the Japanese short story, leads a lot of open ends and leaves it up to you to piece them together.

Ben is the anti-Jong-su: successful, confident and full of mystery. Steven Yeun plays him adeptly; his time in America giving him an aura of the foreign in Jong-su's world. His charm and seeming boredom at Hae-mi - the nature of their relationship unclear, as it is with his subsequent love interest - make Jong-su question what his exact motives are, fuelled by his story of burning greenhouses. Was this merely a stoned prank, or is there a much more sinister man lying beneath? He is fully under Jong-su's skin.

Ben is almost calling Jong-su to act. A man of mystery, he seems as if he doesn't even know himself, living the high life, but without any real purpose. As in his interview in Sight & Sound, Lee wanted to show the difficulties for today's youth in South Korea. Jong-su has nothing but intentions and feels unable to act on them; while Ben has everything but no sense of purpose. Jong-su's final act is the rage of the have-nots against the haves.

The ending may feel somewhat inevitable by the time it comes, but much like Jong-su's obsession, the longer you leave it and the more you mull it over, the more intriguing it gets. Having re-read the short after, as well as adding the ending, Lee adds a greater sense of mystery, obsession and social comment. What starts as a burning candle, explodes like a firework.

Peppermint Candy vs. The Story of Yonosuke

When you look back on your life, what will your overall assessment of it be? Many would probably not like the results, finding fault in decision-making and turning points where the wrong direction was taken. What if it could have all been different?!

Two films that take a look back over a life – the Korean ‘Peppermint Candy’ directed by Chang-dong Lee; and the Japanese ‘The Story of Yonosuke’ by Shuichi Okita – are films similar in theme, though very different in their outlook of the lives they cover. Where there is joy, there is sadness; where there is laughter, there are tears; where there is innocence, there is guilt.

‘Peppermint Candy’ starts at the end: a student reunion twenty years on from a picnic sees a violent, drunk and lost Yong Ho disrupt the party; belligerent to his former friends. Ignored as he grows more uncontrolled, the group notice that Yong Ho is stood on the train tracks as an oncoming train approaches. Opening his arms, he embraces his demise. We are then taken on a reverse train ride through the life of Yong Ho to various key moments where his character is beaten, to see how an innocent student became a suicidal mad man. 

‘The Story of Yonosuke’, on the other hand, starts in the present, where Yoko receives a letter reminding her of her boyfriend from her days at University. Not just Yoko, however, various others at University with Yonosuke Yokomichi are given call to reminisce over the friend they had back in the 1980s. Each looks back with fond memories and a laugh on their face as they remember their extraordinarily ordinary friend.

There is a clear difference here straightaway: ‘Peppermint Candy’ looks at the negative impact that Yong Ho has had on the lives of those around him, and vice versa; while ‘The Story of Yonosuke’ reflects only on the positive impact the lead had on each of the lives he touched. The starting point for both characters is different, but as the film progresses, we learn that both, while students, had ambitions of being photographers.

Yonosuke is a country bumpkin moving to Tokyo, with unusual and bemusing mannerisms that those around him cannot help but find endearing…eventually. In his charming naivety, he finds himself at a photography exhibition, and soon becomes drawn to the art form. Yong Ho, we learn at the film’s conclusion, is quite a passionate young man, wanting to photograph ‘nameless flowers’, looking to the soon-to-be-named Sunim, who saves her money to buy him a camera.

Both have a naïve innocence about them at this stage in their lives, though only one will be able to maintain it. Yong Ho is soon tainted by his army service, accidentally shooting a young girl; and further corrupted by joining the police force, turning him into an aggressive and violent character. His new-found domineering personality soon finds him success in setting up his own business and playing the stock market, only to become embittered by his ex-wife, former business partner and cheating financial adviser, leaving him with nothing.

Yong Ho loses control over his life, and indeed his dream. In the army, he is ordered around, not cut out for the way of life. But it leaves a clear impression on him, and his return sees him unruly and unlike the young man he was before. His time at the police only worsens him further, with their underhanded tactics for getting confessions removing all morality from him. He becomes a man only after more money and more affairs with young women, alienating him from his wife and daughter, until all is lost.

Yonosuke, however, is a man devoid of any corruption. His simple ways show a man unconcerned by the opinions of those around him, happily going about his business. He has little in the way of preconceptions, and simply takes things as they come. Yong Ho becomes an embittered man, whereas Yonosuke remains a child, following his own intrigue. As the story progresses, we learn that Yonosuke did indeed become a professional photographer: his maintaining of this childish intrigue taking him there, while Yong Ho’s was quickly lost when serving in the army.

It is fair to say that the Korean film is more of a somewhat bleak look at life, with a focus on where it all went wrong; while the Japanese looks at what made things right for Yonosuke, more joyful in its outlook. Though the films are laced with similarities throughout.

Being films about stories of individual lives, they are both quite long. But, happily broken up into mini tales of different stages, they do not become too overbearing and are easy to digest, with a central arc to take us to the next: ‘Peppermint Candy’ takes us on a musical interlude with a reversing train; while ‘The Story of Yonosuke’ sees a different individual look back on the life of Yonosuke now they are older.

With some nice pacing, we learn that Yonosuke too – starting as a student with photography ambitions – is also killed by a train, though in very different circumstances. Yong Ho kills himself feeling that all is lost, whereas Yonosuke selflessly helps someone in danger, putting himself at risk. Yonosuke’s life is to be celebrated, while the sad demise of Yong Ho will probably see few mourn. In both, the message is that following your own path and not letting it be misdirected by others is perhaps the best way to go – as simple as it sounds, but as difficult as it is to live.

Both also offer a chance for reflection and point the question back to us about how our own lives have progressed: Were they happy or sad journeys?; and were they happy or sad outcomes? The starting point may be the same, and the final conclusion may be the same, but how we got there is very different.

As ‘Peppermint Candy’ concludes, with Yong Ho looking up at a passing train on the line that twenty years later will kill him, he looks forward to his life, while we look back on what he has become.

Both 'Peppermint Candy' and 'The Story of Yonosuke' are available via Third Window Films.