Return to Seoul
Director Davy Chou
Return to Seoul Director Davy Chou
This film is both odd and straightforward. It is odd in the way the story is told in four different sections years apart with little explanation of what happens in between. The first section shows the protagonist, a teenage girl named Ji-min, living in Paris with her adoptive parents and brother. She seems happy and carefree, but also curious about her origins. The second section jumps to four years later, when Ji-min returns to Seoul to look for her biological parents. She meets a young man named Min-ho, who helps her with her search. They develop a close friendship, but Ji-min also struggles with her identity and her feelings of abandonment. The third section skips another four years, when Ji-min is back in Paris and working as a photographer. She receives a letter from Min-ho, who tells her that he has found her biological parents. Ji-min decides to go back to Seoul and confront them. The fourth and final section shows Ji-min's reunion with her parents and how she deals with the aftermath.
It is odd in its enigmatic lead character who is partly tender and wild, diffident but loyal. Ji-min is a complex and contradictory person, who can be playful and adventurous one moment, and withdrawn and distant the next. She is loyal to her adoptive family and to Min-ho, but she also rejects their attempts to help her or understand her. She is tender towards the people she loves, but she can also be wild and reckless, especially when she feels hurt or angry. She is diffident about her own identity and place in the world, but she also has a strong sense of curiosity and courage.
Yet, it is also a straightforward story of a young girl trying to find herself and where her biological family fits into her life. The film explores the themes of adoption, identity, belonging, and family through Ji-min's journey. It shows how she tries to reconcile her past and present, her French and Korean cultures, and her adoptive and biological families. It also shows how she grows as a person through her experiences and relationships.
There are some dynamic scenes. And Park Ji-min makes her acting debut as a force of nature (much like the character). She delivers a powerful and nuanced performance that captures the emotions and conflicts of Ji-min. She has a natural charisma and presence that draws the viewer into her story.
The pacing is laconic, perhaps too much so. The film moves slowly and deliberately, leaving a lot of gaps and silences for the viewer to fill in. It does not provide much exposition or dialogue, relying more on visual cues and expressions. While I liked the fact that it was never trite or tried to explain too much, I wish there was more depth to the content. I wanted to know more about Ji-min's life in Paris, how she felt about being adopted, what motivated her to search for her parents, how she coped with the results of her search, etc. I felt that some aspects of the story were underdeveloped or unresolved.
Return to Seoul Director Davy Chou
This film is both odd and straightforward. It is odd in the way the story is told in four different sections years apart with little explanation of what happens in between. The first section shows the protagonist, a teenage girl named Ji-min, living in Paris with her adoptive parents and brother. She seems happy and carefree, but also curious about her origins. The second section jumps to four years later, when Ji-min returns to Seoul to look for her biological parents. She meets a young man named Min-ho, who helps her with her search. They develop a close friendship, but Ji-min also struggles with her identity and her feelings of abandonment. The third section skips another four years, when Ji-min is back in Paris and working as a photographer. She receives a letter from Min-ho, who tells her that he has found her biological parents. Ji-min decides to go back to Seoul and confront them. The fourth and final section shows Ji-min's reunion with her parents and how she deals with the aftermath.
It is odd in its enigmatic lead character who is partly tender and wild, diffident but loyal. Ji-min is a complex and contradictory person, who can be playful and adventurous one moment, and withdrawn and distant the next. She is loyal to her adoptive family and to Min-ho, but she also rejects their attempts to help her or understand her. She is tender towards the people she loves, but she can also be wild and reckless, especially when she feels hurt or angry. She is diffident about her own identity and place in the world, but she also has a strong sense of curiosity and courage.
Yet, it is also a straightforward story of a young girl trying to find herself and where her biological family fits into her life. The film explores the themes of adoption, identity, belonging, and family through Ji-min's journey. It shows how she tries to reconcile her past and present, her French and Korean cultures, and her adoptive and biological families. It also shows how she grows as a person through her experiences and relationships.
There are some dynamic scenes. And Park Ji-min makes her acting debut as a force of nature (much like the character). She delivers a powerful and nuanced performance that captures the emotions and conflicts of Ji-min. She has a natural charisma and presence that draws the viewer into her story.
The pacing is laconic, perhaps too much so. The film moves slowly and deliberately, leaving a lot of gaps and silences for the viewer to fill in. It does not provide much exposition or dialogue, relying more on visual cues and expressions. While I liked the fact that it was never trite or tried to explain too much, I wish there was more depth to the content. I wanted to know more about Ji-min's life in Paris, how she felt about being adopted, what motivated her to search for her parents, how she coped with the results of her search, etc. I felt that some aspects of the story were underdeveloped or unresolved.