Burning

    To me, Burning is a film concerning uncertainty, something that I didn't perceive as much during the reading of Barn Burning. In the reading, I felt more of a stream-of-consciousness in the writing, therefore didn't delve into a deeper contemplation of the meanings behind. However, the film gave me something much more impactful and deeper in meaning. 

    All three of the characters: Jong-su, Ben and Hae-mi are uncertain, to me. However, these uncertainties later extend, intertwine, and some collapse, or resolve. Jong-su is a writer who doesn't know what to write, as he says this world is still a "mystery" to him, he is lost in his life, he faces uncertainties and unknowns in his life. He is like a mayfly, except he does not live for only a day, but to many, he rarely exists. However, Hae-mi's appearance shed a light on him, just like the stream of light that sheds into the room. It is the only, temporary, short-lived light in his life, and he tries to grasp it desperately; possibly so as Hae-mi, who describes Jong-su as "the only person she trusts". These two characters are interdependent in the uncertain world. It suddenly reminds me of the boy and the girl in The Journey Under the Midnight Sun. 

    Whereas Hae-mi, she desperately attempts to find the meanings of life which she describes as the "Great Hunger", but to many, she also rarely exists. And to Ben, a possible serial killer, she is the perfect quarry. Burning the useless, no-one-would-care, and abandoned greenhouses, Ben could be implying those who he thinks as useless, abandoned people in the society, who, even he killed no on would seem to care or notice. To Ben, he comes to this world for "fun", not to actually live it, which I think matches the ideology of nihilism. He yawns when he sees Hae-mi dancing, and talking about her experiences in Africa and the girl describing her work in China. To him, these are the "funs" in his life, he is a bystander and finds no interest nor meaning in these people or in this world. So he goes onto the journey of killing these useless, abandoned people to satisfy his only need, and it becomes his only source of gratification. However, Hae-mi is special, because Jong-su is next to her. Hae-mi is an inessential person until Jong-su pops into her life, and they both become indispensable to each other, because they are all the property and meaning in the other's life. Both of them, especially Jong-su, for the first time in his life, finds the world meaningful, and gives him a sense of existence. And this is where existentialism and nihilism come to collide. And in this case, the power of existentialism is stronger and angrier. 

    Regarding uncertainty, there are a few places in the film that could symbolize it. Most importantly, we can never be sure whether Ben killed Hae-mi, or he is the serial killer, from all the hints we may deduce that, but it can never be confirmed. And the well, which its existence also can not be verified, and it is possibly the most important proof of how Hae-mi has become such a person who desperately seeks the meaning of life. Furthermore, the cat. With some of the paradoxical lines and scenes in the film, we also cannot be certain about its existence. It could be imaginary, just as the tangerine at the start of the film. 

    Overall, I think it is a great film about "metaphor", and the director is very good at playing with the uncertainties and leaves blank for audience to think more, and I think that makes a film great -- a space for communication and conversation. 

 

Alice