Burning Barns/ Greenhouses/ Cigarettes/ People

        The things that stood out most to me when watching the film were the additions to the narrative made in adaptation. I felt Chang-Dong Lee stayed rather faithful to the original plot beats while adding his own, some of which added layers to the plot and others that would occasionally strike me as odd.

        The aspect of the new plot which stuck out most to me was Jong-su's relationship with his father, as whenever it cut back to that I was left puzzled at its inclusion. From my understanding, Jong-su's father had a lot in common with the famously obstinate and oddly violent father that could be found in the William Faulkner story "Barn Burning". The movie further cemented that thought in the various moments in which it went out of its way to mention Faulkner's writing. I believe this change was made so as to flesh out the restlessness that is presented by the protagonist of both the Murakami short story and film. Both forms of the story gesture at the human desire for destruction, with both protagonists being taken in by the vision of the wealthy stranger's habit for burning down small buildings. The director offered a glimpse into the desire and anger behind the quiet man and then took that desire for destruction and the mystery at the heart of the plot to its inevitable end by having Jong-su murder Ben.

    During the downtime of the movie, which it had a lot of, I often wondered about why the director changed the plot from burning down barns to burning down greenhouses, as greenhouses are far less innocuous than an old shed that no one uses. One way of looking at it is thinking of greenhouses as inarguably good and helpful, since they make food and flowers, and thus the desire to destroy one is the desire for destruction of the good in the world, rather than just the unremarkable. It also could just be argued that greenhouses are more common in Korea, I simply don't know.

     A change that the film made was that the character Ben was often shown amongst high society, whether it be his house or among his friends in a bar, which implies his possible destructive tendencies are not only accepted by the rich in Korea, but that he is not the only one with such inclinations. If so, the problems presented in the story are not personal, but rather indicative of a societal imbalance of power. Whether it is cigarettes, clothes, buildings or people, the characters in this film have a burning desire within them placed there by the unjust society in which they live.

  Side thoughts: 

• I think it's a bad sign when you go into a movie based on a ten page story and see that it is two and a half hours long, but I also am not an internationally acclaimed Korean director, so what do I know.
• They managed to add an awkward sex scene to one of the few Murakami stories without an awkward sex scene. The man would be proud.

 -Luke Ptak

Burning (2018) Review

 Burning (2018) I feel is a very good adaptation to the Murakami story and faithful to the themes that it had. The main idea that I thought it conveyed well is the questioning of what is reality and what is being thought of in the protagonist's head. It left it open ended as to whether Ben was really a serial killer or Jong-su was just being paranoid about Ben, whether Hae-mi had abandoned her life or was killed, whether the events at the end really happened or not. And these aspects I think connect to a common Murakami theme of what is being told is not actual reality and the questioning of what is and isn't, like the Rat visiting Boku even though he's already dead in A Wild Sheep Chase.

In the original Barn Burning story, I think the idea that the boyfriend being a serial killer was a bit more subtle than Burning, with Burning leaving suggestive clues like the drawer of accessories of different people, Ben having Hae-mi's cat with the cat responding to being called Boil, his strange trips to the countryside. These clues didn't really exist in Barn Burning, but I don't think that's a bad thing, as it brings in more the question on whether Ben was a serial killer or not, it helped with the suspense. Of course non of these are conclusive reasonings, so it makes the audience question that what is being suggested is the real case or not, which I think is a common theme or Murakami. 

This sense of questioning what is being presented is also the case with Hae-mi and whether or not she was killed or abandoned her life. There's evidence of her not liking her current like with contemplating what I'd be like if she disappeared when she got back from Africa, she had a lot of debt to pay off, which kept her family from helping her, and the straw that might've broke the camel's back was Jong-su calling her a whore, making her feel completely unwanted. It also makes it hard for her to feel genuine with the falling in the well story, as no else says happened or that there was even a well in the first place, with the only person agreeing with her being Jong-su's mom but she doesn't even seem one hundred percent about it. This also goes with Murakami theme of remembering things, characters remembering things that seem a bit outlandish or differently from others, and this theme is used well in the movie as it adds an element as to whether Hae-mi is being genuine with her character or just a pathological liar and has gotten herself too deep in a mess. So this also adds to the questioning of what the audience is being told and what is and isn't true.

The events at the end can even be called in question on whether they really happened or not, with it being connected to Jong-su's book. Near the end we see him writing in Hae-mi's old room and then it eventually transitions to the murder of Ben, it brings in the idea of what if what's being portrayed is really just Jong-su's story that he's envisioning. It could explain why the murder scene was a bit strange, Ben gave no resistance to being killed, even though he's well fit enough and potentially knowledgeable about murders, so just letting Jong-su kill him without any fight back makes it seem too easy and simple, lending to the idea that it was just what Jong-su envisioned what would've happened, even though it's not that realistic. Which again adds to the questioning of the reality of the film.

The Korean setting I think worked in the movie's favor, instead of barns it was greenhouses the boyfriend wanted to burn, which makes sense as Korea had a boom of greenhouses during it's White Revolution of agriculture. It also incorporates the theme of rich and poor more than the original story, with Ben being very rich and entrepreneur and Jong-su is a farm boy. I'm aware this social contrast is very popular in Korean films, and I think it adds more to the contrast between Ben and Jong-su.

Overall I think that Burning is a great adaptation of the Murakami story, incorporating common themes that Murakami uses so that it could even be an easy introduction to explore him as a writer more.

-David Barnes

Thoughts on Burning

Overall I think Burning successfully captures the surreal, ambiguous, and somewhat melancholic atmosphere of Murakami's Barn Burning. The biggest difference I noticed is that Murakami's writing has more room for interpretation, whereas the movie is more explicit about what messages it wants the viewers to get. Perhaps to make the story plot richer, the film gives its main character backstories and also offers social commentary on some prominent issues in Korean society.

In Barn Burning, when the narrator sees his female friend off at the airport, he says that "[by] the look of her...you'd almost think she was returning from North Africa," which vaguely suggests that North Africa symbolizes something of her past and she is more closely tied with distant North Africa than with modern-day Japan. In Burning, Hae-mi tells the story about "little hunger" and "great hunger" when she says that she's going to Africa, and does the Bushmen dance naked at sunset. Later Ben also explains to Jong-su that Haemi is "lonelier than she seems." Through these added lines and actions, the film is making it very clear that Haemi has been searching for the meaning of life and is spiritually connected with the world Africa represents even when she is physically in Korea. The film also provides more direct evidence suggesting that Ben has murdered Hae-mi like an unwanted greenhouse, whereas Murakami's story is more open-ended.

The characters in the film have more personality than they do in Murakami's story. Boku usually narrates the story quite objectively and rarely talks about his emotions, but Jong-su in the film clearly has emotions and doesn't hesitate to express them, such as when he tells Ben he's in love with Hae-mi, when he masturbates at Hae-mi's place, and when he murders Ben in the end. Jong-su does not feel like Murakami's typical "Boku," but the film's portrayal sure makes him a more interesting character. In addition, the film gives the "antagonist" a somewhat logical motivation behind his greenhouse-burning and human-hunting activities: his material needs are all easily satisfied so he needs the thrill of dominating and destroying unneeded objects (and human beings) to confirm his existence, which isn't really made clear in Barn Burning.

Besides the obvious similarities in plot, there are a few other commonalities between the film and Murakami's short stories. Murakami's characters mention real brand names a lot in his stories, and they also often talk about national or international news that the readers will be aware of to suggest that the magical stories take place in this very real world. Similarly, the film includes a speech of Donald Trump and has the characters eat at an ordinary restaurant with Korean writings all over the wall to situate itself in the realistic modern society. Like the characters Murakami's stories, the characters in Burning also reference specific western literature, such as The Great Gatsby and the writings of Faulkner. A lot of Murakami's stories blur the line between reality and illusion, and the film also does that by adding a cat and a well that both have and have not existed.

In addition to reflecting the story and themes of Barn Burning, the film also discusses a few social issues more specific to Korea. For example, the fact that Hae-mi becomes unrecognizable to her childhood friend because she has done plastic surgery touches upon the issue of Koreans' high standard for female beauty and Korean women's obsession with plastic surgery. Jong-su's unsuccessful job interview where all candidates are referred to by numbers and judged based on where they live offers a glimpse of the dehumanizing side of Korean capitalism. The stark contrast between Ben and Jong-su's professions and living conditions demonstrates the huge wealth gap in Korea, and Hae-mi's friend's complaint that "there's no country for women" also comments on the gender struggles in modern Korean society.

Crystal

Burning Movie Review

While I really liked the movie Burning, I am not sure that it completely captured the feeling I had while reading Murakami's story. The main discrepancy, in my opinion, is the difference of the main character Jong-Su in Burning to the main character in "Barn Burning" who in the short story is married, 11 years older than the girl, and without really any backstory. Meanwhile, in Burning Jong-su is a troubled young creative writing student whose father is going in and out of jail and has very little money. This creates a different atmosphere because I honestly became much more interested in Jong-Su than the whole situation with Hae-mi and her disappearance, compared to when reading the short-story and I was interested in the detective aspect. This could also be because in class we had already discussed that the boyfriend had killed the girl in the short story, so I already knew what was going to happen.

There were however a lot of other interesting points of the movie with different Murakami references/themes. I don't know if it is reading too much into it, but I thought that when Hae-mi and Ben arrive from their trip and meet Jong-su at the airport, and she is craving a specific stew, this reminds me of Murakami's interest in food and how it interacts with everyday life.  Additionally, when Jong-su goes to Ben's apartment for the first time, Ben is cooking pasta and I noticed on the counter-top there was spaghetti, which is reminiscent of a Murakami theme. The directors could have just randomly added this detail but I am curious if they were inspired by Murakami's other short stories when they included this. Also, the Faulkner novel is mentioned many times in the movie, which is where the title of "Burning Barns" comes from, and it is also mentioned in the short story when the main character reads it while waiting for the girl at the airpot. And Ben is having trouble naming the cat, which could be another Murakami theme of having a particular relationship with names, but also it could just be because the cat was originally named Boil and named by Hae-mi. 

I think the fact that the movie was set in Korea changed the mood slightly, although I do not know enough about Japanese or Korean culture to truly tell if there were any big differences. The movie seems to be more specifically touch on class structures in Korea, and the differences between Ben and his glamorous lifestyle compared to Jong-su's life, but I can imagine that there might be similar class differences in Japan. I wonder if there is a reason that they called the barns greenhouses in the movies, and if it is because greenhouses are more common in Korea than Japan, or if it was just a stylistic choice from the director.

Overall, I thought it was a really engaging and fascinating movie that did not have as much to do with the specific story "Barn Burning" as I might have thought, but overall included many aspects of Murakami's themes in his writing that are clear when looking at some of the smaller details in the film.

-Audrey Hager

Burning (2018) Review

Burning (2018), dir. Lee Chang-Dong, was an interesting visual adaptation of Haruki Murakami's short story, Barn Burning. The film follows most of the main plot points from Murakami's story: the main protagonist in the film, Lee Jong-Su, meets Shin Hae-mi, a quirky and unusual girl who is learning pantomime before going to Africa where she meets Ben, a slightly ominous and mysterious man who creates tension between Hae-mi and Jong-su. The film diverges from the novel plot-wise in several small details, from the story taking place in Korea rather than Japan, and Ben burning greenhouses instead of barns. However, these minor differences don't seem to affect the story in a meaningful way and it retains most of the same narrative structure as Murakami's story.

Unfortunately, where the film became incredibly lackluster to me, was its inability to convey the main protagonist's thoughts. In Barn Burning and most of Haruki Murakami's other pieces of writing, the narrator's meandering and sometimes seemingly pointless inner world gives his novels and short stories a specific kind of flair that seems quintessential to his style. Due to the limitations of a film format, Jong-su's thoughts and feelings are rarely voiced and instead implied through his interactions with others or other physical signs. In my opinion, this makes him seem even drier than Murakami's narrators can seem compared to the fantastical side characters they interact with. 

Another major issue with the film that I could not ignore was the obvious subtext. One of my favorite parts of Barn Burning was the completely ambiguous story details. At the end, the reader has no idea if the man from Africa really burned down a barn. We ask ourselves: did he possibly murder the woman? Did he really burn down a barn that Boku missed? Maybe he was just lying about all of it? We don't even find out what Boku does about the missing girl. The film, however, aggressively lays on the hints about Ben murdering Hae-mi. Perhaps this is just because of my prior assumption that the man in the short story murders the woman, but it felt terribly obvious in the film almost from Ben's original introduction. The scene where Jong-su confirms that Ben's new cat is Boil felt like being hit on the head with what the film had been shouting at me the entire time. 

Overall, Burning was an interesting film, but either due to it's painfully blatant "twist" or my prior reading of the source material, I found it extremely predictable and felt as though it almost treated its audience as clueless and needing of very transparent cues.

- May Painter

Burning

     The movie Burning used film to bring a lot of Murakami to life. The characters and their relationships are very similar to "Barn Burning"; the protagonist has a special relationship with the woman, she goes to Africa and brings back a new guy who she seems detached from yet he's always there. The new guy is wealthy, friendly, and suave enough to serve as a foil to the main character. Though the protagonist in Murakami's story is married, I think the creators of the movie adaptation made the protagonist single in order to spark sexual tension; the jealousy can more easily cut both ways. The filmmakers made the protagonist more of a "character," as he has problems with his father and he's poor. However, in the context of the movie, this makes sense.

    The atmosphere of the movie is extremely tense and warped with suspicion. As opposed to the story, which doesn't flesh out the main character's suspicions and doesn't drop hints, the movie has Jong-Su follow Ben and discover things like his drawer of trophies and the cat he definitely stole. I felt like the atmosphere of the story was lighter, but the tension caused by jealousy was still there: the protagonist questions her with "'We?'" when she says she's dropping by with her friend. Because they have sex in the movie, the jealousy has more layers to it, and because the exact nature of their relationship is never revealed, the protagonist, along with the audience, is left with a distrust for Hae-mi. So while some aspects of the tone are the same, I think the movie heightens the tension with the intention of breaking it with a knife.

    Murakami, of course, comes through because this was originally his story. But the filmmakers did an amazing job capture Murakami's sense of mystery and ambiguity. Rarely does Murakami explicate an ending like we saw in the movie, but before the ending, the entire film was shrouded in a mystery that remained unsolved, save some clues hidden in the dialogue. What especially helped the movie play was the actors' inflections, particularly Ben. There was more insinuation behind his words: by laughing at the concept of burning greenhouses, the audience can more easily infer that he's not really talking about burning greenhouses. However, he commits to that while simultaneously not fully uncovering the truth, just like in Murakami's story. As with any good writer, they often find creative and innovative ways to paint a picture, set up a scene, or describe a character's motivations. Murakami does this through inner monologues, taking us through exactly what a character is thinking. While the movie can't do this, the actor's intentions are made more obvious by filming from his point of view and showing his determination through running and visiting her house. The end result, however, is the same: we understand our character better. 

    Moving it to Korea made little difference, in my opinion. What's integral to the story isn't the location, but what the characters' relationships are. Suspicion and jealousy are suspicion and jealousy, no matter the culture. What's funny is that they bash on Chinese and American culture, much like the Japanese do. Overall, I quite enjoyed the movie: it's moreso a thriller than "Barn Burning", but it has a lot of the same themes. The ending, I think, is what really sets it apart from the story. Rather than leave the audience wondering, our protagonist takes action. This action is set up by his proclamation of love and their sexual history, so plot-wise, it checks out. It's a lot more cinematic than the ending to Murakami's story, so maybe this is the satisfying conclusion to both stories: the murderer gets what's coming. 

James

Thoughts on Burning

Do I feel the movie Burning captures the atmosphere of Murakami's Barn Burning? Yes and no. Burning faithfully incarnates many Murakami icons, that is for sure. His magical realism, for one. How could Boil hide away from Jong-su for 15 days (I believe that is how long Hae-mi has been away)? And how come Boil does not hide (though remains shy) from people in Ben's condo? Hae-mi also exhibits much of the Murakami magical realism. She performs pantomime, peels imaginary clementines, and goes to Africa, just as the girl in Barn Burning does. Hae-mi's Bushmen dance, though sensual and does not appear in Barn Burning, has a surreal touch (partially thanks to the environment, the lighting, the music, etc.), yet remains worldly, situated in Jong-su's yard. Most important of all, the movie does not give the story away and leaves room for our imagination. Why is there a scene of Jong-su typing in Hae-mi's room? How does he get in there, since the password has been changed? Might the whole story just be the story he is writing? 

Parts of the plots, however, are not as Murakami as the ones above. The conflict between Jong-su and Ben builds up quickly as the movie progresses. In Barn Burning, I sense very little tension, if any, between Jong-su and Ben's counterparts. In fact, I doubt if Boku has figured out that the girl is dead--and that brings us to the different approach Burning takes. The movie does leave room for the audience's imagination, but it is not quite as vague as Murakami does in Barn Burning. The movie has a coherent storyline and only weaves in snippets that make the audience think. For example, was there a well around Hae-mi's residence or not? Did she actually fall into a well and was rescued by Jong-su, or is her description merely a trope, and perhaps really refers to how she and Jong-su developed their bond amid her difficult circumstances? While Murakami also uses wells and glimpses of light in his writing, Burning does not base its narrative around those symbols, but rather employs them as decorations. 

The Korean adaptations, on the other hand, set the movie apart from the sheer Murakami style, and perhaps add to the depth of the movie. Many of the Korean elements provoke thoughts on current social phenomena and issues in South Korea. For example, at the beginning of the movie, Hae-mi disclosed to Jong-su that she has undergone plastic surgery, which is perhaps why Jong-su does not recognize her immediately. Plastic surgery is a significant phenomenon and, arguably, a symbol of Korean modernity. Professor Elliot informed me that there are over 600 plastic surgeries in Seoul along, a staggering number indeed. What the audience makes of it differs by individual, but certainly, the movie catches our attention on the subject. In addition, during the gathering at Ben's residence, a female friend of Ben expresses her interest in dating a Chinese man, because she has heard that Chinese men tend to treat their partner well. While some Chinese guys respect women and others don't, this scene captures South Korea's gender issue, and implies its severity--we have only seen Ben's circle twice, and the director decides that a topic of Chinese man respecting women is suitable for one out of the two scenes. Perhaps he considers such a topic to be representative of what rich people in South Korea would talk about at a party. 

In summary, Burning is a good South Korean movie that pays much homage to Murakami but also carries significant South Korean characteristics. I like the movie for its aesthetic presentation and both the Murakami and South Korean symbolisms. 

Marshal

Thoughts on Burning Movie

 Burning was overall a very good movie in my opinion. This was the second Korean film I have watched, with the first being Parasite directed by Bong Joon-ho. One of the similarities between these movies that struck me was the lack of dialogue and background music for comparatively large swaths of the movie (when compared to Hollywood Films). I appreciate this style, as I think the imagery provided through the carefully cultivated shots can be extremely descriptive, at times exceeding dialogue in conveying the feelings of the moment. A prime example of this in Burning was the sex scene between Jong and Shin. In western films, sex scenes are often accompanied by background music or dialogue. In the absence of these, the sounds of labored breathing, bed creaks, and other natural noises are removed from the audio. But in the sex scene in Burning, the relative awkwardness of the encounter is perfectly conveyed through a lack of dialogue and songs, and the retention of these natural noises to accompany the imagery.  

I think the application of this style makes for distinct and entertaining movies. But more than that, I think the lack of dialogue in Burning helped to convey a similar feel as the short by Murakami, Barn Burning, that it was based on. For starters, Barn Burning is a short story, and the movie creates additional storylines to explore to fill its over 2-hour timeframe. Yet, one thing that stood out to me was the consistency of the portions of the movie that were copied directly from Barn Burning. In order to accommodate Murakami’s less-is-more style of storytelling, the dialogue in these scenes was not vamped to include unnecessary discussion. They employed the use of non-dialogue storytelling, and were able to tell the story in a way that evoked the feeling of the short story. I thought this was marvelous, and since we had read the short story just a class before I watched the movie I was able to really appreciate the similarities. 

Another interesting thing I noticed were the consistency in keeping with Murakami themes that supersede just Barn Burning. One element I noticed was the multiple references to wells, which are a recurring theme in Murukami's work. Additionally, both times Ben cooks he cooks Italian pasta, which evoked a reference to The year of Spaghetti which we read in class. I thought the theme of loneliness from that The Year of Spaghetti tied in quite well to Ben’s circumstances, and this seemed almost like an Easter egg for Murakami fans.  

A final consistency that I felt was preserved in the movie was Murakami’s method of only providing insight into the life of the main character of the story. Even though we get introduced to characters such as Ben, Shin, Ben’s friends, Jong’s father and Jong’s mother, we learn very little about these characters outside of their interaction with Jong. These characters only serve to augment Jong’s existence, just like the characters in A Wild Sheep Chase do for Boku. 

Overall, I was impressed by the movie's ability to retain many of the themes, and the overall feel, of Murakami’s work. I can't help but feel that if this film was made in the US that would not have been the case, which would have been a shame.

- Andrew 

Burning Review

    I liked the movie. I felt like it captured the atmosphere of the short story pretty well. In part, that may have been due to the background audio and the actors who I felt did a great job with the characters such as Ben and the girl. The main thing that I liked about the movie is how they went beyond the ending of the original story. I liked the idea that the protagonist would finally make the connection that the barn burning was not actual barns but people. And would set out of their way to find out the truth of why the girl disappeared. And even though it had a conclusion in which the protagonist killed Ben and burned his body with the car. The ending still felt open-ended and up to interpretation. 

    I don't think shifting the setting of the movie to Korea changed it all that much. I think that there was some cultural changes to the story when they changed the setting but considering that it was already changed in many different parts when you don't include the setting of the story. As movie establishes that both characters knew each other before the events of the story, while in the short story they met an acquaintance wedding. Which brings up another point as the story establishes the protagonist is married to another woman but in the movie he is single and in love with the girl who would eventually bring back Ben. And there was a big age difference between the two characters.

    There was a couple of reference I noticed to Murakami. One was when the protagonist mentioned Faulkner to Ben. Another one that I think may be a reference, albeit brief, happens towards the end of the movie. The protagonist was in Ben's bathroom looking at himself in the mirror. I don't know if it was all of the tension leading up that scene in which we knew Ben was the killer and the protagonist started piecing things together but his reflection seemed a little off.

Michael

B

Was interesting, liked it. Characters and dialogue felt very strange, methinks sign of a job well done on the part of the actors and staff given source material of Murakami origin. Film's additions to the narrative too seemed pretty Murakami; led to believe Ben was responsible, never told for sure though. Atmosphere went from intro of A Wild Sheep Chase to house in Hokkaido to Wade mansion pretty quick, loved the way it was executed. Also, turned out cat was real all along, absolutely loved the way they chose to reveal that. 

Already mentioned below by another, but felt a lot like Parasite. S. Korea seems to have a thing for class-related narratives, particularly those ending violently in something of a pyrrhic victory. Will have to pay more attention to Korean cinema going forward.

Don't know that the setting shift from Tokyo to Seoul made a big difference in my eyes. Narrative in general seems pretty portable, could very easily've been set in NYC or Boston or Chicago or LA or London or Paris or Shanghai or Hong Kong, or any number of other world cities currently feeling the social bite of capitalism.

"Not a film critic but I liked it"/1

Burning Review

     Overall, I thought Burning was a great movie. I think the movie captures the atmosphere of the story well. It keeps important elements of the story's plotline, and I also noticed some common Murakami themes and tropes that aid in maintaining the style that Murakami writes in. In Burning, Hae-mi practices her pantomiming at the bar, pretending to peel oranges, and even says something similar to the line in the story, "It's not a question of making yourself believe there is an orange there, you have to forget there isn't one" (134). Also in the movie, Hae-Mi asks the protagonist to pick her up at the airport where he meets Ben. They eventually end up at Jong-Su's place smoking marijuana, and that's when Ben tells Jong-Su about his burning habits. Thus, by following the plotline of the story fairly well, the producers managed to match the atmosphere of the story.

    However, I think they most effectively captured the atmosphere of the story, and of Murakami's writing, by adding some details in the movie that seem eerily similar to some of Murakami's other novels and stories. First of all, Hae-mi asks Jong-su to watch her cat while she is gone, which reminded me of the scene in A Wild Sheep Chase in which Boku makes a big deal to ensure that his cat would be taken care of properly while he was on his trip. I then noticed another parallel from A Wild Sheep Chase. In the movie, Jong-su returns to his childhood house all alone where he takes care of cows for his father. The house is in a rural area that seems to be mostly secluded. In A Wild Sheep Chase, the Rat returns alone to the old summer house he used to go to as a kid, which is almost completely isolated. There, his dad took care of a bunch of sheep in the countryside. Also in the movie, there is a scene where Jong-su is smoking cigarettes with Hae-Mi's coworker. Smoking cigarettes seems to be a common occurrence in Murakami's stories.

    The main thing I noticed in this movie, though, was the importance of the well. This may be a stretch, but I think the well could be interpreted as a reference to the "other world". It's made clear in the movie that Hae-mi acts differently than most people and has a unique personality that seems to be out of touch with everyone else's. I thought it was interesting that she mentioned falling into the well when she was seven, and being stuck down there for hours, and how Jong-su saved her but he didn't even remember it. Then, when Jong-su asked Hai-Mi's family and another man that lives near the property, they said there was never a well there at all. The only person that remembered the well was Jong-su's mom, but she didn't remember Hae-mi falling into it either. I think maybe Hae-mi fell into the well and was somehow transported to the "other world", like how Miu was transported via the Ferris wheel in "Sputnik Sweetheart". I just thought this was interesting to think about, and it made the movie much more enjoyable for me.

Corrina