150 Word Review: 'Burning' (2018)
Born in a barn
Burning is like a dream you can't wake up from. It's slow, disorienting, and full of secrets, a movie that tiptoes like a cat in the dark.
Director Lee Chang-dong turns two short stories by Haruki Murakami and William Faulkner into a patient but paranoid thriller about class in South Korea. The poor amuse the rich in Burning, the former living in cramped city closets or desolate farms, the latter in luxury apartments.
What starts as an awkward modern romance between perpetually dazed Jong-su and Hae-mi, a woman he grew up with, turns dark as wealthy, dashing Ben is introduced. This love triangle has sharp edges.
As Jong-su, Yoo Ah-in mesmerizes. His thousand-yard stare is vacant, yet soulful. Steven Yeun is unnerving as Ben, the handsome, smiling playboy. And newcomer Jeon Jong-seo is moving as a vulnerable nobody, young and attractive, saddled with debt. She hungers for more from life.