Retour à Séoul #

Review. #

The French woman in an Asian context throughout the film carries a demeanor that’s not French (what really lies within her is Korean), with a half-offended, half-indifferent (youthful) stone-faced expression… Right away, she engages with Soju and sleeps with someone. The Koreans (her relatives) with exaggeratedly enthusiastic eyes try to understand what’s in front of them. In Asian cinema, there’s always an element of reading between the lines, but here, it’s not even necessary. The entire drama surrounding Korean-French relations is written on the main character’s face. Or more precisely, on the main character’s face.

The boss, sweetly dragging on a cigarette, attempts to make up for 20 years of absence and abruptly involves her in the situation, detailing how he had to end his relationship with her mother and send her to France. Similar drama is observed when someone comes into a legacy IT project and tries to catch up on 20 years of absence and bring someone up to speed. Throughout the movie, the Koreans try to localize the heroine. The highly contextual style of Asian relationships doesn’t quite resonate with Freddie (yes, that’s what the French lady is called).

Cynicism and viewing sex as an accessible sport are not entirely prevalent in Korea. Instead, men in Korea get drunk and write to their women in “waves of sorrow”. Drunk people from her historical homeland try to explain something important to her in Korean. Something important. Something profound. Unfortunately, it doesn’t connect. It must be acknowledged that she speaks French quite well. French speech resembles the sound of wine gurgling into a glass. However, after a while, even that becomes tiresome. Throughout the film, the father speaks as if he’s dying from a gunshot wound, trying to whisper the password to a bitcoin wallet to his daughter, who doesn’t understand anything. She doesn’t understand not because she doesn’t understand Korean well, but because she doesn’t understand what they’re trying to convey. Or rather, why they’re trying. Because everything is already quite clear.

They brought her into this world, and then decided the idea wasn’t that great, so the project is being shut down. A rejected child, trying to solve the identity problem in all its dimensions after 25 years. French, Korean, foreign, native?

Verdict. #

A whole lot of something around nothing.

Screenshots. #