Mickey
Aberrant romance and captivating mystery that leads to making a difficult decision to leave
A multilayered neo-noir with a dash of eccentric yet almost inappropriate romance. This film conveys an outlandish narrative wherein the rigid, workaholic police officer Hae-joon (Paek Hae-il) obssesses then falls for the main suspect of a murder case he is investigating, Seo-rae (Tang Wei).
The first half was not immediately engaging, but it was able to successfully build-up tension between the complex lead characters while in a middle of an intricately-created murder mystery. What I find unique here compared to previous Park Chan-wook's filmography was that I was able to follow the plot easily compared to some of his works yet there were still subtle context clues and nuances that I had to think twice. Unfortunately, the second half was not able to hold the same calibre of obsession and tension as the first half. For me it was quite draggy, and the runtime could've been shortened since it already had a tight and suspenseful first half.
Also, the well-thought cinematography helped the overall quality. It was carefully crafted which was very prominent on the scenes where Hae-joon was imagining he was on Seo-rae's side. The camera angles and shots amplified his obsession towards the case and towards her as well. The foggy weather, the mountain and the sea (based on the Confucius quote mentioned) striked to me and perhaps to the storyline as well.
Aside from that, I highly applaud Tang Wei's performance here. It's the first time that I watched her and the fact that she's not Korean but speaks the language suprisingly well, together with her morally-gray characterization, speaks amounts of her effort as an actress to nail the role. Park Hae-il's performance is also nothing to be brushed off. I think that this might give him a nomination for this year's Baeksang, if not win just for that final scene where he was able to portray anguish and longing emotions (very well).
Overall, a great movie despite with its fuzzy moments. This may not have the same quality as Oldboy and The Handmaiden, but Decision to Leave creates a distinct caliber that proves why Park Chan-wook definitely is a master of this craft. The neo-noir element was not as intense as the aforementioned movies, but the addition of the aberrant romance and captivating mystery ultimately proves why there was a difficulty to make a decision to leave.
The first half was not immediately engaging, but it was able to successfully build-up tension between the complex lead characters while in a middle of an intricately-created murder mystery. What I find unique here compared to previous Park Chan-wook's filmography was that I was able to follow the plot easily compared to some of his works yet there were still subtle context clues and nuances that I had to think twice. Unfortunately, the second half was not able to hold the same calibre of obsession and tension as the first half. For me it was quite draggy, and the runtime could've been shortened since it already had a tight and suspenseful first half.
Also, the well-thought cinematography helped the overall quality. It was carefully crafted which was very prominent on the scenes where Hae-joon was imagining he was on Seo-rae's side. The camera angles and shots amplified his obsession towards the case and towards her as well. The foggy weather, the mountain and the sea (based on the Confucius quote mentioned) striked to me and perhaps to the storyline as well.
Aside from that, I highly applaud Tang Wei's performance here. It's the first time that I watched her and the fact that she's not Korean but speaks the language suprisingly well, together with her morally-gray characterization, speaks amounts of her effort as an actress to nail the role. Park Hae-il's performance is also nothing to be brushed off. I think that this might give him a nomination for this year's Baeksang, if not win just for that final scene where he was able to portray anguish and longing emotions (very well).
Overall, a great movie despite with its fuzzy moments. This may not have the same quality as Oldboy and The Handmaiden, but Decision to Leave creates a distinct caliber that proves why Park Chan-wook definitely is a master of this craft. The neo-noir element was not as intense as the aforementioned movies, but the addition of the aberrant romance and captivating mystery ultimately proves why there was a difficulty to make a decision to leave.
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