Burning- How to prevent Greenhouse fires.

Unfortunately, if you're looking for a guide on how to stop your greenhouse from spontaneously combusting, I cannot help you. But the latest film from acclaimed author and director Lee Chang-dong, might make you think twice before you see a flamming glass cornucopia in the distance. Burning is a fresh wild take on the thriller genre with a drawn out pace mixed with brilliantly simplistic visuals to give a new meaning to violence and rage in Korean cinema. The film follows aspiring writer Jong-soo (Yoo Ah-in) as he runs into high school friend Hae-mi (Jeon Jong-seo) who after an intimate reunion, requests that he look after her cat while she travels to Africa. She returns however with the sinister yet eccentric Ben (Steven Yeun), whose introduction sends Jong-soo down a rabbit hole of mystery, disappearances and ominous greenhouse fires.

Firstly you have to give credit to the brilliant triple threat casting of our main characters. Yoo and Jeon would seem out of their leagues considering their previous roles in action series and K dramas. However their chemistry is shown immediately on screen and Yoos subtle changes in stature and appearance as the film progresses, does show you someone who is losing himself to whats around him, or rather what is missing around him. But probably the biggest surprise is Steven Yeuns incredibly subtle yet tense portrayal of wealthy Gangnam society in Ben. After coming straight off his well known character Glen in The Walking Dead franchise, its refreshing to see this performer not only portray a character fluent in Korean, but who is giving so much personality on screen when he is doing so little. There were moments when Yeun would give a small facial gesture from a characters comment and I would immediately understand the mood and the emotion of the scene, which is a perfect example of "show don't tell". As for Yeun and Yoo, their contrasts of rich and poor backgrounds are the perfect catalyst to how Lee uses them both as sources of tension. Throughout the film, Lee pushes this theme in his beautiful vistas of high society city scapes and baron, loneliness in poverty. Lee even throws a nod to the Korean border as a source of uncomfortable tension since Jong-soo lives so close to it.

The way Lee uses the common themes of violence and masculinity in Korean cinema and turning it on its head is quite staggering. Jong-soos sense of non-masculinity and anxiety gives the audience something to support, which Lee subverts by not revealing the information to the audience but rather giving clues and keeping it a mystery. This, along with the brilliant performances by Yeun and Yoo, gives a new meaning to the thriller genre. By not showing any action, but keeping the tension building with every clue Jong-soo finds of the disappearances. We also have tension from the hauntingly beautiful soundtrack by Korean composer Mowg, as well as a dream like scene with Miles Davis's Generique accompanying the use of marijuana (which is illegal in South Korea). I would advise going into this film as blind as possible since it is a story that should be experienced rather than told. However this is another example that Korean cinema is currently in a golden age of independent filmmaking and I eagerly await the next visionary from the cinema of the extreme.

Film Grade: A