Burning is one of those movies where you realise the movie’s impact on you after a couple of days later. You really summed it up all well in this video essay, which is unarguably one of the best video essays I’d say.
I have a defense for the movies runtime and pacing IMO. A lot of people said it was boring or a waste of time, but I think that aspect of it is a big part of what makes the themes of ambiguity and frustration so apparent. Spending time with Jong-Su in his everyday while he dwells on his circumstance puts us in his shoes. While he wanders and mulls, we cant help but pick apart every detail and ponder every little aspect of the environment and scenes, just like Jon-Su is. It encourages the sense of being stuck in your own head and forces the fervor of staying awake at night dwelling like Jong-Su likely had been doing. It makes every "aha" moment much much more poignant. Without so much dead space and dead ends, moments like finding the watch and "Boil" would be easier to dismiss as coincidence, we wouldnt be as swept up by a new clue without scarcity. Anyways this was an amazing review and added to the discussion pretty well. I've been making my rounds in reviews and analysis for this film and this one managed to stick out, still.
Well said - also the most powerful image of the movie was at the end, Jong-Su standing naked like a child trapped by his genetic ancestry / genetic fatalism - doomed to repeat the cycle of his father, whose behavior ran off an important woman then he reacted with violence and ended up burning clothes...
The metaphor of the greenhouse - an enclosed space that cultivates in an "unnatural" way, the growing of something outside of its normal/conditioned environment - as Ben's ambiguous victims was perfect.
It’s crazy, that movie didn’t let me go even 5 years after seeing it for the first time. It touches me on so many different levels. I just love it! And your essay too. Captures the mood of the movie perfectly.
i am outraged your channel hasn't blown up, this was an absolutely stunning analysis of this film, one of my absolute favourites. in fact i think you have managed to encapsulate an understanding of this film few have. this was beautifully presented. please keep making videos
What an amazing interpretation of this masterpiece of a movie. Burning moved me so much that I couldn‘t sleep for days thinking about the deeper meanings of this metaphor: burning. I eventually found my personal understanding of the movie but only after seeing this video, I finally felt like I could really understand what I so desperately tried to put in words in my mind. You managed to give my thoughts about this „great hunger“ the structure I searched and I am so thankful for that. You are amazing :)
Really appreciate that fans can adept and understand a slow paced, ambiguous massively subtextual film. Oft, works like this in American discourse are shaped and bashed, but personally I love them.
I remember an old english teacher describe one of William Faulkner's most famous books. In the book, Faulkner describes a person who is a barn arsonist. He describes how this is one of the most despicable things a person could be. I think there is a relationship to this story line and the movies since it's the main character's favorite author.
Hi, I just discovered your channel by chance (because I re-watched Burning with my girlfriend yesterday and I was looking for an interesting review) and I want to congratulate you on the extreme quality of the video. I really liked both the graphic style and the division into 'thematic chapters'. I also agree with your interpretation which is similar to mine in many respects but you also gave me new insights such as the reference to Schrodinger's cat which I had not picked up on. Congratulations again and I wish you a bigger audience, which you deserve for the level of your content!
I drank almost an entire bottle of wine by myself during this film, and my mind is a little foggy but I just can't seem to understand. Maybe I shouldn't try to understand right now. But after this movie and this video essay, all I feel is sadness and emptiness.
I just watched the movie, and i think there are 2 scenario and scenario no 2 seems to be more relevant : Scenario 1 : Hae-mi choose to dissapear byherself, not killed by Ben Evidence/reasoning : - 40:27 At Tripe restaurant Hae-mi while crying said "I want to vanish just like that sunset" , Dying is too scary. I wished i could dissapear as if i had never existed." - Hae-mi Watch found in Ben bathroom just a coincidence. Maybe she take it off when taking a bath or something, but forgot to wear it back. When cleaning up the bathroom, Ben found the watch and put it in the drawer just like other item (probably from his friends, cause he often have a gathering). I mean what kind of serial killer put their "memento" in open space, UNLESS - Stray cat in Ben house is not Boil. Serial killer are smart, that's why they hard to catch. No way Ben will bring Hae-mi cat with a possibility that Jongsu know Boil + chance of Jongsu come to his house again, UNLESS Scenario 2 : Ben kill Hae-mi AND HE TRY TO "TELL" Jongsu ABOUT IT CLUE : - At Tripe restaurant after come back from africa, Ben said to jongsu "I want to tell you my story" - 49:40 At Restaurant Near Ben House Hae-mi said "No, Ben kept asking me to call you". Ben seems using Hae-mi to get close to Jongsu Ben asked Jongsu to come over to his house because he want to make pasta for them. When Jongsu asked where is the bathroom in Ben House, Ben give him the direction. Maybe Ben already prepare and leave some kind of clue around the house for Jongsu so that he might be suspicious of him - 1:01:50 Ben and Hae-mi go to Jongsu house/farm when they are driving near the area because Ben wanted to see it (Ben want to meet Jongsu) Ben then tell Jongsu about his hobby burning greenhouse (He give him Clue that he is serial killer) - 1:16:29 When Jongsu asked Ben about how he choose which greenhouse he gonna burn : Jongsu: "And you judge whether or not they're useless?" Ben : "I don't judge anything. I just accept it. I accept that they're waiting to be burnt down." This is why Ben choose to kill Hae-mi, because at Tripe restaurant Hae-mi said herself she want to vanish but she just scared to die. - 2:00:30 Ben "accidently" meet Jongsu outside of his house and ask him to come in. Ben already prepare some evidence by put Hae-mi watch in bathroom + Boil in the house that's why he asked Jongsu to come in. In the house Ben ask Jongsu, "what kind of a story are you writing?" Jongsu replied, "I don't know what to write yet" Ben asked again, "How come ?" Maybe Ben slightly mad about how dumb Jongsu that he still not sure or have clue that Ben kill Hae-mi, good thing he already prepare the cat + watch evidence. - 2:15: 00 Jongsu typing. He probably writing about Ben as a backup plan if he got kill when meet him later on - 2:18:00 Ben meet Jongsu. When Jongsu out from vehicle, Ben said "There are a lot of greenhouses here". I think Ben Himself think that he is also a Greenhouse When Jongsu stab Ben, Ben never ask why or try to fight him back properly. Ben even seems to hug Jongsu when he getting stab. I'm not sure what's the real reason Ben try to tell Jongsu that he is serial killer, but i think it's because Ben think that he is also a greenhouse so need to be burn
Brother! Wow, that's insane. Your analysis is so detailed and well written. As I browsed through video explanations, I wished there was something like this. You did a great job, brother
For Scenario 2: When the three of them are in Ben's house, Ben talks about how he loves cooking because it feels like an offering to the gods that he gets to eat. When Haemi asks what offering, he says it's a metaphor and when asked metaphor for what, he says "ask Jongsu", which could mean that he knows Jongsu understands metaphors, and that he will understand the meaning behind his other metaphor. Edit: "ask Jongsu" could also just be an acknowledgement of Jongsu trying to be a writer and would therefore understand metaphor better
@@faaaaah it's like Ben try to tell Jongsu that he often use metaphor when he talk, so when next time Ben tell story about Greenhouse Jongsu might know that he not actually talked about a real Greenhouse (but Jongsu being dumb still check all Greenhouse near his house)
Uncertainty, justification of jealous actions, assumptions, human psychology of searching for answers than evidence, the way, at some point, we believe in our assumptions more than evidence, ambiguity of metaphors, this movie depicts it all. A masterpiece. I am not that knowledgeable or smart but i think this movie shows how uncertainty can justify your actions based on imagination like when Lee Jong Su can't remember himself rescuing Hae Mi neither Hae mi's mom and sister could verify that she fell in a well, he chooses to believe that her stories are true because it is needed to link his life with her, Whether or not Boil (Her "cat") was real this is uncertain too but we (viewers) chose to believe it anyway, the fact that Hae mi tidied her room before disappearence suggested thay she went on a trip, soon seems to get denied by her luggage that was at her home. Ben having his friends invited over seems often uninterested (Yawning) in their talks or their presence yet putting an effort to show that he is spending time with them. the fact that there was no evidence of Ben killing her or anyone seems to say total opposite of what our straight-forward mind says, we become sure that ben killed her, This movie paints uncertainty everywere and the slow paced scene seems to encourage us to think about the uncertainty. There can be a lot of interpretation and view about what this movie is trying to Portray, infact i myself have dozens of them. The key scenes and views about them: Hae mi mimes and pretends to eat a tangerine. She says "The trick is rather than thinking that the tangerine IS there, you need to forget that there ISN'T one". She also says "the thing is, you have to want the tangerine, so much so that you can taste it". I think this portrays our innate desire to search for answers so much so that if there isn't one, we tend to make them, a lot of them. And we along with Lee Jeong Su. He seems to long so much for the answers, so much so that he believed the story and answer he created himself and took actions on it. If we analyse the three characters and their desires, we can also understand some things Hae mi's "great hunger", (She says searching for meaning of life) she disappeared, got killed or is in pursuit of it. Joeng Su's cravings for answers never leaves him because he can never be certain that Ben killed her or anyone. the guilt of uncertainty and ambiguity will never leave him for the rest of his life. Ben's metaphor of Greenhouses that are waiting to be burned, he became one. Everyone will be a slave to their desires Unless they Worships The one true God (Allah). This movie is a masterpiece and surely is misunderstood by most viewers. But the ending is more suiting that anything and that is, Lee Jeong Su's jealousy burning in a porshe backed by nothing but uncertainty and ambiguity. (I may have missed on so many things, but these are enough to make a phycological movie masterpiece.)
I had to watch this film multiple times to truly grasp the full meaning. Plus its one of those films that give you deeper understanding about some of the concepts the more you rewatch.
and to Jong-su it could've felt like a provocation..at least it did to me. But it also made me question everything for a split second...even the way Ben looked at Jong-su before and after the final stab..hmm
I couldnt care less about Haemi, she was really cold, heartless and selfish for leading on Jongsu then just keeps driving into the sunset with Ben in front of him
I think the latter half of this movie is most interesting when viewed with the question what would you do? What would you do if you had nothing and the most important person in your life disappeared without a trace? All while one of the people closest to them expressed sociopathic traits, had overwhelming circumstantial evidence stacked in favor of their guilt and so many resources that even if you went to the cops with bulletproof evidence he would still get off? If Jong-su had more resources he would have had the opportunity to take a real crack at determining ben's guilt through proper channels. But with the chasm between their classes his choices were reduced to, take radical action or ignore the suspision and continue with a life devoid of meaning with a pit of shame for his inaction perpetually weighing him down. I can't honestly say i would have done anything different. Even if i would have, it wouldnt have been due to caution, it would have been due to cowardice.
I think a big question in the film is also if he's framing Ben's activity as sociopathic because he needs him to be a villain instead of just an entitled rich guy, to quell his own class envy.
Doesn't really matter since it's a fantasy. Everything after a certain point there is only part of the book’s fictional story. While in reality, Hae-mi just left, Jung-su tries to give her disappearance a reason in his book - Ben. While Ben is a cultured, wealthy guy, the novel presents a dark side by making him a serial killer. Everything from finding Hae-mi’s watch in Ben’s bathroom, to confirming the cat to be Boiler, to killing and burning Ben is part of the story in the novel.
@@OddGentleman what is with this elaborate stupid common view on this movie that the MC is just "writing the book", what's the point of all of this if it's all made up, and only reason people like you come up with this, is because the MC just happens to be a writer? Every story should avoid having an MC with a writer as occupation then.
For anyone that liked this film you can try reading a small book called the tunnel by ernesto sabato! As far as the movie, wow! I can't put my finger on it but the way ben hugs him at the end really made me feel for him as in he didn't do it..
This is great, and I agree. The point is not "did he" or "didn't he", it's in the irreducible gap between the two; it's in Jongsu making a decision about which it is with all of his limited and certain and anxious subjectivity, and needing to fill the gap (whether you think the end is real or Jongsu's solution as a writer) to relieve himself of the uncertainty. I think Chang Dong's handling of the Schroedinger's Cat metaphor is particularly apt; in binary logic, the cat is either the killer or not the killer, but there are also quantum states in between where the cat is partially the killer and partially not, and the viewer is left in a state of narrative superposition. My favorite conclusion is to precisely not collapse the narrative into one option or the other, but a lot of viewers insist on the binary logic.
Kill her? I had assumed he sold women as sex slaves. Then the point of the movie where his friends talk about Chinese men treating their women well, I felt like that confirmed my susposion.
I thought he killed her too but this interpretation makes more sense. I like how it never gives you a clear answer. Also makes it much more tragic that Jong-Su's last words to Haemi were comparing her to a prostitute
Nice comment on silence and emptiness. This movie still haunts me - just like 'Poetry' and 'Secret Sunshine'. Although, the silence of Ben for me is always associated to an expression of power. He is the puppet master through and through (without knowing or being aware of it), his silence always inducing, always directing - his power, the sole performance of existing, the latent display/performing of his social status. He is the one who taught Jong-su on how to kill him. Thus showing all the silent cogs and mechanisms at stake in society, so that even the free-est, most deliberate act of all (killing) is not chosen, but still an inducement, a conditioning... a reproducing of social-class pattern and behavior. Both Ben and Jong-su are trapped in the same play... miming the same scene again and again. Which constitutes the haunting aspect of the movie: ultimately, they are mere presences, ghosts of their own lives.
Ben is a sociopath. It is clear from the beginning. He says that he doesn't feel pain or that he has never cried. He no have interes in others. He only want to Jong -Su write about him, to live in his books. He always chooses poor, frivolous girls who will not be missed by anyone...
Ben said he burns once every 2 months, and at Jongsu house he said its almost time, then later confirms he did the burning a day or 2 after leaving the house. that was the last time Jongsu seen or talked to her so I would reckon Ben definitely either sells her or kills and sells body parts. He says there's lots of useless greenhouses which I reckon he just means 'girls' and he cant help but burn them down for fun. Fun and business is same to him. SO he definitely deserves being killed at the end because he certainly did something bad to Haemi. Haemi kinda also had it coming she was too naive and used Jongsu for her pleasures at the same time was so cold to keep driving away to the sunset in Ben's Porche right in front of Jongsu. I couldnt believe she asked Jongsu to come all the way to the airport just to leave with Ben, heartless and useless like Ben said so maybe I side with Ben lol
Toward the end of the film, Ben arrives expecting to see Hae-mi. Afterall, Jong-su told Ben that he (Jong-su) was with Hae-mi. If you've already made up your mind that Ben murdered her, then this won't matter. However, I don't think we are really supposed to know if Ben killed her or not. I haven't seen any film analysis that mentions this.
Even though I can't know for a technical absolute fact, I am overwhelmingly convinced that he did it, for some good reasons and a seriously condemning one. The most overwhelming is that Ben himself said on multiple occasions that he did burn a green house down, and made multiple implications of the murder. He says "maybe you were too close to see it" if my memory is correct, and that he did it close to the house and two days after he visited the protagonists house. We know that there was no greenhouse that burnt down, and considering the watch, the stash of items he almost certainly takes away from every girl, the fact that he admitted to doing things like this habitually, the fact that the make up is next to the stash of stolen girls items and that makeup and cremation are so similar in Korean, the likelihood that he has self admitted characteristics of a psychopath, ( doesn't cry, doesn't appear to show empathy in any way), and his belief that he will never get caught, ( classic serial killer narcissism) all relative to his heavy implications around the burning of the "greenhouse", I would feel one hundred percent certain of killing him as well. That being said, I think the video misses the mark on the uncertainty around ben being the killer and the audience making a conclusion about it, though I do think it has a lot to do with uncertainty in general. The character is uncertain in general, he doesn't know what to say most of the time, he doesn't know how to comfort her, even though he clearly cares and has sympathy. There is a strong disconnect between the protagonist and the woman, a type of suffering born from his social confusion, I'm not sure what to make of the themes yet myself, but I thought this movie was incredible
I'd say it's more implied that he's a sex trafficker, than a murderer - the collection of jewellery, putting the makeup on another woman, the group of friends that take her out and groom her, almost like a clockwork routine. It's all classic trafficker behaviour. When he says he enjoys "burning greenhouses", I've interpreted it more that he enjoys destroying women so that they are a husk of themselves, and stripping them down to nothing - not killing them. But that's the genius - it's a mystery, and it's up for interpretation.
I think you mixed up the words proof and evidence. Evidence is the cat coming to the name boil. Proof would be undeniable evidence that the cat is boil
I've listened to a few analysis's and I seem to have a pretty different take than most people. I think Ben is clearly has feelings for Jong-su. Jong-su is confused and upset by the the strange way Ben is trying to pull him in. Jong-su understands nothing, is confused and adrift in his own returning desire for Ben. He feels this desire taints his own feelings to Hae-mi, making him angry and ashamed and puts all these negative feelings towards Ben. Jong-su looks for a sin, a reason to hate Ben. There are negative things there to see about Ben when he looks: he's wealthy and arrogant, he can possess things he doesn't even want, and he admits to callously doing harm in the world for no reason other than personal pleasure. Then Hae-mi disappears and Jong-su immediately assumes Ben took her from him. Finally, having solved the mystery of Ben, Jong-su expresses his obsession by murdering Ben. Ben is scared, but in the end accepts it as an expression of Jong-su's feelings for him and embraces Jong-su before dying. It's why the finale is so sexual, so angry and followed by a pretty clear shame.
your take is definitely interesting! i want to know more about it. do you mind explaining how jong-su and ben have feelings for one another? i understood ben to be someone who manipulates women into liking him, to build a sense of trust, before he sells them. since he said how business and pleasure are the same to him.
I somehow get it, on my personal thought i think that Ben burnt Hei-mie, so when Jong-su keep on checking abt the burned greenhouse he couldn't find a trace, not sure if Ben get jelous on Jong-su or Hei-mi as accdg to Hei-mi he always wants to see Jong-su, i just dont get the fact why did Hei-mi lied about having a cat and the well, can somebody pls. answer this?
It says a lot of things about hae-mi. She is unreliable. Like that time when she said she fell into a well when jung-soo saved her. But no remembers about the well at all
Tbh I didn't love it, I had to watch it in parts because I expected some action, not like great dinámica, just something to go somewhere, I couldn't put myself on the protagonist skin, he treated the girl so Bad, I love your review opened my eyes to what was going on.
Yeah that's my biggest gripe. I see what it's trying to do, but it's just so dead, energy-wise. The whole movie is constantly flat-lining. Sure, it was meant to be open ended and expects the viewer to come up with their own answers, but at the cost of sitting through a 2.5 hour movie where nothing really happens until the most anemic climax I've seen in a while, the stabbing scene. Idk, it felt like one of those movies that was kind of up its own ass for the sake of being "meaningful" and artsy while being boring throughout the whole process.
@@Cristyface its so interesting how some people get that from this film but different things from others. ive had this reaction to a lot of artsy, slow burn, pretentious films and really resented how they had wasted my time after. and after watching burning i initially felt the exact same, irritated that it made me sit through 2 and a half hours of something pointless. i didnt even get what the film was about. so i decided to just move on and forget about it. but then some weeks later i realised it still wouldnt leave my mind, i couldnt stop thinking about it, it had left me in a funny trance like state, so i began to ponder on it further and the best way i can explain its meaning is through this video essay to be honest, it really encapsulates a lot of the depth in the film. i still understand why some people may get nothing out of this film, it's extremely unique, it's weird, you have to be in the right headspace to watch it. but it has the potential to surprise you to be honest
@@noms341 I respect that, definitely. It's just that for me, even with this video essay, it feels like a waste of time. To need to dissect this far and then have so many open questions without anything of true value or interest happening in this film means it was pretentious to begin with, at least in my opinion. The actors did great jobs and I appreciate they tried to do something different, but man, was it dull and moved along at a snail's pace.
@@noms341 Honestly I had the same experience, I try not to make videos about things unless it really connects with me, or someone hasn't really talked about it before, and Burning left me feeling extremely flat, like my time had been wasted, until a couple of days later when I realised all I'd done was think about it in my quiet moments!
One interesting thing of note is that Ben's cat is seen being quite comfortable sleeping in one of his friend's arms while his new girlfriend talks about the Chinese, despite us knowing that Boil has "severe autism" and is extremely shy of strangers. It's not a mistake by the director, which kinda pisses me off cause now I can't convince myself without a doubt that Ben did it.
Great point. I forgot by the end of the film that Hae-mi mentioned that her cat was shy of strangers. Very seemingly unimportant line until you get to the end where Boil coming to Jong-Su essentially gives him carte blanche to kill Ben. So much ambiguity in this film, I absolutely love it.
Ben's metaphor with the Greenhouse wasn't a metaphor to represent his dark hobby his whole life. He only came up with it after seeing the greenhouses he lives near in representing the women he "burns" as in murder. And knowing that Hae-mi was his neighbor makes the line "burning greenhouses" a lot more sense.
Late to the party but this was my takeaway too. The part that convinced me is when talked about Hae-mi in the past tense saying how trusted the MC was. Once the main character was cut from her life she truly became abandoned and so burned. The other girl too was someone isolated and likely traveling alone. Ben says it best when he says people are lonelier than you think. Lastly, even when Hae-mi was a child she was alone. The well represents that loneliness in a way where the MC was the only person to find her despite her family being so close. Nobody even knew about the well except the mother who abandoned the MC
@@SaituV2 then why did ben agree to meet with jongsu at the end of the film? since jongsu had told him he was with haemi and asked him to meet them, if ben really had murdered haemi then he would have known it was a trap. There's no clear answer to this, and it feels very intentional, so i think the less we assume, the better
I'm very confident in my theory that Ben knows the best tripe place in town, Greenhouses being made to grow food inside a structure and Hae-mi's mother referencing selling an organ talking about debts can't be a coincidence. Ben sees the poor and to him ugly or quant women as existences that life burns through. He sees this as nature. And him burning greenhouses is of course clearly depicted as destroying women. Then, there's his trophy box, and his desire to prep them before he kills them (Hae-me suddenly has a breast enlargement, she looks more kept and he even make-ups the other woman). In the end, Ben sees himself as a god, and he himself is what the world sacrifices towards. These women are his offerings.
He could also be a pimp as well. If you consider other reasons why Hea-mi had to be sexualized before dissapearing, as you pointed out, it could also point to sex slavery, human trafficking and forced prostitution. He never mentioned how he became rich or maintains his lifestyle but he sure 'collects' women (and their trinklets) before they go missing. But that's the strength of the film anyways - ambiguity, done much more better than the short story it's based on (imo).
Yeah it's really hard to argue the film is ambiguous as people want to say. Especially since their points seem to start and stop at "well that's from a certain point of view" The guy is called a Great Gatsby and is never shown working. It's clear he's selling organs, both because of the money as well as his own sick enjoyment at killing people. His friends are likely in a similar vein considering the "potluck" line. I just struggle to see how this wasn't a rich psycho killing lonely girls and selling their organs
@@Malthizar Ambiguity as in we know he's doing something bad but don't know exactly what it is. Steven Yeun (the actor who played the role) said Lee Chang-dong (the director) told him to have his own internal interpretation of Ben's crimes or non- crimes and act that out. So yes, we don't really know, not even the director knows. Only Steven knows what outcome he chose because he never discloses it. There's also the fact that Jong-Su was writing a novel about the events so we are also seeing Ben through Jong-Su's perspective. How much of it is fiction and how much is real is also up to discussion. Only thing we know is that Jong-Su believes Ben a killer, and already casted him as an 'other' as soon as they met thanks to his wealth and status. He could be right, he could be wrong. These are some of the ambiguities and as I said, it makes the film more interesting and open to debate, not just one interpretation. The film was purposely created that way, to be an open ended metaphor not a precise narrative.
Love this movie for some reason. I always come back to it somehow every year or two. Very... I don't know. Feels very real and not contrived. Slow and meaningful? Leaves a deep impression for some reason.
5:05 The way this scene was shot I thought was interesting. If you notice on the close-up, Jong-su's background is busy, chaotic, and energetic. Packed with people having conversations. Where as Ben's background, is calm, bland, and almost boring. Nothing but a wall and a window. VAGUE SPOILERS AHEAD I also found the scene in the bathroom and the cat to be very misleading. I looked at it multiple ways, confirmations he was a serial killer, OR he could've just been a great friend. I considered maybe she came to Ben because he had money. Asked if he could help her escape all the debt she created, and run away. She ran away to Africa and left her cat with essentially a stranger before, why not again? Ben adopted her cat, and she gave him that ugly watch to remember her by. I was forcing myself to look outside Jong-su's point of view, in spite of the movie explicitly only showing his POV for the majority of it. He was jumping to conclusions left and right even though there could be opposing explanations.
I absolutely love this video. I come back to it every now and then and it’s just such a great explanation of the film. It really is one of the best of modern Korean films. Definitely in my top 5.
Burning has maybe replaced Oldboy as my favorite Korean film of all time. And that is truly saying something, as Oldboy had also been my favorite movie overall.
I still see Jong Su as a hero and I think this is the way he should be seen. He embodies the honesty, the truth and justice seeking nature of the working class being humiliated by the display of nonchalance and arrogance of the rich. The killing of Ben is metaphorical, Jong Su did what he had to do, it was his way of taking action, Hae-Mi was just an innocent sheep, she couldn’t necessarily figure things out for herself but she fell as a victim to a society that gives you false promises just like many other non-privileged people. Ben and people like him eat out or burn (if you wanna see it this way) people like Hae-Mi and Jong Su and this is exactly how he and his class maintain its position. Idk most probably this is not a canonical or accurate interpretation but it is the one that I want and find useful to take from the film. In some elements it reminds me of Taxi Driver (traumatized protagonist driven by an honest sense of justice, not knowing exactly what to do and being overwhelmed by the corruption and absurdity of the reality around him) but with a clear anti-capitalist tone and a non-Hollywood ending.
You completely missed the point of this movie if you think Jong Su is the hero. The film revolves around his inconsistent viewpoint. Hae-Mi wasn’t a helpless woman. She took a week long trip to a foreign country in order to find herself. She has her own place, a job and confidently made her own decisions in life. Jong Su doesn’t actually care about Hae-Mi. He masturbates in her apartment multiple times. Practically has zero conversation with her after her trip. Watches her have an emotional breakthrough after watching her perform the dance she learned in Africa and the only thing he has to say is that she looks like a whore. The only time he thinks about her he’s imagining her jerking him off. She’s an object to be had in his mind and nothing else. The class disparity between him and Ben is clearly the driving force for the murder. Ben is absolutely nonchalant and arrogant, but Jong-Su just hides his flaws whereas Ben flaunts them. If this is a metaphor for anything, it’s how most working class people place the blame for the bad things in their lives on the wealthy and elite, when most of their problems (Like Jong-Su) lie within themselves.
It's really not clear that she was. It's almost implied that she was trafficked, more than murdered - the clues suggest Ben's a sex trafficker. But the mystery was the point.
Burning is one of those movies where you realise the movie’s impact on you after a couple of days later. You really summed it up all well in this video essay, which is unarguably one of the best video essays I’d say.
"The lack of answers is the point". I'm going to use this phrase next time i have a conversation about an art house film i don't understand.
I have a defense for the movies runtime and pacing IMO. A lot of people said it was boring or a waste of time, but I think that aspect of it is a big part of what makes the themes of ambiguity and frustration so apparent. Spending time with Jong-Su in his everyday while he dwells on his circumstance puts us in his shoes. While he wanders and mulls, we cant help but pick apart every detail and ponder every little aspect of the environment and scenes, just like Jon-Su is. It encourages the sense of being stuck in your own head and forces the fervor of staying awake at night dwelling like Jong-Su likely had been doing. It makes every "aha" moment much much more poignant. Without so much dead space and dead ends, moments like finding the watch and "Boil" would be easier to dismiss as coincidence, we wouldnt be as swept up by a new clue without scarcity.
Anyways this was an amazing review and added to the discussion pretty well. I've been making my rounds in reviews and analysis for this film and this one managed to stick out, still.
Unbelievable! It’s like u stole the words from my mouth. My exact thoughts! You put it out beautifully!
Very boring movie
@@icanbreathe9161for you
Well said - also the most powerful image of the movie was at the end, Jong-Su standing naked like a child trapped by his genetic ancestry / genetic fatalism - doomed to repeat the cycle of his father, whose behavior ran off an important woman then he reacted with violence and ended up burning clothes...
I find the “slow burn” of the pacing oddly cathartic. This film unlike many, made me really feel in the protagonist’s shoes
Can i ask where did you watch this burning movie?😓
@@MaurineDelosSantosApple Tv👌🏼
The naturalism of the cinematography is just fantastic. So much underrated these days.
The metaphor of the greenhouse - an enclosed space that cultivates in an "unnatural" way, the growing of something outside of its normal/conditioned environment - as Ben's ambiguous victims was perfect.
To add to that, he specifies "abandoned" greenhouses. People who had no family, friends, or ties to anyone (if you believe that Ben killed them).
It’s crazy, that movie didn’t let me go even 5 years after seeing it for the first time. It touches me on so many different levels. I just love it! And your essay too. Captures the mood of the movie perfectly.
i am outraged your channel hasn't blown up, this was an absolutely stunning analysis of this film, one of my absolute favourites. in fact i think you have managed to encapsulate an understanding of this film few have. this was beautifully presented. please keep making videos
Thank you so much, I'm especially proud of this one!
What an amazing interpretation of this masterpiece of a movie. Burning moved me so much that I couldn‘t sleep for days thinking about the deeper meanings of this metaphor: burning. I eventually found my personal understanding of the movie but only after seeing this video, I finally felt like I could really understand what I so desperately tried to put in words in my mind. You managed to give my thoughts about this „great hunger“ the structure I searched and I am so thankful for that. You are amazing :)
I‘m sorry for my (propably) confusing english. I’m not a native speaker XD
This movie lives rent free in my head! You summed this up and analyzed it beautifully!
Really appreciate that fans can adept and understand a slow paced, ambiguous massively subtextual film. Oft, works like this in American discourse are shaped and bashed, but personally I love them.
The fact that this video doesn't even have 1k views is an outrage, this is undoubtedly the best video essay I've seen on burning
Agreed. This is phenomenal!
That’s like saying “this is best video I’ve seen on paint drying”
@@wilderness135 it really is a unique movie, never seen anything quite like it before.
56.503 views now :)
I remember an old english teacher describe one of William Faulkner's most famous books. In the book, Faulkner describes a person who is a barn arsonist. He describes how this is one of the most despicable things a person could be. I think there is a relationship to this story line and the movies since it's the main character's favorite author.
Hi, I just discovered your channel by chance (because I re-watched Burning with my girlfriend yesterday and I was looking for an interesting review) and I want to congratulate you on the extreme quality of the video. I really liked both the graphic style and the division into 'thematic chapters'. I also agree with your interpretation which is similar to mine in many respects but you also gave me new insights such as the reference to Schrodinger's cat which I had not picked up on. Congratulations again and I wish you a bigger audience, which you deserve for the level of your content!
Thank you so much! Some exciting new content coming out soon!
I drank almost an entire bottle of wine by myself during this film, and my mind is a little foggy but I just can't seem to understand. Maybe I shouldn't try to understand right now. But after this movie and this video essay, all I feel is sadness and emptiness.
*softly cuddles you*
I just watched the movie, and i think there are 2 scenario and scenario no 2 seems to be more relevant :
Scenario 1 : Hae-mi choose to dissapear byherself, not killed by Ben
Evidence/reasoning :
- 40:27
At Tripe restaurant
Hae-mi while crying said "I want to vanish just like that sunset" , Dying is too scary. I wished i could dissapear as if i had never existed."
- Hae-mi Watch found in Ben bathroom just a coincidence. Maybe she take it off when taking a bath or something, but forgot to wear it back. When cleaning up the bathroom, Ben found the watch and put it in the drawer just like other item (probably from his friends, cause he often have a gathering). I mean what kind of serial killer put their "memento" in open space, UNLESS
- Stray cat in Ben house is not Boil. Serial killer are smart, that's why they hard to catch. No way Ben will bring Hae-mi cat with a possibility that Jongsu know Boil + chance of Jongsu come to his house again, UNLESS
Scenario 2 : Ben kill Hae-mi AND HE TRY TO "TELL" Jongsu ABOUT IT
CLUE :
- At Tripe restaurant after come back from africa, Ben said to jongsu "I want to tell you my story"
- 49:40
At Restaurant Near Ben House
Hae-mi said "No, Ben kept asking me to call you". Ben seems using Hae-mi to get close to Jongsu
Ben asked Jongsu to come over to his house because he want to make pasta for them. When Jongsu asked where is the bathroom in Ben House, Ben give him the direction. Maybe Ben already prepare and leave some kind of clue around the house for Jongsu so that he might be suspicious of him
- 1:01:50
Ben and Hae-mi go to Jongsu house/farm when they are driving near the area because Ben wanted to see it (Ben want to meet Jongsu)
Ben then tell Jongsu about his hobby burning greenhouse (He give him Clue that he is serial killer)
- 1:16:29
When Jongsu asked Ben about how he choose which greenhouse he gonna burn :
Jongsu: "And you judge whether or not they're useless?"
Ben : "I don't judge anything. I just accept it. I accept that they're waiting to be burnt down."
This is why Ben choose to kill Hae-mi, because at Tripe restaurant Hae-mi said herself she want to vanish but she just scared to die.
- 2:00:30
Ben "accidently" meet Jongsu outside of his house and ask him to come in. Ben already prepare some evidence by put Hae-mi watch in bathroom + Boil in the house that's why he asked Jongsu to come in.
In the house Ben ask Jongsu, "what kind of a story are you writing?"
Jongsu replied, "I don't know what to write yet"
Ben asked again, "How come ?"
Maybe Ben slightly mad about how dumb Jongsu that he still not sure or have clue that Ben kill Hae-mi, good thing he already prepare the cat + watch evidence.
- 2:15: 00
Jongsu typing. He probably writing about Ben as a backup plan if he got kill when meet him later on
- 2:18:00
Ben meet Jongsu. When Jongsu out from vehicle, Ben said "There are a lot of greenhouses here". I think Ben Himself think that he is also a Greenhouse
When Jongsu stab Ben, Ben never ask why or try to fight him back properly. Ben even seems to hug Jongsu when he getting stab.
I'm not sure what's the real reason Ben try to tell Jongsu that he is serial killer, but i think it's because Ben think that he is also a greenhouse so need to be burn
Brother! Wow, that's insane. Your analysis is so detailed and well written. As I browsed through video explanations, I wished there was something like this. You did a great job, brother
For Scenario 2: When the three of them are in Ben's house, Ben talks about how he loves cooking because it feels like an offering to the gods that he gets to eat. When Haemi asks what offering, he says it's a metaphor and when asked metaphor for what, he says "ask Jongsu", which could mean that he knows Jongsu understands metaphors, and that he will understand the meaning behind his other metaphor.
Edit: "ask Jongsu" could also just be an acknowledgement of Jongsu trying to be a writer and would therefore understand metaphor better
@@faaaaah it's like Ben try to tell Jongsu that he often use metaphor when he talk, so when next time Ben tell story about Greenhouse Jongsu might know that he not actually talked about a real Greenhouse (but Jongsu being dumb still check all Greenhouse near his house)
The last 4 lines had me :)
Uncertainty, justification of jealous actions, assumptions, human psychology of searching for answers than evidence, the way, at some point, we believe in our assumptions more than evidence, ambiguity of metaphors, this movie depicts it all. A masterpiece. I am not that knowledgeable or smart but i think this movie shows how uncertainty can justify your actions based on imagination like when Lee Jong Su can't remember himself rescuing Hae Mi neither Hae mi's mom and sister could verify that she fell in a well, he chooses to believe that her stories are true because it is needed to link his life with her, Whether or not Boil (Her "cat") was real this is uncertain too but we (viewers) chose to believe it anyway, the fact that Hae mi tidied her room before disappearence suggested thay she went on a trip, soon seems to get denied by her luggage that was at her home. Ben having his friends invited over seems often uninterested (Yawning) in their talks or their presence yet putting an effort to show that he is spending time with them. the fact that there was no evidence of Ben killing her or anyone seems to say total opposite of what our straight-forward mind says, we become sure that ben killed her, This movie paints uncertainty everywere and the slow paced scene seems to encourage us to think about the uncertainty.
There can be a lot of interpretation and view about what this movie is trying to Portray, infact i myself have dozens of them.
The key scenes and views about them:
Hae mi mimes and pretends to eat a tangerine. She says "The trick is rather than thinking that the tangerine IS there, you need to forget that there ISN'T one". She also says "the thing is, you have to want the tangerine, so much so that you can taste it". I think this portrays our innate desire to search for answers so much so that if there isn't one, we tend to make them, a lot of them. And we along with Lee Jeong Su. He seems to long so much for the answers, so much so that he believed the story and answer he created himself and took actions on it.
If we analyse the three characters and their desires, we can also understand some things
Hae mi's "great hunger", (She says searching for meaning of life) she disappeared, got killed or is in pursuit of it.
Joeng Su's cravings for answers never leaves him because he can never be certain that Ben killed her or anyone. the guilt of uncertainty and ambiguity will never leave him for the rest of his life.
Ben's metaphor of Greenhouses that are waiting to be burned, he became one.
Everyone will be a slave to their desires Unless they Worships The one true God (Allah).
This movie is a masterpiece and surely is misunderstood by most viewers. But the ending is more suiting that anything and that is, Lee Jeong Su's jealousy burning in a porshe backed by nothing but uncertainty and ambiguity.
(I may have missed on so many things, but these are enough to make a phycological movie masterpiece.)
I had to watch this film multiple times to truly grasp the full meaning. Plus its one of those films that give you deeper understanding about some of the concepts the more you rewatch.
This is the most beautiful video essay ever made about any film
Very kind words !
I have never been connected to a movie like this. it's like watching myself in his shoes
the fact that ben asked is she not with you? before he was killed...that felt real. this alone makes it an open ended movie
and to Jong-su it could've felt like a provocation..at least it did to me. But it also made me question everything for a split second...even the way Ben looked at Jong-su before and after the final stab..hmm
I couldnt care less about Haemi, she was really cold, heartless and selfish for leading on Jongsu then just keeps driving into the sunset with Ben in front of him
Beautifully done. Thank you.
rewatched this last night. so glad to have found your video. more to think about! 🔥🔥🔥🔥
I think the latter half of this movie is most interesting when viewed with the question what would you do?
What would you do if you had nothing and the most important person in your life disappeared without a trace? All while one of the people closest to them expressed sociopathic traits, had overwhelming circumstantial evidence stacked in favor of their guilt and so many resources that even if you went to the cops with bulletproof evidence he would still get off?
If Jong-su had more resources he would have had the opportunity to take a real crack at determining ben's guilt through proper channels. But with the chasm between their classes his choices were reduced to, take radical action or ignore the suspision and continue with a life devoid of meaning with a pit of shame for his inaction perpetually weighing him down.
I can't honestly say i would have done anything different. Even if i would have, it wouldnt have been due to caution, it would have been due to cowardice.
I think a big question in the film is also if he's framing Ben's activity as sociopathic because he needs him to be a villain instead of just an entitled rich guy, to quell his own class envy.
Doesn't really matter since it's a fantasy. Everything after a certain point there is only part of the book’s fictional story. While in reality, Hae-mi just left, Jung-su tries to give her disappearance a reason in his book - Ben. While Ben is a cultured, wealthy guy, the novel presents a dark side by making him a serial killer. Everything from finding Hae-mi’s watch in Ben’s bathroom, to confirming the cat to be Boiler, to killing and burning Ben is part of the story in the novel.
@@OddGentleman what is with this elaborate stupid common view on this movie that the MC is just "writing the book", what's the point of all of this if it's all made up,
and only reason people like you come up with this, is because the MC just happens to be a writer? Every story should avoid having an MC with a writer as occupation then.
@@nightwalkstreet9979 just stop with your stupid abbreviations, its Jong-Su how hard is that!
@@thefamousdjx nerd
For anyone that liked this film you can try reading a small book called the tunnel by ernesto sabato!
As far as the movie, wow! I can't put my finger on it but the way ben hugs him at the end really made me feel for him as in he didn't do it..
This is great, and I agree. The point is not "did he" or "didn't he", it's in the irreducible gap between the two; it's in Jongsu making a decision about which it is with all of his limited and certain and anxious subjectivity, and needing to fill the gap (whether you think the end is real or Jongsu's solution as a writer) to relieve himself of the uncertainty.
I think Chang Dong's handling of the Schroedinger's Cat metaphor is particularly apt; in binary logic, the cat is either the killer or not the killer, but there are also quantum states in between where the cat is partially the killer and partially not, and the viewer is left in a state of narrative superposition. My favorite conclusion is to precisely not collapse the narrative into one option or the other, but a lot of viewers insist on the binary logic.
A lot of pretentiousness here.
@@Malthizar Oh word?
Wouldn’t it have been messed up if in a mid credit scene you see Jong-soo meeting Hye-mi at the mall like a week afterwards and she’s so casual
She really cold for leading Jongsu on like that for her own selfish needs and she wasnt even secret about it
@@thefamousdjxalright man we get it you hate hae-mi 😂
Great essay man!
And what about "burning with jealousy"??
It’s criminal this video doesn’t have more views
I've reported it to the authorities but they don't seem to care
Kill her? I had assumed he sold women as sex slaves.
Then the point of the movie where his friends talk about Chinese men treating their women well, I felt like that confirmed my susposion.
I thought the same thing. i figured that’s why he is so rich as well, and it’s pleasure and work for him
I thought he killed her too but this interpretation makes more sense. I like how it never gives you a clear answer.
Also makes it much more tragic that Jong-Su's last words to Haemi were comparing her to a prostitute
Nice comment on silence and emptiness.
This movie still haunts me - just like 'Poetry' and 'Secret Sunshine'.
Although, the silence of Ben for me is always associated to an expression of power.
He is the puppet master through and through (without knowing or being aware of it), his silence always inducing, always directing - his power, the sole performance of existing, the latent display/performing of his social status.
He is the one who taught Jong-su on how to kill him.
Thus showing all the silent cogs and mechanisms at stake in society, so that even the free-est, most deliberate act of all (killing) is not chosen, but still an inducement, a conditioning... a reproducing of social-class pattern and behavior.
Both Ben and Jong-su are trapped in the same play... miming the same scene again and again.
Which constitutes the haunting aspect of the movie: ultimately, they are mere presences, ghosts of their own lives.
Great analysis, made me understand the film better!
Lee Chang - dong a master in my books.
Ben is a sociopath. It is clear from the beginning. He says that he doesn't feel pain or that he has never cried. He no have interes in others. He only want to Jong -Su write about him, to live in his books. He always chooses poor, frivolous girls who will not be missed by anyone...
Ben said he burns once every 2 months, and at Jongsu house he said its almost time, then later confirms he did the burning a day or 2 after leaving the house. that was the last time Jongsu seen or talked to her so I would reckon Ben definitely either sells her or kills and sells body parts. He says there's lots of useless greenhouses which I reckon he just means 'girls' and he cant help but burn them down for fun. Fun and business is same to him. SO he definitely deserves being killed at the end because he certainly did something bad to Haemi. Haemi kinda also had it coming she was too naive and used Jongsu for her pleasures at the same time was so cold to keep driving away to the sunset in Ben's Porche right in front of Jongsu. I couldnt believe she asked Jongsu to come all the way to the airport just to leave with Ben, heartless and useless like Ben said so maybe I side with Ben lol
This is a better film than Parasite. Ive watched Burning so many times i have now lost count
I really loved your analysis!!
Favorite movie.
same bro!
love this film
Toward the end of the film, Ben arrives expecting to see Hae-mi. Afterall, Jong-su told Ben that he (Jong-su) was with Hae-mi. If you've already made up your mind that Ben murdered her, then this won't matter. However, I don't think we are really supposed to know if Ben killed her or not. I haven't seen any film analysis that mentions this.
Awesome, thank you
Even though I can't know for a technical absolute fact, I am overwhelmingly convinced that he did it, for some good reasons and a seriously condemning one. The most overwhelming is that Ben himself said on multiple occasions that he did burn a green house down, and made multiple implications of the murder. He says "maybe you were too close to see it" if my memory is correct, and that he did it close to the house and two days after he visited the protagonists house. We know that there was no greenhouse that burnt down, and considering the watch, the stash of items he almost certainly takes away from every girl, the fact that he admitted to doing things like this habitually, the fact that the make up is next to the stash of stolen girls items and that makeup and cremation are so similar in Korean, the likelihood that he has self admitted characteristics of a psychopath, ( doesn't cry, doesn't appear to show empathy in any way), and his belief that he will never get caught, ( classic serial killer narcissism) all relative to his heavy implications around the burning of the "greenhouse", I would feel one hundred percent certain of killing him as well.
That being said, I think the video misses the mark on the uncertainty around ben being the killer and the audience making a conclusion about it, though I do think it has a lot to do with uncertainty in general. The character is uncertain in general, he doesn't know what to say most of the time, he doesn't know how to comfort her, even though he clearly cares and has sympathy. There is a strong disconnect between the protagonist and the woman, a type of suffering born from his social confusion, I'm not sure what to make of the themes yet myself, but I thought this movie was incredible
finally a comment i agree with
I'd say it's more implied that he's a sex trafficker, than a murderer - the collection of jewellery, putting the makeup on another woman, the group of friends that take her out and groom her, almost like a clockwork routine. It's all classic trafficker behaviour. When he says he enjoys "burning greenhouses", I've interpreted it more that he enjoys destroying women so that they are a husk of themselves, and stripping them down to nothing - not killing them. But that's the genius - it's a mystery, and it's up for interpretation.
I love this director films the taking and story telling
Feel the bass.
What is the significance of the women at the restaurant mentioning Hae Mi needing to pay off her credit card? Does it imply Ben maxed them out?
You deserve more subs
Fantastic review wow
You’re amazing
NO YOU!!
Amazing video. I keep watching it. What is the piano piece that is used throughout?
Aphex twin - aisatsana
This is great
Great job, you earned a sub.
nice retrospective, except narrative about hunger over the dancing footage.
He did such a great job as portraying Ben as a psychopath. The side that people don’t expect
I think you mixed up the words proof and evidence.
Evidence is the cat coming to the name boil.
Proof would be undeniable evidence that the cat is boil
My English teacher did once smack me with a stick for saying soilder instead of soldier
need cc
Can you give subtitles? 🙏🏻
Where can I watch this movie with English subtitles? I can’t find it anywhere.
Netflix
Anyone know the background music?
Wow
I've listened to a few analysis's and I seem to have a pretty different take than most people. I think Ben is clearly has feelings for Jong-su. Jong-su is confused and upset by the the strange way Ben is trying to pull him in. Jong-su understands nothing, is confused and adrift in his own returning desire for Ben. He feels this desire taints his own feelings to Hae-mi, making him angry and ashamed and puts all these negative feelings towards Ben. Jong-su looks for a sin, a reason to hate Ben. There are negative things there to see about Ben when he looks: he's wealthy and arrogant, he can possess things he doesn't even want, and he admits to callously doing harm in the world for no reason other than personal pleasure. Then Hae-mi disappears and Jong-su immediately assumes Ben took her from him. Finally, having solved the mystery of Ben, Jong-su expresses his obsession by murdering Ben. Ben is scared, but in the end accepts it as an expression of Jong-su's feelings for him and embraces Jong-su before dying. It's why the finale is so sexual, so angry and followed by a pretty clear shame.
your take is definitely interesting! i want to know more about it. do you mind explaining how jong-su and ben have feelings for one another?
i understood ben to be someone who manipulates women into liking him, to build a sense of trust, before he sells them. since he said how business and pleasure are the same to him.
The movie is a slow burn
slowly burning?
I somehow get it, on my personal thought i think that Ben burnt Hei-mie, so when Jong-su keep on checking abt the burned greenhouse he couldn't find a trace, not sure if Ben get jelous on Jong-su or Hei-mi as accdg to Hei-mi he always wants to see Jong-su, i just dont get the fact why did Hei-mi lied about having a cat and the well, can somebody pls. answer this?
It says a lot of things about hae-mi. She is unreliable. Like that time when she said she fell into a well when jung-soo saved her. But no remembers about the well at all
hmm
a lot of things happens, just he didn't show us.
Tbh I didn't love it, I had to watch it in parts because I expected some action, not like great dinámica, just something to go somewhere, I couldn't put myself on the protagonist skin, he treated the girl so Bad, I love your review opened my eyes to what was going on.
Aisatsana
The film is kinda boring tho
Yeah that's my biggest gripe. I see what it's trying to do, but it's just so dead, energy-wise. The whole movie is constantly flat-lining. Sure, it was meant to be open ended and expects the viewer to come up with their own answers, but at the cost of sitting through a 2.5 hour movie where nothing really happens until the most anemic climax I've seen in a while, the stabbing scene. Idk, it felt like one of those movies that was kind of up its own ass for the sake of being "meaningful" and artsy while being boring throughout the whole process.
@@Cristyface its so interesting how some people get that from this film but different things from others. ive had this reaction to a lot of artsy, slow burn, pretentious films and really resented how they had wasted my time after. and after watching burning i initially felt the exact same, irritated that it made me sit through 2 and a half hours of something pointless. i didnt even get what the film was about. so i decided to just move on and forget about it. but then some weeks later i realised it still wouldnt leave my mind, i couldnt stop thinking about it, it had left me in a funny trance like state, so i began to ponder on it further and the best way i can explain its meaning is through this video essay to be honest, it really encapsulates a lot of the depth in the film. i still understand why some people may get nothing out of this film, it's extremely unique, it's weird, you have to be in the right headspace to watch it. but it has the potential to surprise you to be honest
@@noms341 I respect that, definitely. It's just that for me, even with this video essay, it feels like a waste of time. To need to dissect this far and then have so many open questions without anything of true value or interest happening in this film means it was pretentious to begin with, at least in my opinion. The actors did great jobs and I appreciate they tried to do something different, but man, was it dull and moved along at a snail's pace.
@@noms341 Honestly I had the same experience, I try not to make videos about things unless it really connects with me, or someone hasn't really talked about it before, and Burning left me feeling extremely flat, like my time had been wasted, until a couple of days later when I realised all I'd done was think about it in my quiet moments!
This is the most pretentious crap essay I ever heard.
thank you king
Maybe you could go watch Spongebob and leave films like this for the intended audience.
@@RealFeelsTrip There's a pretentious crap audience ?!?
One interesting thing of note is that Ben's cat is seen being quite comfortable sleeping in one of his friend's arms while his new girlfriend talks about the Chinese, despite us knowing that Boil has "severe autism" and is extremely shy of strangers. It's not a mistake by the director, which kinda pisses me off cause now I can't convince myself without a doubt that Ben did it.
Great point. I forgot by the end of the film that Hae-mi mentioned that her cat was shy of strangers. Very seemingly unimportant line until you get to the end where Boil coming to Jong-Su essentially gives him carte blanche to kill Ben. So much ambiguity in this film, I absolutely love it.
Maybe Haemi went to the annual Squid Games...
excellent job. Burning is in my
opinion, one of the most profound films of all time. thank you for contributing to my love of the film.
Ben's metaphor with the Greenhouse wasn't a metaphor to represent his dark hobby his whole life. He only came up with it after seeing the greenhouses he lives near in representing the women he "burns" as in murder. And knowing that Hae-mi was his neighbor makes the line "burning greenhouses" a lot more sense.
This is definitely one way to interpret an overly ambiguous metaphor with no definitive answer
Late to the party but this was my takeaway too. The part that convinced me is when talked about Hae-mi in the past tense saying how trusted the MC was. Once the main character was cut from her life she truly became abandoned and so burned. The other girl too was someone isolated and likely traveling alone. Ben says it best when he says people are lonelier than you think.
Lastly, even when Hae-mi was a child she was alone. The well represents that loneliness in a way where the MC was the only person to find her despite her family being so close. Nobody even knew about the well except the mother who abandoned the MC
@@SaituV2 why do people like using abbreviations just to seem cool smh its Jong-su how hard is that!
@@SaituV2 then why did ben agree to meet with jongsu at the end of the film? since jongsu had told him he was with haemi and asked him to meet them, if ben really had murdered haemi then he would have known it was a trap. There's no clear answer to this, and it feels very intentional, so i think the less we assume, the better
@@thefamousdjx MC is pretty common for main character. Didn't remember the MC's name at that time. Can't be who you want me to be.
I'm very confident in my theory that Ben knows the best tripe place in town, Greenhouses being made to grow food inside a structure and Hae-mi's mother referencing selling an organ talking about debts can't be a coincidence. Ben sees the poor and to him ugly or quant women as existences that life burns through. He sees this as nature. And him burning greenhouses is of course clearly depicted as destroying women. Then, there's his trophy box, and his desire to prep them before he kills them (Hae-me suddenly has a breast enlargement, she looks more kept and he even make-ups the other woman).
In the end, Ben sees himself as a god, and he himself is what the world sacrifices towards. These women are his offerings.
He could also be a pimp as well. If you consider other reasons why Hea-mi had to be sexualized before dissapearing, as you pointed out, it could also point to sex slavery, human trafficking and forced prostitution. He never mentioned how he became rich or maintains his lifestyle but he sure 'collects' women (and their trinklets) before they go missing. But that's the strength of the film anyways - ambiguity, done much more better than the short story it's based on (imo).
Yeah it's really hard to argue the film is ambiguous as people want to say. Especially since their points seem to start and stop at "well that's from a certain point of view"
The guy is called a Great Gatsby and is never shown working. It's clear he's selling organs, both because of the money as well as his own sick enjoyment at killing people.
His friends are likely in a similar vein considering the "potluck" line.
I just struggle to see how this wasn't a rich psycho killing lonely girls and selling their organs
@@Malthizar Ambiguity as in we know he's doing something bad but don't know exactly what it is. Steven Yeun (the actor who played the role) said Lee Chang-dong (the director) told him to have his own internal interpretation of Ben's crimes or non- crimes and act that out. So yes, we don't really know, not even the director knows. Only Steven knows what outcome he chose because he never discloses it.
There's also the fact that Jong-Su was writing a novel about the events so we are also seeing Ben through Jong-Su's perspective. How much of it is fiction and how much is real is also up to discussion. Only thing we know is that Jong-Su believes Ben a killer, and already casted him as an 'other' as soon as they met thanks to his wealth and status. He could be right, he could be wrong.
These are some of the ambiguities and as I said, it makes the film more interesting and open to debate, not just one interpretation. The film was purposely created that way, to be an open ended metaphor not a precise narrative.
thats MC’s mom not hae-mi mom :)
I believe he went on his travels on purpose, to seek the really lonely people on their travels
Amazing analysis. Burning is a film that is excellent and compelling in so many ways. Watching it once doesn't do it justice.
I'm very excited to re-vist it again this year, and to make an effort to explore more of his filmography.
Love this movie for some reason. I always come back to it somehow every year or two. Very... I don't know. Feels very real and not contrived. Slow and meaningful? Leaves a deep impression for some reason.
Thanks for this video essay. TH-cam is so weird you can put something out, forget about it for years and people will still find and watch it.
5:05 The way this scene was shot I thought was interesting. If you notice on the close-up, Jong-su's background is busy, chaotic, and energetic. Packed with people having conversations. Where as Ben's background, is calm, bland, and almost boring. Nothing but a wall and a window.
VAGUE SPOILERS AHEAD
I also found the scene in the bathroom and the cat to be very misleading. I looked at it multiple ways, confirmations he was a serial killer, OR he could've just been a great friend. I considered maybe she came to Ben because he had money. Asked if he could help her escape all the debt she created, and run away. She ran away to Africa and left her cat with essentially a stranger before, why not again? Ben adopted her cat, and she gave him that ugly watch to remember her by.
I was forcing myself to look outside Jong-su's point of view, in spite of the movie explicitly only showing his POV for the majority of it. He was jumping to conclusions left and right even though there could be opposing explanations.
Every single story which is told through the protagonist's point of view should be left unanswered and told only as much the protagonist makes out.
I absolutely love this video. I come back to it every now and then and it’s just such a great explanation of the film. It really is one of the best of modern Korean films. Definitely in my top 5.
Burning has maybe replaced Oldboy as my favorite Korean film of all time. And that is truly saying something, as Oldboy had also been my favorite movie overall.
I still see Jong Su as a hero and I think this is the way he should be seen. He embodies the honesty, the truth and justice seeking nature of the working class being humiliated by the display of nonchalance and arrogance of the rich. The killing of Ben is metaphorical, Jong Su did what he had to do, it was his way of taking action, Hae-Mi was just an innocent sheep, she couldn’t necessarily figure things out for herself but she fell as a victim to a society that gives you false promises just like many other non-privileged people. Ben and people like him eat out or burn (if you wanna see it this way) people like Hae-Mi and Jong Su and this is exactly how he and his class maintain its position. Idk most probably this is not a canonical or accurate interpretation but it is the one that I want and find useful to take from the film.
In some elements it reminds me of Taxi Driver (traumatized protagonist driven by an honest sense of justice, not knowing exactly what to do and being overwhelmed by the corruption and absurdity of the reality around him) but with a clear anti-capitalist tone and a non-Hollywood ending.
You completely missed the point of this movie if you think Jong Su is the hero. The film revolves around his inconsistent viewpoint.
Hae-Mi wasn’t a helpless woman. She took a week long trip to a foreign country in order to find herself. She has her own place, a job and confidently made her own decisions in life.
Jong Su doesn’t actually care about Hae-Mi. He masturbates in her apartment multiple times. Practically has zero conversation with her after her trip. Watches her have an emotional breakthrough after watching her perform the dance she learned in Africa and the only thing he has to say is that she looks like a whore. The only time he thinks about her he’s imagining her jerking him off. She’s an object to be had in his mind and nothing else.
The class disparity between him and Ben is clearly the driving force for the murder. Ben is absolutely nonchalant and arrogant, but Jong-Su just hides his flaws whereas Ben flaunts them. If this is a metaphor for anything, it’s how most working class people place the blame for the bad things in their lives on the wealthy and elite, when most of their problems (Like Jong-Su) lie within themselves.
I love me some marxist perspective!
you have such a beautiful way to potray words
It's one of those movies that gets better on the 2nd or 3d viewing. I genuinly think Steven Yeuns character could be innocent.
just finished the movie, really liked it! a really great video, deserves more attention
Great video, I'm glad I found your channel.
one of my favourite films
incredibly deep film. Also, im 12
I didn't get the movie lol 8:20. It never crossed my mind that the girl was murdered.
So I am fine I guess. xd I didn't encourage shit
It's really not clear that she was. It's almost implied that she was trafficked, more than murdered - the clues suggest Ben's a sex trafficker. But the mystery was the point.
THIS MAN'S CLEAR - GET HIM WITNESS PROTECTION
👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
This video was so well made
Thank you < 4
thank you for the explanation. video , the mesmerizing back ground music,, and your vocals gifted by god !
Thank you!! I grew my vocal box myself!
cc
i love this movie
Well said! But one thing you can improve on is the mic because I cant hear clearly. But this is a good take! Good job
Budget allowing : (
Thank you though!!
@@screen4646 i relistened to it. I think you only need to better filter the sound? Im not sure 😅 but I like your take and your format of the video.
great video :)
Thanks!
just discovered your channel! I love this!
amazing
great review man
@Screen 4.... Please name the piano Score ?????