FILM

CHANG DONG LEE

a late blooming master filmmaker

By Vivienne Youn

a burning resentment simmers here

Chang Dong Lee is one of the most fascinating, realist directors working in Korean cinema. In an industry dominated by genre and experimental filmmakers, he stands out as an artist dedicated to a different set of values. Surprisingly, he didn’t make his first film until he was 43, an unusually late start for most artists in South Korean film. Burning (2018) is Lee’s latest movie. Even before it was released it was stirring up controversy because of what the story is about and the kind of characters he portrays. The title represents the anger of young adults in Seoul, but it could be any large, metropolitan city anywhere in the world. Lee has said, “World-wide, there are a lot of people struggling with the anger in their mind. Whatever your religion, country, or social status is, everyone’s feeling resentment.”

What I like about the film is that he doesn’t try to idealize or romanticize youthful rebellion. There’s a long history in the movies of doing just that (Rebel without a Cause, The Wild One, Bonnie and Clyde). Lee realizes, because he’s alert and a realist, that romanticizing is the same as taking on a twisted perspective, a subjective point of view. Lee wants to examine the world from a distance and see what is really happening.

What's he feeling?

Lee is deeply interested in the social status of his characters. That requires precise details about the economy and how people think and what they care about. Cheese in the Trap, a well-known Korean television show adapted from a digital comic, aka a webtoon, covers the same ground, but in a completely bogus way. Since it is also about the daily lives of young adults, it is interested in money. However, what actually caught the public’s attention is the clothes the characters wear, many of them luxury brands that are too expensive for most people. As a realist Lee would never allow that to go uncommented.

In Burning, one character, Jongsoo, dreams of becoming a writer but never has a chance because he has to constantly work. Another character Ben doesn’t need a job to survive and he can indulge in his hobby of inviting people over to his house and talking about luxury goods. In the movie, you can feel how shabby Jongsoo feels when he’s around Ben. And Lee never lets you forget the economic disparity by making us aware of the differences between their homes, neighborhoods, cars, and, most powerfully, what they wear.

Furthermore, Lee accomplishes this all from a distance. The characters never talk about economic disparity. Instead, we are forced to watch and experience how money is a deep part of Jongsoo and Ben’s lives. Jongsoo frequently writes, but in his world writing is an extravagance. On the other hand, Ben is free to do whatever he wants; everything is within his reach. He doesn’t have a job, lives in a beautiful home, drives expensive cars, and goes off for trips to Africa.

Can you tell who can do what? Of course you can!

The idea of struggle and failure is a difficult subject to broach in South Korean cinema. Lee has said, “I think it is hard to see the character from Korean movies, like there is no space to deliver their characteristics, background, and emotion to the audiences. So I wanted to emphasize the ‘character,' not like someone well-decorated, but someone who struggles in real life.” However, what’s fascinating is that many of Lee’s movies contain fantasies. He uses them when he wants to describe how people have all sorts of unrealized depth, but haven’t the resources to fully realize their potential.

Oasis (2002) is a story about a man recently released from prison, Jongdoo, and Gongjoo, a young woman suffering from cerebral palsy. She can’t walk or talk and is cared for by neighbors while her brother uses her disabled status to get government subsidies. It’s a grim situation. However, there are fantasy sequences where Gongjoo talks, walks, and even dances that are quite beautiful.

It is the alternation between the fantasy sequences and the real world that allows us to understand how Jongdoo and Gongjoo can fall in love. But Lee never allows us to miss the reality of their situation. Fantasy allows them to fall in love, whereas realism allows us to see them for who they truly are and how difficult their lives are.

He sees everything and within everyone

People from the neighborhood call them ‘losers’ and ‘second-class citizens’ and ignore their sincerity and love. When the brother of Gongjoo catches her and Jongdoo having sex, he instantly thinks it is a rape and calls police. Just like Lee said in the interview, the contrast between reality and fantasy forces us to see how we think about the world and the people around us. He makes us more aware.

The main characters in Lee’s movies are mostly working class and poorer, the losers. They are sometimes elderly, unemployed, disabled, or young socially powerless minorities. He is not afraid of making them the stars of his films. But rather than idealize them, he gives them the respect of treating them like real people, worthy of a movie. It is a matter of honor and respect.

©Vivienne Youn and the CCA Arts Review