Oldboy is also getting a screening on 31 October – but you’ve probably seen that a few times already.
Leesong Hee-il’s latest, which comes after an absence of 8 years, lasts 136 minutes
Leesong Hee-il’s Shallow world premiere at Raindance Film Fest
Mother disappeared. Son faces the truth that was hidden for thirty years. In 1983, a twisted love story among a woman, a revolutionary, and a fraktsiya unfolds. A film about memory, Swallow explores what happens when hurtful memories pass back out of the deep pit and present their corpse.
When Hoyeon’s mother inexplicably disappears, he is forced to abandon his mundane corporate life to search for her. What he is not prepared for are the details of his mother’s violent and revolutionary past which he uncovers along the way.
Hee-il Leesong follows his previous release Night Flight (2014) with this long-awaited story of anger and loss. The Korean student protests of the early 1980s are expertly woven into the narrative, highlighting how personal and national history intersect. Using a sleekly edited dual-narrative structure, the film ties together Hoyeon’s present-day investigation with his mother’s tormented past and delivers a gripping and fast-paced film, interchanging between the two timelines for a tense and emotional finale.
What begins as the story of an ignorant young man with little interest or control over his life transforms into a tense thriller examining love, revolution, and identity. At the centre of the film is a powerful performance by Woo Ji-hyun as Hoyeon, subtly conveying his internal conflicts as he struggles to accept the truths that he reveals.
Leesong Hee-il takes the story of one man’s identity in crisis and provides a satisfying and exciting account of a national past.
Robyn Minshall
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