There are many stories about going back to basics in the cinema. They are generally formatted stories where the protagonist undergoes many transformations before finally reuniting with his family and making peace with them. Return to Seoul by Davy Chou breaks with this mold by being much more complex and realistic.
Indeed, there is no common place here. Only the dreams, hopes and disenchantments of Freddie (Park Ji-Min) who must learn to juggle his French and Korean heritages. It doesn’t matter if his quest ends up hitting a wall. The important thing is the journey accomplished, strange and unpredictable, which culminates after numerous ellipses with particularly heartbreaking sequences.
This ambitious identity odyssey takes the path of initiatory narrative, melodrama and the portrait of women. You have to go back a long way to find such a dazzling heroine. Fantastically, Freddie seems to constantly (re)build himself over the course of encounters and adventures. By ignoring who she is, she can become anything she desires.
The film thus completely belongs to its interpreter Park Ji-Min. The plastic artist who is in her first role in the cinema is a real diamond in the rough. His flamboyant energy and the finesse of his acting make this elusive character all the more endearing as he goes through the full range of emotions… and sometimes in the same scene!
The realization is entirely dedicated to him. The camera follows her in particular during her periods of joy through a clever use of editing during vibrant dance moments, before literally locking her up alone on the screen in order to bring out her loneliness.
French filmmaker of Cambodian origin, Davy Chou understands this duality well, which he uses for cinematographic purposes. As in his previous and excellent Diamond Islandhe invites his oriental influences that are Wong Kar-wai, Jia Zhangke and other Tsai Ming-liang to better combine them with western inspirations, Michael Mann in mind.
The amalgam that takes shape allows Return to Seoul to seduce and dazzle, transcending its moments of hesitation in favor of a feature film of great richness, in complete rupture with works of the same genre.
Return to Seoul is presented in the original version with French subtitles and English subtitles.
Drama
Return to Seoul
Davy Chou
With Park Ji-Min, Oh Kwang-rok, Guka Han
1:55
Indoors