Burning  ★★★★

‘HAUNTING’ is the perfect word to describe the South Korean drama Burning.

A week after seeing the film I’m still pondering how director Chang-dong Lee manages to command the audience’s attention while denying us familiar story-telling conventions or pathway.

The film provides three complex character studies within a slowly developing mystery with minimal overt guidance by way of direction or script.

For much of the film we are searching the screen for clues, dissecting words, looks and actions, however slight, to determine exactly where we are being taken.

Through intriguing sequences and beautifully under-stated writing and acting, we are led willingly to the film’s shattering climax.

Like the film itself, the secret of any review is to build intrigue by explaining some of the story without actually revealing anything.

Jong-su is a young man living by himself in a large city. He wants to be a writer but never puts pen to paper. Instead he gets by doing odd jobs.

One day he is recognised by Shin Hae-mi, a childhood neighbor and classmate whom he does not remember. She tells him she has since had plastic surgery.

After a couple of encounters she asks him to feed her cat while she holidays in Africa. She shows him her flat and they have sex before she leaves.

While she is away Jong-su feeds the cat every day but never actually sees it. He also becomes infatuated with Shin Hae-mi. During this time he is also forced to return to the family farm on the edge of the North Korean border after his father has a run-in with the authorities.

After a few weeks Shin Hae-min returns but with another man, Ben, in tow. She initially describes Ben as just a friend she met while travelling, but Jong-su is suspicious of both the situation and Ben himself who seems well-off but with no obvious job.

The trio interact with each other until one of them suddenly disappears.

The script is adapted by Lee and Jungmi Oh from a short story called ‘Barn Burning’ by Haruki Murakami. Like the title of the source material, many things perhaps cannot be taken literally while simple things, such as the invisible cat, ultimately have a clear and telling purpose.

The cast are terrific Ah-in Yoo as Lee Jong-su, Jong-seo Jun as Shin Hae-mi and Steven Yuen as Ben – interacting with each other perfectly and ensuring each of their characters retains the required air of mystery.

Western audiences will recognise Yuen from his recurring role as Glenn in television’s The Walking Dead but, apart from Burning, he has appeared in several other recent, well-received films including Sorry To Bother You, Okja and Mayhem.

Burning is fascinating in its unconventional story-telling. Ultimately it is actually a familiar tale, but the journey is consistently clever, intriguing and engrossing.