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Salinjaui gieokbeob (2017)
A peek into the world of people suffering from dementia
Rating: 7.5
I'd like to give 9/10 for the main lead's spectacular and consistent acting. I enjoyed watching this film and find it is well produced.
What impressed me the most is how the story depicts the world and life of a a person with dementia. I'll admit that it was a confusing ride. Mostly, I find myself thinking about who I can trust or if I could trust Byungsoo at all. It is interesting and it kept me in my seat. Though I understand why people might be put off by this, I think it is a clever juxtaposition letting viewers directly experience the dizzying world of someone suffering from dementia.
It is not without flaws though. The narrative could have been tighter. It was very much a one-sided story from Byungsoo's perspective, which is totally understandable because the main narrative depicts his condition and life story. It's a shame we didn't get to see much character development from others like the daughter's boyfriend Min Taejoo. I personally wasn't sold on his motive.
The ending feels quite rushed to me. I enjoyed the action scene, however felt the conflicts between the two didn't quite wrap up nicely. The impacts of revelation at the end could be magnify if they took their time with it. It didn't feel quite right for her to confirm if the dad was a serial killer right away. She saw how the officer tried to kill both her and her dad and the first thing she felt was disappointment that her dad isn't the person she thought he is? Wouldn't most people think of it as self-defence? In any case, I thought the ending could have been better written.
Most people would have missed the explanation on Eunhee's birth and why she is not his daughter. It wasn't specifically mentioned if he were married but he was seeing the cigarette shop lady and had a child together. However, one day he found out she cheated on him. Initially, he planned to forgive her after killing the guy she cheated with but she didn't ask for his forgiveness and confessed she had cheated on him for a long time and that Eunhee is not his daughter. That was the last murder he did 17 years ago. But it seems like Eunhee wasn't given a proper explanation till the end. It wasn't also mentioned how "true" the journal is at the end as we know Min Taejoo changed the content to his convenience. Lastly, we weren't given a hint how he got out of the prison/mental institution. Did he lose his mind and lived his whole life chasing after Min Taejoo as he become obsessed in the end?