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[HanCinema's Film Review] "A Single Rider"

Jae-hoon (played by Lee Byung-hun) is a fund manager currently living in South Korea having sent his wife Soo-jin (played by Kong Hyo-jin) off to Australia a year prior. A bad situation leaves Jae-hoon deciding to cross over the ocean himself to see what exactly Soo-jin has been up to, although for various reasons Jae-hoon is reluctant to try and approach her directly. He actually ends up talking more to Jin-ah (played by Ahn So-hee), a young traveler who like Jae-hoon has met a similar unwelcome fate.

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Don't overestimate Jin-ah's importance- her role in "A Single Rider" is largely metaphorical. Sure, Sydney may look beautiful. Especially in the context of flashbacks, it's easy to attribute the improvement in Soo-jin's mood as being because of the magic of Australia, and the excellent cinematography would make for a pretty good tourist pitch. But seeing what happens to Jin-ah, it's quite obvious that Australia is just as potentially toxic an environment as anywhere else in the world.

No, Soo-jin is able to achieve happiness largely through an alteration of her state of mind. Jae-hoon, for all his best efforts, was not making Soo-jin happy. And the bizarre part is, this wasn't really his fault. Jae-hoon could see that Soo-jin was unhappy, and not really knowing any way to directly solve that problem, he sent her off to Australia in the hopes that she would be able to resolve these issues herself.

You know that old cliché, about how if you really love a person, you'll let them be happy without you? Jae-hoon went and actually did that, which is why "A Single Rider" takes on such a morose tone. Jae-hoon is not satisfied with just Soo-jin being happy. He wants to be happy too. It is only once Jae-hoon reaches Australia that he starts to realize this. Consequently, horror sets in as Jae-hoon realizes that there are now no other options except to mope around the streets aimlessly, torn on whether or not he should confront Soo-jin.

While consistently sad throughout, it's only right at the end, when the perspective shifts from Jae-hoon to Soo-jin, that the melancholy really hits a powerful crescendo. It's counter-intuitive at times, really, thinking about how even when they are with others, Jae-hoon and Soo-jin are such fundamentally lonely people. The same could be said of just about any character we see save for the children. They actually manage to unambiguously optimistically enjoy life. Good for them.

It's also how writer/director Lee Zoo-young-I is able to manage this mood so effectively. Almost nothing actually happens in "A Single Rider". The few moments of importance only look that way in retrospect- we never realize the significance at the time. It's fitting how Jae-hoon and Soo-jin too are in that situation, wanting so badly to have realized all this back when there was still time. Kudos to Lee Byung-hun and Kong Hyo-jin for so effectively being able to pull off that haunted sense of quiet, powerful introspection, that constantly tries and fails to relieve the dark pain lingering deep in their souls.

Review by William Schwartz

"A Single Rider" is directed by Lee Zoo-young-I and features Lee Byung-hun, Kong Hyo-jin and Ahn So-hee.

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