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[HanCinema's Film Review] "Mist" + Full Movie

Considered among the best films along "The Seashore Village" in the vast filmography of Kim Soo-yong, "Mist" is a very interesting movie, particularly due to the narrative and cinematic experimentations the director included.

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Based on a 1964 novel by Kim Seungok titled "Trip to Mujin", the script revolves around Yoon Gi-joon, a middle class office worker, who has managed to get away from the depressing village he grew up in, not exactly on merit though, but by marrying the widowed daughter of the CEO of the company he works for. While having a relatively high position there, when some trouble spawns in the company, his father in law and wife essentially ask him to stay away, suggesting he visits Mujin, where he was born. While there, Gi-joon meets old friends, reminisces about the past, and embarks on a romantic relationship with Ha In-sook, a newcomer who is teaching music at the local school and also dreams of escaping to Seoul.

Kim Soo-yong does a number of interesting things in this film. For starters, the concept of the "Korean Dream" is presented from all sides, as he highlights both the eagerness of the people who grew up in rural places to move to Seoul in order to escape their mundane life, but also shows that making it in the city is not exactly a cure-all, neither does it guarantee happiness, as Gi-joon's life eloquently highlights. At the same time, Kim also includes a role reversal element, by showing men, both Gi-joon and an old friend, getting rich by marrying upwards, in a concept that was usually reserved for women in cinema at the time (it actually still does today). The appeal of the newcomer from the city is also highlighted here, with both protagonists evidently standing out from the locals, in an element that justifies their eventual attraction.

The experimentation in style is even more evident in the production values of the movie, which are, though, implemented also contextually. The mist that surrounds the village at almost all times is used as the main medium of the overall atmosphere of the movie, but also as symbolism regarding how the protagonists are lost within their present and about their future life. Furthermore, in combination with the many walks throughout the almost invisible roads of the village the protagonists share, Kim seems to state that they are not sure where they are going, both in their lives and in their relationship, as a 'mental fog" seems to cover all their thoughts and to hide reality from them, which is painfully revealed in the somewhat melodramatic finale.

Also of note is Yu Jae-won's editing, which induces the movie with a fitting slow pace, but more importantly, through the many flashbacks showing Gi-joon's memories of his past, creates an atmosphere that can be described as dreamy. At the same time, this reminiscing also helps in analyzing the protagonist, who looks at his past life from a new prism, from the "location" within society he is now. A number of elements here remind intensely of Teshigahara's "Woman of the Dunes", particularly in the way the mist is implemented, but the strolling in the streets,the lengthy dialogues and In-sook's cheerfulness and quite bold flirting, point more towards European cinema, with the same applying to the erotic scenes in the movie. The one between the two protagonists is the foremost example, but another sequence before that, where Gi-joon is walking alone through the streets stumbling upon people having sex inside their houses or making out on the street, also moves towards the direction. Furthermore, this scene highlights the excellent job done in the cinematography by Jang Seok-jun and the lighting by Son Yeong-cheol, with the way the shadows are implemented being a true wonder to watch. Lastly, the frequent narration gives the movie a literary hypostasis also reminding the aforementioned Japanese movie.

Probably the only moments the atmosphere breaks is when In-sook sings, in an aspect that looks more like a promotional stunt than an organic part of the narrative, although, otherwise, the late Yoon Jung-hee in the role of the desperate, unable-to-see-the-reality woman is exceptional. And talking about the acting, the same applies to Kang-Shin Sung-il, who is rather convincing as the tormented bon viveur Yoon Gi-joon, with the chemistry of the two being among the best traits of the movie.

"Mist" is an excellent film that stands out from Korean cinema of the time and Kim Soo-yong's filmography, both due to its overall experimentation, but also because it finally manages to avoid becoming another melodrama.

Review by Panos Kotzathanasis

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"Mist" is directed by Kim Soo-yong, and features Kang-Shin Sung-il, Yoon Jung-hee, Kim Jeong-cheol, Lee Nak-hoon, Ju Jeung-ryu, Lee Bin-hwa. Release date in Korea: 1967/10/19.

 

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