BURNING

At the centre of Chang-dong Lee's superb movie "Burning" is a triangle of sorts. Jong-su, (Ah-in Yoo), is an unemployed young Korean who wants to be a writer. One day he meets Hoe-mi, (Jong-seo Jun), a girl he knew from school. They have sex and then she goes off to Africa, asking Jong-su to look after her cat until she returns. When she does, she's with Ben, (Steven Yeun), a seemingly rich playboy who just might be a little more dangerous than he looks.

Lee's film is based on Haruki Murakami's short story "Barn Burning" and since Jong-su's favourite author is Faulkner there just might be a clue in the film's title as to Ben's character. It's a long, beautifully detailed slow-burn of a picture, superbly directed and played. Ah-in Yoo displays just the right degree of gaucheness as the film's hapless young hero and Yeun is both suavely sexy and suitably menacing as the mysterious Ben. As much an enigmatic character study, (Ben isn't the only mysterious character on view), as it is a thriller this casts its own very disquieting spell and is certainly a highlight of the new Korean cinema.