I'd probably put Davy Chou's 'Return To Seoul' in a time capsule for people to discover in the Year 2100. File under: 'Contemporary Drama, 2022, Covid-19 era'. French adoptee Frédérique "Freddie" Benoît's personal odyssey in search of her Korean heritage is a bumpy road full of moral and psychological complexity and leaves her with many unresolved issues ... a bit like life itself!? Ji-Min Park gives a full and frank account of herself in perhaps a career-defining role, a real instinctual on-screen presence, great to watch, well supported by an ensemble cast of mainly Korean actors (particularly notable are Guka Han as Tena the hotel worker who helps Freddie on her journey, and Oh Kwang Rok who plays Freddie's biological father working out his regrets of giving her up for adoption).
The film contains many quirks and features, which are all worth discovering, and its cross-cultural references are fascinating and often stark as a French Gen-Z (Freddie is 25 at the beginning of the film) comes up against the Korean society facing its own struggles with change and modernity. Even an apparently neutral act like pouring your own drink becomes politically 'loaded' across the cultural divide! Chou's highlighting of cultural norms in translation is also noteworthy (and quite amusing sometimes, some things you just can't say in some cultures!). It was nice the way characters like Tena and Freddie's biological aunt played by Kim Sun Young were so sensitive in the way they handled things that could so easily get 'lost in translation', very well done.
International cinema at its best, oddly the film was nominated for a 2023 Academy Award for 'Best International Feature Film' as the Cambodian entry (reflecting Chou's ancestry, although the film maker himself is actually French). 'Return To Seoul' benefits from its honest rendering of the subject matter. Life and people interactions are seldom smooth sailing like a Hollywood epic, but there's still plenty of joy to be had in the tender moments. The climax of the film, I suppose, is Freddie's eventual meeting with her biological mother, which underlines the value of film over other media, packing such an emotional punch in its few minutes. The film also brings into focus some of the issues surrounding adoption, and Chou's study of the processes and protocols in the Korean system are instructive and fascinating. The film is even dotted with songs by veterans of French pop Jérémie Arcache and Christoph Musset (of the pop rock band Revolver) and those interludes work fabulously as a musical backdrop (particularly the nightclub scenes). This film is a major achievement deserving of all its praise.
The film contains many quirks and features, which are all worth discovering, and its cross-cultural references are fascinating and often stark as a French Gen-Z (Freddie is 25 at the beginning of the film) comes up against the Korean society facing its own struggles with change and modernity. Even an apparently neutral act like pouring your own drink becomes politically 'loaded' across the cultural divide! Chou's highlighting of cultural norms in translation is also noteworthy (and quite amusing sometimes, some things you just can't say in some cultures!). It was nice the way characters like Tena and Freddie's biological aunt played by Kim Sun Young were so sensitive in the way they handled things that could so easily get 'lost in translation', very well done.
International cinema at its best, oddly the film was nominated for a 2023 Academy Award for 'Best International Feature Film' as the Cambodian entry (reflecting Chou's ancestry, although the film maker himself is actually French). 'Return To Seoul' benefits from its honest rendering of the subject matter. Life and people interactions are seldom smooth sailing like a Hollywood epic, but there's still plenty of joy to be had in the tender moments. The climax of the film, I suppose, is Freddie's eventual meeting with her biological mother, which underlines the value of film over other media, packing such an emotional punch in its few minutes. The film also brings into focus some of the issues surrounding adoption, and Chou's study of the processes and protocols in the Korean system are instructive and fascinating. The film is even dotted with songs by veterans of French pop Jérémie Arcache and Christoph Musset (of the pop rock band Revolver) and those interludes work fabulously as a musical backdrop (particularly the nightclub scenes). This film is a major achievement deserving of all its praise.