Hey what's up guys. Today I'll show you a psychological-thriller film: "Burning"!
Spoiler ahead, watch out and take care! A young aspiring novelist, "Mr Shy,"
comes to the city to do some errands. He walks along the city's streets, where he fortuitously
stumbles across his childhood friend from the rural areas, called "Beauty," who works part-time
as a dancer at the store. It turns out that she had plastic surgery that greatly changed her face,
so he fails to recognize her at first glance. But she immediately introduces herself to him.
After her work, they smoke together in a narrow alley to catch up with each other.
Mr Shy says he is only an aspiring writer, since he is not confident enough to be called a writer.
As their conversation descends into silence, Mr Shy gives her the pink
watch he won earlier from the store raffle. After that, they have some drinks at a restaurant.
Beauty shares that she is planning to travel towards Africa. Mr Shy then asks about the reason
why she is going there. But she disregards his question, and proceeds to perform an
art dance called "Pantomime," where she acts like she is eating an imaginary tangerine.
She explains that this art relies upon the mind's capacity, to forget that something does not exist.
This means that she can taste the tangerine upon forgetting that it does not exist.
She then shares the two types of hunger: the little hunger and the great hunger.
The little hunger is the hunger of a human's appetite. In contrast,
the great hunger is the hunger to seek the ultimate meaning of life, that is, the reason
for one's existence. She then says that she will go to Africa, to seek meaning to satisfy her great
hunger. So she asks Mr Shy for a favor to feed her cat at her apartment while she is gone.
The following day, he rides a bus to meet Beauty. He carries big bags, so she asks him why he
carries them. He reveals that he is returning to their home in the rural area. Apparently,
his father runs into a problem while his mother already left them years ago. This means that no
one is staying at their house to feed the cow. So he needs to go home to take care of the cow.
Shortly after, Beauty calls her cat as they arrive at the apartment, but the cat does not come
out. She then says that the cat is shy towards strangers. This makes him think that the cat only
exists in her imagination. But she says she won't make him come there just to feed an imaginary cat.
Suddenly, she reveals to him that he called her ugly during their childhood. She then challenges
him to call her ugly again; but he becomes speechless upon seeing her beauty. This makes her
hormone rage, and she proceeds to tongue massage him. As they reach the bed, He starts touching
her small but beautiful mountains, long enough before he proceeds to plow her grassy farmland.
As he is about to reach the climax, he looks at the window where he sees the Seoul tower.
Later, Mr Shy arrives at their house in the rural areas. He walks in at their desolated house,
where a weird smell awaits him. Despite that, he begins to feed the cow.
The following day, as he eats his breakfast, the TV news broadcasts the unemployment among youths.
This news reflects his situation and Beauty's situation, since they do not have a stable job.
Shortly after, he comes outside to look at his old and grungy truck.
He also checks the sharp knives hidden in a locker room inside a storage room.
Later, he comes to Beauty's apartment to feed her cat, since she has already gone to Africa. But he
cannot find the cat, despite finding cat poop in the litter box. When he sits at Beauty's bed, he
suddenly remembers her hormone smell. So he plays with his hot sausage while looking at her photo.
As he enjoys the pleasurable moment, he takes a look at the Seoul tower again through the window.
Soon after, he comes to his father's hearing at the court. Apparently, his father inflicted a
minor injury on a government official. He suddenly walks out of the court, before his father declares
his plea on the case. It turns out that his father is a prideful man who chooses to get jailed,
rather than apologize for his mistakes. Two weeks later, he comes again to feed the cat at
Beauty's apartment. He puts food in the container, but the cat is still nowhere to be found.
Shortly after, he plays with his hot sausage again while looking at the Seoul tower.
He suddenly receives a call from Beauty, who tells him to pick her up at the airport.
Later, he happily picks up Beauty at the airport. But to his surprise, Beauty is with another man
called "Rich Guy", who she met in Africa. He gets disappointed as she only introduces him
to Rich Guy as a friend, since he assumes a hormoneship going on with him and Beauty.
Shortly after, they ride his grungy truck towards the restaurant to eat.
Along the way, Rich Guy is talking to his mother on the phone.
Rich Guy is boasting to his mother about the superiority of his DNA over the others.
At the restaurant, Beauty tearfully describes her experience of the African sunset.
She reveals that she wants to vanish like the sunset, as if she never existed. Her tears
greatly fascinate Rich Guy, as he reveals that he never cried in his entire lifetime.
This arouses Mr Shy's curiosity, so he asks Rich Guy about his work. Rich Guy then vaguely says
that his work is "to play." Suddenly, Rich Guy's friend arrives to deliver his fancy car to him.
As they are about to leave, Rich Guy confidently asks to take Beauty to her home. So Beauty decides
to ride with Rich Guy's fancy car, while Mr Shy sadly drives his old truck alone to his home.
The following day, he asks the town mayor to sign a petition for his father. Suddenly, he receives
a call from Beauty. He happily meets her at a fancy café. But he instantly gets disappointed,
upon knowing that Rich Guy is also there. Shortly after, Rich Guy invites them to his apartment to
cook pasta. Mr Shy observes the fancy apartment, while Rich Guy and Beauty happily cook the pasta.
Mr Shy comes to the bathroom, where he sees make-up, and various women's accessories in
the cabinet. This makes him suspect that Rich Guy is a womanizer, because he thinks that Rich Guy
keeps the accessories in the cabinet as a trophy. So later at the terrace, he asks Beauty why Rich
Guy keeps meeting her. She reveals that Rich Guy simply thinks that she is an interesting person.
Later at night, Rich Guy brings them to a fancy bar to drink with the rich people.
The rich people are extremely bored while listening to Beauty's story about Africa.
Meanwhile, Rich Guy also yawns at the side, since he seems to be uninterested in her story.
The following day, Rich Guy and Beauty visit Mr Shy's home. Beauty then remembers her childhood
at their place, since she lived in the area. She reveals that during her childhood, she fell into a
well. She thought at the moment that no one would find her, but Mr Shy suddenly came to save her.
However, Mr Shy cannot remember her story. As the sunset comes, the three of them
smoke some pot together. When they reach the ecstatic moment, Beauty removes her clothes to
dance through the sunset. She then passionately performs a bird dance, which expresses her desire
to be free from everything. She suddenly cries while dancing. Shortly after, she falls asleep
due to tiredness. So Rich Guy and Mr Shy carry her inside the house. After that, they proceed
to have a conversation, where Rich Guy reveals that his hobby is burning abandoned greenhouses.
Rich Guy says that it is really simple; he just needs to set the greenhouse on fire;
and in a few minutes, the greenhouse is gone as if it never existed.
Apparently, Rich Guy thinks that burning the useless greenhouses is necessary to reduce them,
since he thinks that there are a lot of them in Korea waiting to be burned down.
In fact, he reveals that he is about to burn a greenhouse nearby the area.
Later at night, Mr Shy asks Beauty why she easily removes her clothes in front of men. He then calls
her a prostitute for doing that. Shortly after, Rich Guy and Beauty leave together.
Sometime later, he worriedly calls Beauty, but he cannot reach her phone anymore. He then proceeds
on looking for a burned greenhouse in their area, to confirm if Rich Guy means literally
or metaphorically when he speaks about burning greenhouses. Suddenly, he receives a call from
Beauty's phone, but no one speaks on the phone. So he checks her apartment, but it is locked. Later,
he desperately tries to find the burned greenhouse. At this moment, he thinks that burning
greenhouses is Rich Guy's metaphor, for killing useless people for enjoyment. He thinks that Rich
Guy refers to Beauty as a useless greenhouse very close to him, waiting to be burned down.
The following day, he returns to Beauty's locked apartment, where the landlady lets him inside. He
reasons out that he needs to feed the cat. But the landlady informs him that there is no cat inside.
Inside, he finds Beauty's apartment in a very neat condition, which is unusual
since Beauty never cleans her apartment. This makes him think that Beauty is really missing.
He then proceeds to ask her friend at work. But her friend does not know her whereabouts. Her
friend suspects that she went into hiding from her debt. He also tries to find her in the pantomime
class. But the instructor informs him that it has been a long time since Beauty came to the class.
In desperation, he secretly follows Rich Guy at a fancy café. He asks Rich Guy about the greenhouse.
Rich Guy then reveals that he has already burned a greenhouse near Mr Shy's home. So, Mr Shy tells
Rich Guy that he checks every greenhouse near his area, but he cannot find the burned greenhouse.
Rich Guy reasons out that Mr Shy fails to see the burned greenhouse since it is too close to him.
Apparently, Rich Guy dates another woman after Beauty goes missing. When Mr Shy asks him about
Beauty's whereabouts, he just vaguely answers that Beauty simply disappears into thin air.
Later, he visits Beauty's family, hoping they know about her whereabouts. But it turns out that
Beauty never comes home for a long time, since she can't show herself at home unless she pays her
debt. He then asks them about Beauty's experience of falling into the well during her childhood.
In response, her family reveals that there is no well existing near their house.
They then tell him that Beauty is just good at fabricating stories. He then goes to
Beauty's old house to personally check it. But he cannot find a well existing there.
In desperation to find Beauty, he starts following Rich Guy's every movement, hoping that he will
find her. He comes to an art gallery, where he witnesses Rich Guy's family enjoying their meal.
He even secretly follows Rich Guy along the highway. Shortly after, they reach the mountain
areas in the middle of nowhere. But he only finds Rich Guy coming there to contemplate at the lake.
The following day, he comes to meet his mother at a café. He then asks her about
the well near Beauty's house. Apparently, his mother remembers a dried-up well existing there,
contrary to the claims of Beauty's family. At this moment, he is in a state of confusion,
thinking if Beauty really lies about her story about falling into the well.
Later in the evening, he comes to spy on Rich Guy again. But this time, Rich Guy is able to see him,
so Rich Guy invites him to come over inside the apartment. He notices that Rich Guy has a new cat.
When he comes to the bathroom, he finds Beauty's pink watch with the women's accessories in the
cabinet. This further increases his suspicion that Rich Guy did something bad to Beauty.
Shortly after, he comes outside when the cat suddenly runs towards the parking lot.
He then chases it. The cat appears to be elusive, but it suddenly comes to him when
he calls the cat's name. This confirms that the cat in Rich Guy's apartment is Beauty's cat.
This further arouses his suspicion that Rich Guy is responsible for Beauty's disappearance.
Shortly after, Rich Guy's friends arrive to have a party at the apartment.
He joins them at the party, where he notices that Rich Guy is yawning again,
while Rich Guy's new woman is telling her story. He then abruptly leaves the party.
Rich Guy follows him to the parking lot, and tells him not to be so serious about things.
Rich Guy also advises that he needs to enjoy things, so he can feel alive.
The following day, he comes to the court, where the judge is about to read the final decision
about his father's case. In the end, the judge sentences his father to be imprisoned. After that,
he sells his father's beloved cow. At this moment, he is completely alone, since his father is in
prison while he already sells his pet cow. In the next scene, it appears that Beauty is
walking Mr Shy's hot dog at her apartment. But it turns out that he is only fantasizing about
her. In reality, he is alone, lying in her bed. Meanwhile, Rich Guy is putting make-up on his new
woman. Rich Guy is passionately doing it, as if it is a ceremony for an important event.
In the end, Rich Guy is smoking a cigarette, while also waiting for Mr Shy's arrival in the
middle of a desolate field. It turns out that Mr Shy invites Rich Guy to come there. Soon after,
Mr Shy arrives, driving his truck. When he walks down the truck, he instantly stabs Rich Guy,
thinking that Rich Guy is responsible for Beauty's sudden disappearance. Rich Guy tries to walk
towards his car while gasping for breath. But Mr Shy follows Rich Guy to finally kill him. Rich
Guy then intently looks at Mr Shy while holding him tightly. Mr Shy proceeds to stab him again.
After that, Mr Shy puts him inside the car. Mr Shy then pours gasoline all over the car. After that,
he slowly removes his bloody clothes, and puts them inside as he is about to set them on fire.
To finish his murder act, he finally sets the car on fire. He then proceeds on driving away
with his grungy truck, while Rich Guy is burning together with the fancy car.
This film depicts Mr Shy and Beauty's constant struggles to get out of their unsatisfied life.
Beauty's desire is to be free from being trapped in her life as a lower class,
just like her being trapped in the well for too long, waiting for someone to get her out of there.
On the other hand, Mr Shy struggles to understand the Rich Guy's life as an upper class.
He likes to overlook the Seoul tower, dreaming of flying like a bird in the free sky, but reality
just plays like a glass window, separating him from reaching it. During all these struggles,
Mr Shy's father chooses to defend his pride peacefully, but ends up in jail;
Beauty tries to embrace it, but ends up becoming the rich's prey; while Mr Shy vents his rage and
resorts to violent revenge for his lost lover, but ends up being a murderer; all of which signifies
their helpless struggles against the solidified social class. They are just like the play-toys
used to satisfy the rich's boredom, and the abandoned greenhouses waiting to be burned!
This's Daniel CC movie channel! Stay safe and enjoy your day!