Tuo Yanzhen
Note: This article has spoilers
This year's Cannes Film Festival , the new work of Korean director Park Chan-yu "Handling Determination " won the Best Director Award; in addition, it also won the highest score in the magazine given by film critics; Chinese actor Tang Wei 's performance in the film has also been well received by the outside world. Recently, news came out that "The Determination of Breakup" will represent South Korea to win the 2023 Oscar for Best International Film Award. It is probably not an exaggeration to say that it is the most topical Korean movie in 2022 so far.
"The Determination of Breakup" poster
"The Determination of Breakup" tells the story of the criminal police officer Haijun, played by Park Hae-il, who met his young and beautiful Chinese wife Song Ruilai (played by Tang Wei) because he investigated the case of a mountain climbing and falling to death by an official who had entered and left the country. By observing Ruilai, who is a murder suspect, the married Haijun is gradually attracted by her. After Ruilai clears the suspicion, the two continue to date. However, Hae-jun accidentally discovered something that Ruilai was trying to hide, causing the relationship between the two to fall apart. More than a year later, Haijun met with Remarried Ruilai, who remarried, and Ruilai's second husband encountered an accident again, and she became Haijun's investigative target again.
At the premiere of Cannes , Park Chan-woo said, "Thank you for coming to watch this long, boring and old-fashioned movie." Although these words were self-worthy, "The Determination to Break Up"'s two-hour and twenty minutes of film length cannot be considered short. As for whether it is boring or not, compared with Park Chan-woo's predecessors such as " I want to take revenge ", " Kind Gold ", " Old Boy ", "Miss", the drama conflict in "Decision to Break Up" is indeed much weaker. It is nothing more than wearing the cloak of a criminal investigation film, and actually tells a misplaced romance between two people who should not love each other. However, it is not difficult for viewers who have watched the above movies to find that "The Determination of Breakup" is a very work by Park Chan-woo.
"Decision to Break Up" Stills
First of all, the strong colors are used as the main color of the picture. From Tang Wei's clothes, wallpapers at home, temples where the male and female protagonists go to visit, etc., "The Determination to Break Up" is filled with two colors: blue and green and crimson . The former is a very wonderful color that is different from others. Some people have blue eyes and some people have green eyes, just like Ruilai in Hai Jun's eyes, confusing and unpredictable. Crimson can create a soft and romantic artistic conception, like the atmosphere when Hai Jun and Ruilai are together.
and montage . Whether it is to frequently break the limitations of time and space, or to switch with the protagonist's sight, it is standard Park Chan-yu style. Of course, these techniques are not used to show off their skills, and the audience can also observe from the character's first perspective, and then achieve an immersive movie viewing effect.
"Decision to Break Up" Stills
The main storyline of "Decision to Break Up" is derived from the B-level film he loved since his youth that Park Chan-woo once revealed in his essay: a man who clearly knows what to do and what not to do, but he loses his mind for a moment or a lifetime because he meets the so-called "femme fatales". The "old cliché" that Park Zan-woo said is essentially the inheritance of classic noir movie such as "Double Compensation", "Long Farewell", "Embroidered Scarf Masked Steal", "Malta Eagle", and "Miss Shanghai". Compared to whether the plot of this type of movie is tortuous enough, the characters' images and chemical effects between each other are often more interesting. The criminal policeman Hai Jun in
film was a complete workaholic before meeting Ruilai. In order to work, I would rather choose to be a weekend couple with my wife; in the middle of the night, I am more willing to squat and monitor the suspects than sleep; in my own home, I also paste photos of unsolved cases all over the wall. In addition, the movie begins by tracking the story of another murder suspect through Hai Jun, strengthening his image as a good detective who is persistent and willing to "catch live".
In fact, Haijun's concern for Ruilai is first and foremost due to her suspect - she is a part of his favorite case.All of this is to contrast his "complete collapse" when facing Ruilai later, which is the evidence that Ruilai has "loved" in his eyes. This "collapse" directly led to his giving up on himself, and his attitude towards work also changed, and he became a hollow person. This is also the reason why he had no motivation to fall in love again after reunited with Ruilai.
"Decision to Break Up" Stills
From being confident to being in a slump, the character Hai Jun has always been self-consistent enough. Of course, actor Park Hae-il's performance is also impeccable. From the suspect in a serial rape and murder case in "Memories of Murder" to the middle-aged man in "Hang-Ju-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong Kong-Hong
In comparison, the character Ruilai is somewhat congenital. In order to shape her image as a femme fatale, the movie is quite interesting in some details. For example, every time she meets a stranger, she will emphasize that she doesn't speak well in Korean and put herself in the position of the weak first. It seems that in this way, it is worth forgiven for saying the wrong words and doing the wrong things. When she ate the well-packed sushi takeaway in the interrogation room, she would inadvertently look at the store name on the bag, sure it was from a high-end store, implying that she already knew that the man in front of her had a good impression of her. For example, she obviously has acrophobia, but in order to achieve her goal, she can overcome her own weaknesses. Although she often looks naive when she gets along with Hai Jun, after she got married for the second time, she knew that her husband owes money everywhere, but she still squanders and buys luxury goods on her own. It can be seen that she is not without desire for material things.
"Decision to Break Up" Stills
However, this allows you to keep having a lover but your favorite image is still your femme fatale. In the second half of the film, it really collapses and becomes a silly sweet who is deeply trapped in love and cannot extricate himself - even the double gaze at the beginning of the film is not enough to support this sudden change. Not only did she completely reveal her flaws in front of her husband, she even took risks for a man who no longer loved her and was willing to give up everything and returned to Wang Jiazhi's old path. This is not like a woman who escapes from the crime of killing her mother and tries to get rid of her extraordinary husband who is extremely possessive. She can do things that a woman who has finally gained a foothold in a foreign land. Such inconsistency undoubtedly greatly eliminates the charm of the femme fatale.
Director Park Chan-woo and another screenwriter of the film, Zheng Ruijing, both revealed in an interview that the role of Ruilai was tailor-made for Tang Wei. It’s a pity that in addition to the problems of the character themselves, Tang Wei’s performance also has shortcomings. Strangely, her performance when she talks about Korean dialogue is more appropriate, but instead she speaks the scenes of her native language dialogue, which creates a sense of incongruity.
"Decision to Break Up" Stills
The so-called femme fatales are quite common in Western movies. They are either sexy or pitiful. Whether it is the man who is betrayed on the screen or the audience in front of the screen, they cannot really hate them in the end. To put it bluntly, the charm of femme fatales transcends moral values; or, it should be said that the subversion of moral values adds a different kind of charm to them. Perhaps because the Confucian , which is praised in East Asia, always emphasizes the virtuousness of women, the impressive image of femme fatale is quite rare in East Asian movies. Guilunmei in " Daylight Fireworks " can be regarded as an example. Insulted and damaged in the world of male power, she only thought about how to survive from beginning to end. She adopted an emotional attitude towards all men who could determine her destiny. I believe that with the rise of femme fatalies, femme fatalies that can truly sink the audience will become more and more common in future Asian films.
Editor in charge: Chengyu
Proofreading: Zhang Yan
