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Burning

2018 film

Watched 12 February 2019

Three people watch a sunset in rural South Korea.

Wow. Whenever a filmmaker can find so much beauty and excitement in being deliberately mundane I sit up and pay attention.

It’s slow. The smallest of details are just as carefully pondered as the grandiose gestures, all vividly blending together. The quiet moments compel the subjective experience of seeing rather than the objectivity of just looking, only to then make you question what you really saw. The mystery itself felt novel because it feeds off this slowness — instead of being built on plot twists or needless complexity, it’s challenging through imperfection by forcing you to see for yourself. Really great.

About star ratings

My ratings are subjective. I’m not aiming for a perfect ranking of comparative artistic merit, just trying to represent how I feel about stuff. Here’s what they mean:

Personal favorite. I simply love it, warts and all.
Something special. Highly recommended.
Good, but unremarkable. I’ll probably forget about it.
A waste of time. Not recommended.
Practically insulting. Soulless garbage. (Rare!)