Hwacha

Fiancés Mun-ho and Seon-yeong are having an enjoyable trip, but as soon as the man stops at a convenience store, the woman disappears. As such an event was completely unforeseen, her fiancé tries to figure things out. Will he be able to find the woman or will his search for happiness result in even greater sorrow and tragedy? Could it turn out that the woman’s disappearance isn’t the worst that could happen to Mun-ho? The crime-tinged love drama eventually reveals clues as to whether the woman was kidnapped or whether she simply left because she had been playing a game with her intended the whole time. This ambiguous movie goes beyond its generic boundaries and touches on more general questions while reconstructing the characters’ pasts, sensitively describing the extremes the main character is thrust into by the unexpected situation. Set against a detective story backdrop, the movie profiles character psychology, addressing the topics of alienation and feelings of emptiness in today’s cities – not uncommon themes for Korean cinema. (Karlovy Vary International Film Festival)