Rewind

Rewind

***

Reviewed by: Amber Wilkinson

A man with no name - no, not that one - runs the Lucky Video store. There is an irony in that luck has not smiled on him lately. He is getting over a divorce and, despite a degree in law, seems happy to live out his life in emotional isolation, dealing with people on a day to day basis. without connection.

His life is essentially uneventful, but everyone seems keen to involve him in theirs, women in particular. He receives regular love letters from an unknown lady, but when he comes to examine the others who pass through his life there are so many and it is difficult to know whom to suspect first.

Copy picture

Could it be the bar owner who has videos so overdue she invites him for a free meal? Or perhaps the single mum to whom he showed kindness? Or maybe the young woman who comes looking for help because she thinks she is being followed?

This is a study in solitude and to say the film is subtle is an understatement. The story builds through clever vignettes about the lives of customers who visit the shop, yet still manages to crescendo.

The movie drags slightly midway and there are a few directorial tics - overuse of slo-mo and a series of hit-and-miss dream sequences - which interrupt the flow, but for a debut feature this is a carefully layered and enjoyable drama which holds the promise of better things to come.

Reviewed on: 23 Aug 2004
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Nameless Korean video store manager leads an uneventful life, pursued by women.

Director: Kim Hak-soon

Writer: Kim Hak-soon, Lim Young-tae

Starring: Chang Hyun-sung, Pang Eun-jin, Oh Youn-hong, Sa Hyun-jin, Chung Eun-mi, Kim Young-im, Hong Seung-ki, Kim So-hyung, Chung Young-mi, Chung Da-som

Year: 2003

Runtime: 98 minutes

Country: South Korea

Festivals:

EIFF 2004

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