Movie Review: "Decision To Leave"
Mary Louise Kelly Host:
The first was the winner of the Oscar for Best Korean Film "Parasite". Then came The Squid Game, an international streaming sensation. Now critic Bob Mandela is talking about another potential hit from the Korean film industry, a new crime drama titled Decision to Quit.
BOB MANDELA, BAILIN: We're in Busan, where Hae Joon is the youngest detective in the city police, but an experienced detective. He wears a custom-tailored suit with a dozen pockets for essentials: eye drops for night duty, a pair of chain gauntlets so he can catch an opponent's blade in knife combat. He seems ready for anything but... well, there's no point in us continuing. At the beginning of the film, his interest is awakened when the body of an experienced climber is found at the foot of the mountain. He fell? Was he pushed? He said to his companion, "We'd better leave."
(decision to leave the phonogram)
Park Hye Il: (Hae Joon as a detective, speaks Korean)
Mandela: So the helicopter is coming?
(decision to leave the phonogram)
PARK: (Hae Joon as a detective, speaking in Korean).
Mandela: Not this time. Our detective uses a motorized crane to trace the fall down the side of the mountain and explains to his partner, who is strapped behind his back, that a dead man was walking along this path and that it was the police.
(decision to leave the phonogram)
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As a character speaking Korean).
Mandela: So you have to jump like this three times, your partner has to cry.
(decision to leave the phonogram)
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As a character speaking Korean).
Mandela: After this short tour, you talk to C-Ray, the much younger wife of the climber, who seems to be very upset by the death of her husband.
(decision to leave the phonogram)
TANG WEI: (as So-Re speaking Korean).
Mandela: Could she be a black widow? She is a geriatric nurse loved by her patients and does not arouse suspicion until death becomes suspicious. This is true? Writer-director Park Chan-wook whips up suspense as the investigation unfolds and the detective hits Seo Rae's orbit firmly. He saw so many parties in her apartment that she invited him. And together they solve the problem of communication - for her, her native language is not Korean, but Chinese, but she cannot. Yes...
(decision to leave the phonogram)
TAN: (As Seo, Rae speaks Korean.)
Mondello: Google translator to the rescue.
(decision to leave the phonogram)
Automatic voice: (speaking Chinese).
Mandela: It should be noted that cell phones and electronics in general have had a strong influence on this type of film noir. Mysteries become less mysterious when you can trace the whereabouts of a suspect. So it's interesting to see how the filmmakers implemented this technology into the game. You can imagine Hitchcock would have played with this if cell phones existed in his day. And I intentionally put a catch with the title. Even if she hadn't fallen from a great height, this story of a detective's meeting with a potential wife would surely remind you of Vertigo - bright novels, obscure motives, characters that the director can trust. Things get really interesting when you think the mystery is neatly wrapped, cliffhangers, and the story is about halfway through.
"Exit Choice" is a choice that the characters make: work, marriage, love. I can't imagine anyone in public deciding to leave if this story doesn't start. I am Bob Mandela. Reprinted with permission from NPR, copyright NPR.
