(If you’ve seen the film then hopefully you are laughing – – “Thank-you. Thank-you for laughing at my joke”!)
A One Mann’s Movies review of “Decision to Leave” (2022).
Another one to knock off my pre-BAFTA watch-list. “Decision to Leave” is up for “Film Not in the English Language” and “Best Director” at the BAFTAs. But it’s been completely overlooked at the Oscars. It requires a lot of concentration, but I thought it was a very good film indeed.
Bob the Movie Man Rating:
Plot Summary.
Dogged insomniac detective Jang Hae-joon (Park Hae-il) is investigating the violent death of a mountaineer and suspicion falls on his lovely wife Song Seo-rae (Tang Wei). But Jang’s investigation gets complicated when he starts to fall for the mysterious young woman.
Certification:
UK: 15; US: R. (From the BBFC: “Strong violence, crime scene detail, sex, domestic abuse”)
Talent:
Starring: Park Hae-il, Tang Wei, Lee Jung-hyun.
Directed by: Park Chan-wook.
Written by: Park Chan-wook & Chung Seo-kyung.
Twitter Handle: #DecisionToLeave.
Investigating a base-jump without a parachute. (Source: MUBI)
“Decision to Leave” Review:
Positives:
- There’s a wonderfully Hitchcockian feel to this one, from the dense plotting, the innovative jump cuts through to some genuinely intriguing camera angles. It’s a film that deserves to be watched multiple times to fully appreciate it. Since there was lots in here that I simply didn’t understand. (I wondered, for example, if “throw your phone into the sea” in Korean translated into something like “I love you” in Chinese? Or whether it was just an act of love vs duty??).
- I loved the tension between Jang Hae-joon just doing his professional job and the emerging love story between himself and Song Seo-rae. There was more than a resemblance here to the tension between Michael Douglas and Sharon Stone in “Basic Instinct”.
- Tang Wei is just fantastic in the role of the enchanting murderess (or is she?) It’s a role that feels overlooked in the awards season to me.
- There’s a macarbreness to the finale which (although feeling improbable) is utterly chilling.
Negatives:
- This would be an excellent film to watch in the cinema, where there are no distractions. For, given the subtitling, you have to give it 100% of your attention (unless you happen to speak fluent Korean) in order not to miss anything. It’s more a comment than a “negative”!
Summary Thoughts on “Decision to Leave”:
I really doubt myself as a cinephile when the only one of Park Chan-wook’s films I’ve seen before is “Stoker” from 2013. This is something I need to remedy. But I thought this film was fabulous, and well deserving of a re-watch, when I might be able to get even more from it.
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Trailer for “Decision to Leave”:
The trailer is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aMHyTqvIvU .
