Yong-ho, a depressed, mentally broken down man wanders to a reunion of his old student group. Facing an oncoming train, he exclaims "I want to go back". What follows is reversed chronology, where the key events of the past 20 years of Yong-ho's life is unfolded, and bit by bit it's revealed why he decided to take his own life.
A movie that swallows you up in a vortex of sadness, jealousy, hate and every godawful feeling there is. Doesn't sound so great? Well, it is. Peppermint Candy is one of the the best and most memorable moments in Asian film history. The narrative structure of the film isn't anything new, Lawrence of Arabia (1962) is perhaps one of the most well-known examples where a man dies and his life story then unfolds. It's a rewinding of a life where every turn taken was for the worse, and a story about how one can go from youthful innocence to regretful and cruel. It was directed by the great Lee Chang-dong who've made films with deep emotional impact such as Secret Sunshine (2007) and Poetry (2010). Lee is perfect at making silence speak for itself and build atmosphere without too much dialogue.
An unforgettable journey into the past, and one of my favorite films from South Korea.
Genre: Drama
Genre: Drama
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