Customer Ratings & Reviews

Don’t be fooled by the sparse output of South Korean filmmaker Lee Chang-dong, who has made only five films since his debut feature in 1997, “Green Fish", a gangster film influenced by Martin Scorsese’s "Mean Streets". Lee is a major artist, one of the world's great filmmakers, and his slim oeuvre is partially explained by his being a novelist as well as having a long involvement with political activism -- even serving as South Korea’s Minister of Culture and Tourism for a few years. One of the great directors of women (winning many international awards for his previous three films “Oasis”, "Secret Sunshine” and "Poetry" – all three having women as central characters), "Burning" is his sixth feature, and arguably his richest if most obtuse. This time a male is his main character (while the mystery of Woman and her effect on the male is arguably its underlying main subject). He is a rather timid, weak-willed part-time worker named Lee Jong-su who runs into a young woman from his early schooldays. She is named Shin, loves pantomime, and asks him to feed her cat while she takes a trip to Africa. She leaves, and he proceeds to feed her cat daily – but never sees it. (Is there really a cat?) When Shin returns she brings back a male friend she had just met, an overconfident young man named Ben (a Gatsby-type mystery man played distantly by Steven Yeun of “The Walking Dead” fame), and then the drama begins: a sort-of psychological mystery that builds to a level of guessing what’s true and what's an illusion. Having already won 27 international film awards, this is a marvelous if perplexing film, with a long sequence of the three hanging out on a farm during an evocative twilight being the film’s great highlight (a scene that necessitated a month of shooting only a few minutes a day exactly at the ‘magic hour'). The conclusion of the film is tragic, and you’ll have to decide your own feelings about it, but this is a film worth seeing as well as requiring lots of time thinking about after.

Acclaimed Korean filmmaker Lee Chang-dong returns after an eight year hiatus with a unique psychological mystery film based on the short story: "Barn Burning" by Haruki Murakami. Lee showcases a fascinating character study that at times becomes opaque to the viewer guessing where the plot involving a young man befriending an old friend who introduces him to a mysterious person. When his friend suddenly vanishes, he starts to believe that the mysterious person may have been involved. For viewers looking for a fresh take on the noir genre, this film won't disappoint as it comes highly recommend and a must-see!

This Korean movie is set in and around Seoul, South Korea. The soundtrack is in Korean with English subtitles. Two young men, one very poor and the other very rich are bound together by a young woman committed to neither. The poor young man struggles to find himself and a relationship with the woman. This movie is a study of loneliness and studies it carefully.

This film by Lee Chang-Dong was superb. The cinematography was fantastic and deserves to be seen in a theater. The selection of Ah-In Yoo, Steven Yeun and Jong-Seo Jun was fantastic. I applaud each one of them for their performance. I am glad to have added it to my collection.

This movie is gorgeously shot, amazingly acted and very methodically played out. I love this slow burn of a film and I whole heartedly believe it is worth your time and money. Take a chance if you're on the fence about this movie, you won't regret it.

Recommended by a friend, this Korean film packs a wallop of deeply fascinating characters and relationships while keeping the unnerving mystery of its secrets from those eager to spoiler. Go in unknowing and leave changed

See this movie. The blu Ray doesn’t have to many bonus features but the film is a masterpiece. A beautiful meditation on alienation with fantastic performances by its cast.

It’s nice to see Steven alive and making interesting movies. I was never sure if there was a competition between Walking Dead and Game of Thrones to see who could kill all the interesting characters first.

That'll teach you to play with FIRE, you don't always live to tell and you certainly don't go around murdering people. Karma comes and goes like the wind.

One of the best films of the past decade - it’s writing is smart, visuals mesmerizing and very well acted. A great foreign film!

This is movie to think about. It may not be fun movie for everybody.. I recommend this for people who like artistic movie.

Lee Chang-dong accomplishes the impossible with a mysterious adaptation of Haruki Murakami's short story. Unmissable.

This movie has many layers. A totally though provoking movie. A movie that needs to be watched more than once.

I highly recommend watching this film. This has a brilliant story and the performances are fantastic.

A very stunning and beautiful film... Leaves you burning to know more... Pun intended... Transcendent as well as poetic... Must watch

This is an interesting movie. I was expecting something different. Don't know what but it was a slow burn movie with a good playoff.

It is really great to see a non-martial arts Korean film get a wide blu-ray release!

There have been so many very good foreign films lately and this is one of them. Basing something on Murakami never hurts!

It’s a long movie, but you get soaked up in the dialogue and the scenery. The tension is phenomenal and feels genuine

Burning is another super underrated slow burn from Lee Chang-dong!!