Address Unknown (2001 film)

Plot

It is set in the South Korean countryside around a U.S. military base, and particularly involves the villages that are affected by its presence. This includes an unstable, near psychotic American soldier (Mitch Malem) who survives on a diet of LSD and rage, Eun-ok, a girl with one defective eye, Jihum a lonesome boy and Chang-guk, who lives in an old abandoned U.S. Air Force bus with his mother. She has taught Chang-guk English in an attempt to prepare him for their new life in the United States, reunited with his father who she mails regularly, although the letters are always returned "address unknown".

Cast

Dong-kun Yang - Chang-Guk

Young-min Kim - Ji-Hum

Ban Min-Yung - Eun-Ok

Jae Hyun Cho - Dog-Eye

Pang Eun-Jin - Chang-Guk's Mother

Myung Kye-Nam - Ji-Hum's Father

Reception

The film was generally well received. Kim Ki-duk’s direction throughout is excellent. His visuals capture the unremitting empty desolation of the villager’s surroundings. With Seo Jeong-min's cinematography, the picture looks grimy and cold, like it’s been dragged across the damp, dirty ground before being processed. There’s very little in the way of the pretty or picturesque, the colour palette exuding a subdued and murky feel. Also, he maintains the heavy sense of metaphor within the piece. So often do scenes go on behind closed doors, or are obscured by plastic sheeting, branches or chain-link fences. Much of it also unfolds at a distance. These characters are trapped in this place, beyond the help of others, whether they know it or not.