Address Unknown (2001 film)

Address Unknown
Hangul 수취인불명
Hanja 受取人不明
Revised Romanization Suchwiin bulmyeong
McCune–Reischauer Such'wiin pulmyŏng
Directed by Kim Ki-duk
Produced by Lee Seung-jae
Written by Kim Ki-duk
Starring Yang Dong-geun
Ban Min-jeong
Bang Eun-jin
Cho Jae-hyun
Mitch Malem
Cinematography Seo Jeong-min
Edited by Hahm Sung-won
Distributed by Tube Entertainment
Release date
  • 2 June 2001 (2001-06-02)
Running time
 117 minutes
Country South Korea
Language Korean

Address Unknown (Hangul: 수취인불명; RR: Suchwiin bulmyeong) is a 2001 South Korean film directed by Kim Ki-duk. It was the opening film of the 2001 Venice Film Festival. The film is based on real-life stories from the director's life, and those known to him.

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

Jim Morse - Military Police

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.[1]

References

  1. ↑ Costello, Paul (2011-06-28). "A Cinephile's Journey: Address Unknown (2001)". A Cinephile's Journey. Retrieved 2016-12-07.
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