Lee Chang-dong's 'Burning' to hit screens

Filmmaker to return with new movie

By Park Jin-hai

Award-winning filmmaker Lee Chang-dong will come back with his latest film “Burning” in May, breaking his eight-year hiatus.

Director Lee Chang-dong/ Korea Times file

After Korean cinema's meaningful progress at the Cannes International Film Festival last year, where two films ― Bong Joon-ho's “Okja” and Hong Sang-soo's “The Day After” ― were selected for the main competition, cinema observers raised hope for Lee's sixth production to make the cut for the Palme d'Or at Cannes this year, slated for May 8 to 19 in France's southern coastal city.

Last year, Hong sang-soo's film “Chair's Camera” got a special screening, while Jung Byung-gil's “The Villainess” and Byun Sung-hyun's “The Merciless” played in the midnight screening section as well.

“Burning,” starring actors Yoo Ah-in from “Veteran,” and Hollywood actor Steven Yeun of the U.S. television series “The Walking Dead,” and Bong Joon-ho's “Okja,” is an adaptation of famed Japanese author Haruki Murakami's short story “Barn Burning,” telling the story of two young men and a woman in their 20s getting involved in a mysterious incident. One of the men makes the unusual claim to be an arsonist.

“It's a story of young people in the world nowadays. When young people look at the world thinking about the world or their lives and wonder if it's a mystery that can't be understood ― I can say the movie is made with such an intention,” director Lee said at the 2016 Busan International Film Festival about the mystery thriller.

The 63-year-old director, who made his directorial debut with “GreenFish” in 1996, has been a mainstay at the international film festival. Lee's second film “Peppermint Candy” was invited to Director's Fortnight of 2000. His fourth film “Secret Sunshine” made foray into the Cannes competition section and its leading actress Jeon Do-yeon won the trophy for the Best Actress at the Cannes Film Festival in 2007. In 2009, Lee was appointed as a jury panelist for the 61st Cannes Film Festival and won the Best Screenplay for “Poetry” in 2010.

“Poetry” tells the story of a grandmother who belatedly discovers the beauty of poetry. The Korean auteur's film was lauded by festival director Thierry Fremaux for its sophisticated simplicity, humanity and form, and a universal artwork that embodies poetry itself.

This was the fifth time that a Korean film won the Cannes international competition section since Im Kwon-taek won best director with “Chihwaseon,” featuring the great 19th century Korean painter Jang Seung-up's life, in 2002. “Oldboy,” a Korean noir action movie by director Park Chan-wook, won the grand prize of the jury in 2004; “Secret Sunshine” by Lee won best actress for its lead in 2007 and vampire film “Thirst” by Park won the jury prize in 2009.

Organizers will announce the festival's lineup on April 12.