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| Official poster for film "Fukuoka" |
By Jung Hae-myoung
"Fukuoka," a film directed by Zhang Lu, crosses over the border of nationality, reality and dream. The story blurs the boundaries between two realities, some of which may confuse audiences, but that is the whole point of what Lu aims to deliver.
The film starts with two main characters, So-dam (played by Park So-dam) and Jea-moon (played by Yoon Jea-moon). Jea-moon runs an old bookstore in Korea and is having a boring day until So-dam suggests they go to Fukuoka in Japan. Jea-moon meets Hae-hyo who runs a bar there. They have not seen each other for over 20 years because of a girl called Soon they both liked.
They growl at each other again like they had in the past, but they start to become friends again after talking for days, and with help of So-dam who plays a bridge between them to communicate. This seemingly realistic film adds fantasy through incomprehensible incidents. In the film, Hae-hyo meets an old man who died two years ago, and So-dam understands Japanese and Chinese while speaking in Korean.
The structure of the film takes a similar pattern of going across the border by depicting characters from a whole other world. The beginning and the end take a parallel structure, by Jea-moon starting at the old bookstore in Korea and ending at the same place with Hae-hyo.
Although the main plot takes the story of a love triangle from the past, the story may not be the core of what the director wants to say. The love triangle that happened in the past is reinterpreted as a different type of love in the present and what is more important is the reunion of Jea-moon and Hae-hyo and their journey of forgiving each other.
When applied to Zhang's stance on history, blurry boundaries and reunification can be understood better. As a Korean-Chinese, Zhang has always been acutely aware of history and consistently delivers his thoughts on history and reality.
Fukuoka is connected with Zhang's past works, "Gunsan" and "Gyeongju," by borrowing Korean's beloved poet Yoon Dong-ju's work. All of the three works mention and narrates Yoon's work in the middle of the film.
"Although years have passed, we are not entirely free from colonialism. It is important to look at the remains of history in the deepest part of our daily lives," Zhang said in a past interview.
Yoon's life is reflected in Zhang's choice of place and title, as Yoon, who was born in Manchuria, died in a prison located in Fukuoka. Gunsan was the main region of Korea that was under the extreme control of Japanese colonialism. In the film "Fukuoka," the characters recite the poem "The Hall of Love," written by Yoon Dong-ju, which not only adds a romantic mood to the film but also reminds of the sad history and relationship among the three countries in East Asia.
Zhang Lu is a Korean-Chinese director who won awards and recognition at Cannes Film Festival, Busan International Film Festival and Berlin International Film Festival through multiple works such as "Grain in Ear," "Desert Dream" "Scenery," "Gunsan" and "Gyeongju."
"Fukuoka" premiered at Seoul Independent Film Festival 2019 on Nov. 28 as an opening film.
