White Night (Baek Ya • 백야)

Won-gyu and his maybe-trick

백야 (Baek Ya • White Night), dir. 이송희일 (LeeSong Hee-il), 2012, South Korea, 75 min., in Korean with English subtitles 
Thursday, June 20, 10:00 pm @ Castro
Friday, June 28, 7:00 pm @ Victoria

White Night starts off with a flight attendant returning home to Korea for the first time in years, chatting with an acquaintance and (sort of) hooking up with someone he meets online. That ’s about all I can tell you about the story, because the first half hour of the film was utterly unengaging, to the point that I felt no sympathy, empathy, or interest for the main character. If you get 40% of the way through your film without giving me the slightest reason to care what happens, then it’s game over: I walked out. I’m told by friends who stayed to the end, that the film eventually illuminates some of Won-gyu’s actions in the light of past events, but I remain skeptical. Certainly not the worst film I’ve seen, but all the same, I cannot recommend it.

Official film website • IMDb entry