박찬옥: 파주
Paju: A Fog-Shrouded Tale of
Guilt and Forbidden Desire
Following Park Chan-ok’s feature film debut (Jealousy Is My Middle Name, 2003), her second project was met with great anticipation. The screenplay for Paju received the Kodak Award as early as 2005, yet the film's production was delayed for several years, primarily due to financing difficulties. It was finally premiered in 2009 at the Busan International Film Festival, and true to expectations, it emerged as an outstanding work that garnered numerous awards.
Paju is a small town near the northern border, mysteriously shrouded in fog. This is where our male protagonist (Lee Sun-kyun) retreats, driven by the self-reproach of having caused a fatal accident. The story unfolds along two threads. The solitary man becomes a teacher at a local church school, where—despite the protests of one of his students (Seo Woo)—he soon marries her older sister (Shim Yi-young). The marriage is not particularly successful, and meanwhile, the younger sister, living with them and blossoming into adulthood, confusedly discovers her growing feelings for her brother-in-law. Behind these private events, the social background emerges: the local administration’s intent to "ghettoize" the dilapidated town, a process aided by organized crime. Our protagonist also serves as the leader of the resistance group fighting these changes.
The unfolding of events is non-linear; the narrative frequently jumps back in time to reveal the precursors to the present. The film’s pace is slow but maintains tension effectively. In reality, we are watching a psychological drama in which two lonely individuals struggle separately within the traps of their feelings and doubts toward one another. Because of this, the ensuing tragic events are met with a double misinterpretation. A "merciful lie" fuels a constant flare-up of suspicion, which remains at war with their mutual attraction. Crime and punishment, a longing for love and a thirst for revenge, forgiveness and exoneration swirl within their decisions. These lead not to a "comedy of errors," but rather its inverse, ultimately prompting the viewer to reflect on the biblical parable of the lost sheep. The film's final scene adds one last twist to all of this, introducing a possible motive—or perhaps yet another illusory interpretation—to the preceding events.
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| Director Park Chan-ok |
The greatest merit of the film lies in its cinematic portrayal of psychological depth. The confused emotions of the female lead appear with a nakedness unusual in Korean cinema, both through the actress’s excellent performance and director Park Chan-ok’s sensitive visual storytelling. Those who have likened this method of internal emotional projection—which breaks through from the depths of the soul primarily through body language—to Ingmar Bergman’s cinematic explorations are indeed correct.
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