Movies focusing on family issues tend to be either extremely serious in tone or, on the contrary, very light-hearted. It is quite rare to see a motion picture centring on the father-son relationship through the perspective of nature. Night Light directed and written by Kim Moo-young is such a film, and it deals with the difficult theme in an almost oneiric way.
Release Info
Directed by: Kim Moo YoungStarring: Song Jae Ryong, Ji Dae Han, Jung Ah Mi
Language: KoreanOriginal Title: 밤빛 Runtime: 108 min
Synopsis Hee-tae (Song Jae Ryong) is an herb collector who finds out that he is terminally ill. Suddenly, he receives a letter from his ex-wife. The content of the letter remains unknown, but it definitely has an impact on Hee-tae. We see him living in the mountains, leading a spartanic lifestyle, and collecting herbs. Soon after, his son (Ji Dae Han) arrives for a visit. The estranged father and son try to get to know each other while being surrounded by nature. Each day, they collect herbs and climb the nearby mountain.
Night Light is basically a slow-paced story about the appreciation of life and the acceptance of our fate. In a manner similar to the Japanese New Wave of the 1960s, director Kim Moo Young unhurriedly guides the viewers through a simple story with huge mountains looming in the far background. If you like long shots of walking through a forest, drinking from a frozen pond, or just climbing, then you will definitely enjoy this film.
Cinematography helmed by Kim Bo Wram is simply breathtaking. Some of the mountain shots could be used for a National Geographic documentary. Unfortunately, the music score is virtually non-existent in the movie. Apart from the haunting ending sequence, no music accompanies the scenes, which is a shame because it may have improved the viewing experience.
With regard to performances, Song Jae Ryong as the main lead is the movie's definite highlight. He convincingly portrays a troubled man struggling with an illness. The role of Hee-tae's son was played quite well by young Ji Dae Han. An honourable mention goes to the veteran actress Jung Ah Mi who managed to mark her presence in the story with a small part.
Recommendations I recommend Night Light to anyone who is interested in great visuals, subtle character interactions, and loose narration. It is simple, yet multi-layered, look at the intimacy between a parent and a child. Let's face it, we are all, sometimes, pondering about life in the middle of the night, just as Hee-tae does at the top of a mountain.
Disclaimer: This review is an edited re-release of a text composed for AMP in 2019.
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In today's update, allow me to make a jump to the past and highlight for you some of the short film reviews I wrote from AMP back in the year 2019. I am sharing these purely out of sentiment because even though the short film themselves may not be unavailable, it was an interesting experience for me writing these reviews.
1. How Can You Know Where to Go If You Do Not Know Where You Have Been (2018)
World War II is undoubtedly the most tragic global event of the 20th century. Apart from serving as the symbolic warning for future generations, it also became a source of inspiration for various representations in many cultural domains, including cinema. We all are probably familiar with the “war film” genre which encompasses action-adventure stories, anti-war manifestos, and tales of trauma. Mizuki Toriya's animation is none of these. Her short film How Can You Know Where to Go If You Do Not Know Where You Have Been serves as an intimate testimony of her grandmother about the difficult times when Japan engaged into war with the United States and Great Britain. The 6-minutes-long film is a recorded conversation between Toriya and her grandmother that is accompanied by paintings animated in a stop-motion fashion. The grandmother recounts from her personal perspective the beginning of the war, how she lived with her family in the city of Kobe, the subsequent destruction of Kobe, the family's life in the suburbs, and the arrival of the American forces after the war's official end. How Can You Know Where to Go If You Do Not Know Where You Have Been appears to be a deeply personal and delicate recounting of World War II experiences. Although the viewers may initially long for a more standard visual component (the video recording of the conversation), the animation actually enhances the viewing experience. The grandmother's tender voice combined with simple, yet eye-pleasing, paintings by Dean Aizawa are enough to get the viewers' attention. The message of the short film is quite clear: ordinary people do not make wars, but governments do. The grandmother rightfully remarks that peace is the best and no country should ever go to war. We, on the other hand, should learn from these rare testimonies of people who experienced the atrocities at first hand. Try to find some spare 6 minutes in your busy schedule and check out How Can You Know Where to Go If You Do Not Know Where You Have Been if you can. It is a peaceful story that will certainly leave you thinking about the past. Its importance is even heightened by the recently commemorated 80th anniversary of World War II's outbreak.
2. 15.7 KM (2018)
Getting to school is usually such a trivial activity that most parents and children do not pay major attention to it. However, there are some remote areas in the world where a child has to travel a significant amount of distance in order to receive the desired education. Rian Apriansyah's short film called 15.7 KM tackles this issues in an original way. The 15-minute-long story presents us with a young boy named Budi from Banka Isle in Indonesia. We observe how he prepares himself in the morning and eventually sets out on a long journey to school. In order not to damage his socks and shoes, he walks barefoot through forests and plains. After crossing a lake in a small boat, there is a slight chance that he may hitchhike. Ultimately, the boy arrives at his destination, puts on the socks and shoes, and begins his school day. The most striking aspect of the film is an almost complete lack of any dialogue, apart from occasional interjections uttered by the passers-by on Budi's route. In the style resembling that of Yasujirō Ozu, the film exposes the stillness and beauty of Indonesian nature which serves as the setting for Budi's repetitive journey. In order not to confuse the viewers about the compression of space within the 15-minute time span, a distance counter pops out once in a while. Even though there is not a lot of stuff happening in the film, director Rian Apriansyah provides a sensitive portrayal of an (in)visible problem, not only prevalent in Asia, which should be resolved in some way. Until then, Budi and many other children are forced to travel the way they do so that they could properly educate themselves. Towards the end of the film, one feels as if the story could have been continued. I strongly hope that there is a possibility for a full documentary feature. Maybe then the message about building standard education facilities for children would resonate more. To conclude, 15.7 KM is a very informative and eye-pleasing little film. We need more dialogue-free pictures in modern cinema.
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Well, this is not really a traditional editorial, but more like an uncalled-for blog update. I’m just touching base with the readers in order to explain (as I shyly mentioned in some of the earlier posts) that I am not particularly active because of work responsibilities and personal life.
In addition, even though I do have a little free time each week, I try to devote it to conquering some new challenges. Writing reviews and articles is essentially non-fiction that communicates an opinion, but in 2024 I decided to get out of my comfort zone and, for the first time, try creative writing (so, short stories, poetry, and even an attempt at a novel). Even though this activity is very time-consuming, and I realise it is a big effort for little gain, it gives immense pleasure and strength, so I intend to focus on this.
That being said, I don’t want to throw my blog content down the drain, Indeed, it can be quite discouraging to see a comment notification that is just old, plain spam, but the visitors’ traffic is satisfactory to me, and the blog has actually been cited on wikipedia twotimes this past year. I never cared about wikipedia, and I found out about this by accident, but it’s quite heartwarming to see that someone actually decided to include my thoughts on specific movie profile pages.
In addition, East Asia Resource Center in Washington composed a bulky overview of Chinese Cinema in 2022, and they also included one of my reviews. Again, nobody contacted me about this, but as long as people appropriately cite my blog and give proper source, I am fine with the inclusions.
To conclude, I do wish to come back to writing reviews, and I hope I will be able to do so at the end of April. I have two movies sitting on the proverbial shelf that I want to discuss, and then I may focus on finally sitting down and reviewing some of the sequels to popular movies, which I forgot to talk about previously. Thanks for sticking around and I wish you all the best.
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