I’ve always found it a bit interesting that we haven’t seen more adaptations of Haruki Murakami’s stories, so Beoning (Burning) awoke my curiosity, especially considering that it stretches a short-story to a two and a half hour movie. And what an achievement this is. Lee Chang-dong magnificently translates Murakami’s alluring sense of mystery, creating an extremely effective creeping film. Veering on the edge of aimlessness, the film is anchored by Ah-In Yoo’s drone-like performance and as part of a sublime trio of characters. All of them rich, the film strikes a great balance in being a thematically rich film while still maintaining unique characters. Daring to leave very few answers, this long creep of an experience is draped in a careful cinematography and packs a continuing stretch of punches to triumph as a great adaption and an astonishing film all the same.

Book adaptions