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[HanCinema's Film Review] "Dear Dolphin"

Hyeok-geun (played by Lee Hee-jun) is a nurse in a long-term relationship with Cha-kyeong (played by Han Ye-ri). He also spends a lot of time, by proxy, with Cha-kyeong's best friend Gi-ok (played by Rie Young-zin). An accident ends up rupturing the combined friendship of the three, and from there, "Dear Dolphin" deals with the matter of grief. Specifically, how left to their own devices, the surviving characters really don't have any idea what to do, and resort to semi-elaborate means of self-punishment.

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A lot of material about this film suggests that Gi-ok loves Hyeok-geun, but I don't personally believe that's the case. Pay attention to her interactions with him- particularly how generally unpleasant they are. To her, Hyeok-geun is the last surviving strand of Cha-kyeong in the world. He's the only other person that knew her as well as Gi-ok did. So it comes as little surprise that the moments where Gi-ok is most affectionate to Hyeok-geun are the ones where he's quite literally incapable of meaningfully reacting to her. To Gi-ok, Hyeok-geun is an abstract fantasy. One that she knows can't live up to her hopes, but it's all Gi-ok has left to cling to.

Hyeok-geun, by contrast, has gotten in too deep. The Korean title literally reads as "You Inside The Fantasy", and that's a fairly accurate description of his mental state. Frequently the camerawork from Hyeok-geun's perspective is out-of-focus and abstracted. The only way he can tell the difference between fantasy and reality is that in the fantasy world Hyeok-geun is happy and deals with people who appear to love and care about him. The real world is just a string of silence and fights.

The broader message of "Dear Dolphin" is pretty clear- just let it go. This is particularly well-typified by the scenes at the aquarium, where Cha-kyeong comes to terms with her death by analyzing it both psychologically, and relative to the free-floating spirit of the water-dwelling mammals who aren't tied to anything. The closing metaphor is particularly beautifully shot, aptly demonstrating that it was the flexibility and freedom of Cha-kyeong's spirit that drew Hyeok-geun and Gi-ok close to her. It's unsurprising that Cha-kyeong is more comfortable with the spectre of death than either of them.

Note that while Cha-kyeong appears to disapprove of Hyeok-geun's behavior, in the real world and otherwise, by the end it's clear that this isn't because his actions are upsetting her. It's because he's doing so in a blatant, fearful way that refuses to acknowledge that life must go on, and that Hyeok-geun's trying to use strong emotions as a drug to dull the pain instead of just living life and accepting the grief that comes with that. The universality of this experience is particularly marked by the fact that Gi-ok exhibits the same behavior.

In the end, though, it's the powerful sense of visuals that really sell "Dear Dolphin" as a fully realized product. In the vision of writer/director Kang Jina, the worst part of nightmares is that they're just barely subtle enough in fantastic trappings that we can choose to believe them. Hard as it may be for our leads to imagine, there are worse fates in life than the mere death of a loved one. Inside the fantasy, you might as well be dead yourself.

Review by William Schwartz

"Dear Dolphin" is directed by Kang Jina ans features Lee Hee-jun, Rie Young-zin and Han Ye-ri.

 

Available on DVD from YESASIA

DVD (En Sub)
DVD (En Sub)

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