[HanCinema's Film Review] "Night Journey" + Full Movie

Just like "Mist", "Night Journey" is adapted from a work by acclaimed 20th-century novelist Kim Seungok. Shot in 1973, the movie was rejected by the censorship committee, and only found its way into the theatres four years later, in a cut version. According to the director, the edition available now on the YouTube Channel of the Korean Film Archive is also censored, although not as much as the one that screened in 1977. The fact could justify the narrative issues of the movie, although not completely.

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The story revolves around Hyeon-joo, a beautiful woman who works in a bank and retains a secret relationship with one of the managers, who is afraid to make it official due to gossip, and despite the fact that she, being the last unmarried among all her colleagues, is the recipient of ridicule and even referred to as "Old Maid" by her colleagues. Their secret erotic life can be satisfying for both at times, but Assistant Manager Pak borders on being an alcoholic, just like the majority of men presented on the movie, and seems to retain the relationship due to convenience, not wishing to move forward despite the regular fits his mistress throws.

During one of those fits, and after having some paid vacation from her work, Hyeon-joo decides to return to her hometown, where her past still seems to haunt her, even if she is eager to relive it in some way, as the fact that she dons her highschool uniform and takes her little sister to the beach she used to frequent as a kid as soon as she reaches her house, reveals. As the story progresses, the fact that she was essentially perceived as a pariah in the town and was forced to leave after her relationship with one of her teachers who was later killed in Vietnam was revealed, comes to the fore, and somewhat explains her almost masochistic tendencies in her relationship with Park. A new suitor approaches her while she is in her town, despite her fame, but the calling of the city seems to be quite strong.

Kim Seungok makes a number of pointed comments through his story, mostly revolving around the place of women in the then Korean society. In that fashion, Hyeon-joo is beautiful and has a good job, but still is perceived as "unfulfilled" for not having been married, and perhaps due to her social status due to her family's poorness. That Park feels that he can have his way with her without committing to anything also moves into that direction, as much as the ridicule she receives in her job. That she tolerates his behaviour, however, moves into another field, that of trauma from her childhood relationship and its consequences, with the experiences she had in the hands of her teacher presented as the reason she still seeks for some kind of excitement through violence towards her, as her relationship with Pak and an incident on a bridge highlight in the most eloquent way. In that fashion, Kim moves his narrative into psychosexual paths which also include much sensualism through both the beauty of Hyeon-joo and the way DP Kim Deok-jin captures her during the erotic scenes, even though nudity is almost non-existent.

And while the comments and the permeating psychosexualism are intriguing, the same does not apply to the script or the way it is presented on screen, with the back and forths in time, the placement of flashbacks, and the blurring of what is reality and what is dream making the narrative quite hard to follow. In that regard, the editing emerges as rather faulty in that aspect, even if some of the issues here could be justified due to censorship, and although at 65 minutes, the movie does not overextend its welcome in any way. Furthermore, the character of Park seems kind of undeveloped, since his behaviour is only justified through an overall prism of "all men are immature scum", something that, when compared to the thorough analysis of Hyeon-ju, makes the character even more shallow.

On the other hand, Yoon Jung-hee is quite good in the role of a rather multileveled woman, whose past has shaped into an individual that is equally victim, seductress, serious, ashamed, playful and masochistic. Further, there are some very interesting montages throughout the title, with the one with the men in the bar and the one in the beach emerging as rather artful.

"Night Journey" is an interesting movie, particularly through the way the female protagonist is implemented as the medium of various, multileveled comments. The narrative, however, demands much patience, in an aspect that eventually faults the overall result significantly.

Review by Panos Kotzathanasis

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"Night Journey" is directed by Kim Soo-yong, and features Yoon Jung-hee, Kang-Shin Sung-il, Ju Jeung-ryu, Choe Hui-yeong, Choi Kil-ho, Lee Il-woong. Release date in Korea: 1977/04/23.