''Address Unknown'' () is a 2001 South Korean film directed by

Kim Ki-duk Kim Ki-duk ( ; 20 December 196011 December 2020) was a South Korean film director and screenwriter, noted for his idiosyncratic art-house cinematic works. His films have received many distinctions in the festival circuit, rendering him one of ...

. It was the opening film of the 2001

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival h ...

. The film is based on real-life stories from the director's life, and those known to him.

Plot

The residents living in the South Korean countryside around a U.S. military base are affected by its presence. These include an unstable, near psychotic American soldier (Mitch Malem) who survives on a diet of

LSD Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), also known colloquially as acid, is a potent psychedelic drug. Effects typically include intensified thoughts, emotions, and sensory perception. At sufficiently high dosages LSD manifests primarily mental, vi ...

and rage, Eun-ok, a girl with one defective eye, Jihum a lonesome boy and Chang-guk, who lives in an old abandoned U.S. Air Force bus with his mother. She has taught Chang-guk English in an attempt to prepare him for their new life in the United States, reunited with his father whom she mails regularly, although the letters are always returned "address unknown".

Cast

Dong-kun Yang - Chang-Guk Young-min Kim - Ji-Hum Ban Min-Jung - Eun-Ok Jae Hyun Cho - Dog-Eye Pang Eun-Jin - Chang-Guk's Mother Myung Kye-Nam - Ji-Hum's Father Jim Morse - Military Police

Reception

The film was generally well received. Kim Ki-duk's direction throughout is excellent. His visuals capture the unremitting empty desolation of the villager's surroundings. With Seo Jeong-min's cinematography, the picture looks grimy and cold, like it's been dragged across the damp, dirty ground before being processed. There's very little in the way of the pretty or picturesque, the colour palette exuding a subdued and murky feel. Also, he maintains the heavy sense of metaphor within the piece. So often do scenes go on behind closed doors, or are obscured by plastic sheeting, branches or chain-link fences. Much of it also unfolds at a distance. These characters are trapped in this place, beyond the help of others, whether they know it or not.

References

External links

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Interview with Kim Ki-duk
at AsianDB.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Address Unknown (2001 film) 2001 films 2000s war drama films Films directed by Kim Ki-duk South Korean independent films 2000s Korean-language films South Korean war drama films 2001 independent films 2001 drama films 2000s South Korean films