Address Unknown

Colour, 35mm
Korea, 2001, 116 min
Section: Kim Ki-duk

Synopsis

Set in the 1970s, this openly political although in no way ideological movie focuses on the American army presence on the Korean peninsula. Several plot lines gradually intertwine, involving various villagers living near an army base. The ambitious scope of the narration does not dull the edge of individual images dominated by motifs of wounded eyes and the similarity between human and canine existence (“When a dog looks straight at you, it’s scary, right? But you know what’s scarier? The human eye.”). The film highlights distinctive female characters and their aspirations: the mother of a mixed-blood child, Chang-kuk, longs to go seek out her former American lover, while Eun-ok, blind in her right eye, can do nothing else than hope for the success of an upcoming operation. Chang-kuk, whom the villagers treat deplorably because of his origins, comes into conflict with another social outcast, a veteran who sells dog meat. In the end the two men pay for their conflict with their lives, and the relationship between Eun-ok and the young American who funds for her eye operation, at first loving, takes an unexpected turn.