Keswick Film Club - Decision To Leave

Synopsis

"From a mountain peak in South Korea, a man plummets to his death. Did he jump, or was he pushed? When detective Hae-joon arrives on the scene, he begins to suspect the dead man's wife Seo-rae. But as he digs deeper into the investigation, he finds himself trapped in a web of deception and desire" – Rotten Tomatoes.

Park Chan-wook won Best Director at Cannes this year for his latest film, and an array of great reviews – "A world-class artist at the top of his game" – David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter.

"The plot reads like a Hollywood erotic thriller from the early '90s – a 'Shattered' or 'Basic Instinct' – Park isn't here for the lurid thrills or wild twists" – Philip de Semlyen Time Out.

"It's a gorgeously and grippingly made picture and Tang Wei is magnificent" – Peter Bradshaw, Guardian. (I have never read him so gushing over a film).

Hae-joon is a married man, but, as he investigates the death, he begins to fall in love with Seo-rae. What follows is the classic Hitchcockian film noir, but, as Bradshaw continues, "Is Hae-Joon going to cover up for Seo-rae? Is she all that she appears to be? Well, audiences might think they broadly know the answers to both those questions, but the script by Park and Chung Seo-Kyung keeps you off-balance at every turn, periodically hitting you with new characters and fresh developments that you have to wait to understand. But each new scene had me propped further forward on my seat – further still for the second and then the third act – and Cho Young-Wuk's musical score forthrightly ratchets up the fear. And in every corner of the detective's life he finds a variation on a single question: at what point do you decide your marriage isn't working? When do you know that you are in love? What will trigger the decision to leave?"

Can you resist?!