Direkt zum Hauptbereich

The Last Stop



A review of Jong chak yeok

Four young schoolgirls who are part of a photography club are given the task of taking a photo of the end of the world with old-fashioned cameras over their summer vacation. They come up with the idea to drive to the end of a train line to take the photos there. But the trip turns out differently than planned, as the end of the train line doesn't really look like the end of the world. Thus, their trip extends throughout the day, and the four friends wander through rural Korea - laughing, persistent, and inquisitive.

Jong chak yeok is one of those kinds of films that - festival goers and skilled strays of the film landscape aside - most people are unaware of. Films with no real structure, no certain points in character development to check off, no real goal - a film that simply tells a story of life. Here, unlike other representatives of this type of films, still equipped with a certain principle, a supposed end point, the film shuttles along, managing to entertain simply through its playful simplicity and its lively main characters. In this case, it is also only diminishedly about moving the viewer emotionally - even if the film could evoke feelings of melancholy and memories of balmy summer days for some - but to simply let him participate in a day in the life of the protagonists.
© Tiger Cinema & DGC

This simplicity becomes the film's greatest advantage. Thus, it always manages to entertain throughout its rather short running time. This is partly due to the refreshingly real dialogues, as well as the believable acting of all the child actors. Here it's not important to be able to identify with any of the characters, it's not important to be emotionally invested in the story, the important thing is to sit back and get into what's on offer. When you do so, you get exactly the blooming fresh dialogues you expect. And that's when Jong chak yeok will appeal to you the most.

Because if you tune in for relaxed, calm and comfortable entertainment without a lot of melodrama, without any conflicts and without any background music, that's exactly what you'll get back. The film does not play with expectations and does not try to trick the viewer in any way. Quite the opposite, the film gives you exactly what you are hoping for in a heartfelt, young-feeling manner. With nice ideas, such as not withholding the taken photos from the viewer, out the back also thought-provoking conversations that manage to capture the atmosphere in such somewhat heavy topics well and equipped with an eye for the small details, Jong chak yeok sets off through unknown land and delivers comfortable, fresh and simple feel-good cinema. In an open-air cinema, among people and hopefully with the slowly setting sun in the back, the film should then be able to unfold its complete effect - to evoke pleasant memories.
09.06.2021, Yaron

Kommentare

Kommentar veröffentlichen

Beliebte Posts aus diesem Blog

“Once you leave you can never go back to who you were as a child” - An Interview with The Director Venice Atienza of “Last Days At Sea”

Wednesday morning I was able to talk to the director Venice Atienza whose film “Last Days at Sea” is screening at this year’s Berlinale. Since she is currently based in the Philippines we arranged a Zoom meeting that would take into account the 6 hours of time difference. An inspiring talk emerged that started with her special way of filming and lead to a discussion of vulnerability that is needed for these films. fGR: Would you like to introduce yourself shortly? My name is Venice Atienza. I initially studied cinema, but before that I actually wanted to be a chef. One day, when I was 16 or 17 years old, I was watching a Korean drama and I asked my mother: “What job makes people feel things?” and she replied by asking me “Why don’t you become a film maker?”. After applying for the second time I finally got into film school. I really always knew I wanted to make documentaries but did not know how. A friend of mine then told me about the project Doc Nomads which I got accepted at. ...
Kommentar veröffentlichen
Mehr anzeigen

Five minutes with Fred Baillif

an interview with the director of „La Mif“ The cinema is slowly filling up and the joyful voices of the crowd are giving me a feeling I haven't felt for a long time in the last months of lockdown. Finally it is possible again to celebrate a Berlinale film together. The film team of La Mif is welcomed with loud applause when they arrive at the cinema. Everyone of the crew - the director Fred Baillif, a few of the actresses and family and friends - is smiling and radiates pure joy as they’re walking up to the photo wall. I wait until they’re done with all photos and take the chance to sit down with Fred Baillif for a few minutes before the film starts. What interests me the most about this quite special topic is why Baillif chose it to portray it in one of his films. Fred Baillif: „Because I used to work as a social worker and studied it when I was younger. In the beginning i wanted to tell a story about sex abuse and then I thought the best place to talk about such a subject wou...
Kommentar veröffentlichen
Mehr anzeigen

Autismus – mehr als nur ein Klischee!

Ein Mensch, der sehr in sich gekehrt wirkt, sich nicht anfassen lässt und kaum mit der Außenwelt kommunizieren kann. Das ist das Bild, das viele Menschen von Autist*innen haben. Aber Autismus ist deutlich vielfältiger. Deshalb wird heute meist der Begriff Autismus-Spektrum-Störung verwendet. Denn Autismus erstreckt sich von geistiger Behinderung und kaum ausgeprägter Sprache bis hin zu Hochbegabung mit voll entwickelter Sprache. Ein Hauptmerkmal sind Auffälligkeiten in der sozialen Interaktion und Kommunikation. Aber wie äußert sich die genau? Für Andere wirkt es häufig als ob Autist*innen in ihrer eignen Welt leben: zurückgezogen, schweigsam, wenig Kontaktverhalten. Aber es gibt auch Autist*innen, die distanzlos und eigenartig in ihrem Kontaktverhalten wirken. So reden einige Autist*innen sehr viel und weitschweifig über ihre Interessen und achten dabei wenig auf die Angemessenheit oder Wirkung ihres Verhaltens. Denn ein weiteres Kennzeichen der Autismus-Spektrum-Störung ist ein einge...
Kommentar veröffentlichen
Mehr anzeigen