hankyoreh

A scene from the film “Septet: The Story of Hong Kong.” (provided by BIFF)

Even the COVID-19 pandemic has not stopped visitors from making their way to the “sea of cinema.” Oct. 21 marked the opening of the 25th Busan International Film Festival (BIFF), South Korea’s largest such event and one of Asia’s premier film festivals.

With the pandemic still persisting throughout the world, many film festivals such as Cannes have either been cancelled or staged online. But BIFF organizers insisted on an offline format, even if it meant a two-week delay. The number of featured films was reduced to 192, around 100 fewer than in past years.

A scene from “Septet: The Story of Hong Kong,” the opening film for the 2020 Busan International Film Festival. (provided by BIFF)

In a press screening held on Oct. 19-20 at the Busan Cinema Center ahead of the opening, the festival screened a total of five films, including the opening and closing titles and the films featured in its Gala Presentation. The opening film “Septet: The Story of Hong Kong” is an omnibus consisting of 10- to 15-minute shorts by seven leading Hong Kong directors: Sammo Hung, Ann Hui, Patrick Tam, Yuen Woo-ping, Ringo Lam, Johnnie To, and Tsui Hark. The film had also been selected for this year’s Cannes Film Festival, but following that event’s cancellation, it’s having its world premier in Busan.

The different shorts are like love letters expressing affection and longing for Hong Kong’s past by some of the master directors behind the city’s cinematic golden age. Tam’s segment “Tender Is the Night,” which shows a young couple’s last night together before one of them emigrates to the UK, comes across as symbolizing the plaintive emotions of 1997, when British-ruled Hong Kong was returned to China.

“Astray” is a posthumous work by Lam, who died in 2018 at the age of 63. Its character -- a father who loses his way while stubbornly reminiscing about the past in the vastly transformed metropolis of Hong Kong -- represents the sadness harbored by the older generation.

A scene from the film “Minari.” (provided by BIFF)

Also making its debut in South Korea is “Minari,” which has recently garnered major attention. Directed by Korean-American Lee Isaac Chung (Korean name Chung I-sak), it tells the story of a Korean immigrant family in the US, starring Korean-American actor Steven Yeun and South Korean actors Youn Yuh-jung and Han Ye-ri. The film gained attention when it won both the US Dramatic Grand Jury Prize and the US Dramatic Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival early this year. The US magazine Variety predicted it will be a contender for best picture and best screenplay at next year’s Academy Awards.

The film begins with a Korean family moving to the US during the 1980s. After working for 10 years as a chicken sexer in California, Jacob (Yeun) travels to a quiet Arkansas community to achieve his dreams, taking along wife Monica (Han), daughter Anne (Noel Kate Cho), and son David (Alan Kim). Monica is unsettled by the harsh environment in their trailer home, while Jacob insists that he will make money farming Korean crops. On an empty plot of land, he digs a well and plants lettuce, eggplant, bell peppers, chili peppers, and other vegetables.

Lee Isaac Chung, director of the film “Minari” (provided by BIFF)

David, the younger child, has a heart condition that prevents him from running. Monica asks her mother in South Korea (Youn) to come to the US and look after the children. Cooped up in a room with his grandmother, David appears uncomfortable at first but gradually opens up. The farming does not work out as hoped; clients are suddenly lost, while the crops dry up when the underground water runs dry. Exhausted from this bleak and desolate life, Monica wants to return to California, and the couple have frequent quarrels. But an incident that happens at the end of the film allows the family to reconcile and gain the strength to carry on. The film is a powerful work that conveys tremendous and universal resonance even as it tells a highly particular story about a Korean immigrant family establishing itself in America.

The film’s title comes from the water parsley (“minari” in Korean) planted by the grandmother beside a stream. “Water parsley grows well, like weeds, and it’s something anyone can pluck and eat, whether they’re rich or poor,” she tells David. The water parsley symbolizes both the vitality of the family weathering its bleak environment as well as the grandmother’s devotion to her daughter and grandson. The film’s focal point is Youn Yuh-jung, who portrays a character who is cheerful and lively early on before her health takes a rapid turn for the worse in the second half. AwardsWatch, a US website that forecasts results for US film and TV awards, has named her as a strong contender for the Oscar for best supporting actress.

By Suh Jung-min, music correspondent

Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]