Return to Seoul

Available on Mubi now

The merits of this unusual picture, written and directed by Davy Chou, are not always apparent over the course of its near two-hour runtime, but do come to the fore after the credits stop rolling. Return to Seoul is a tale about a French woman’s return to her native homeland of South Korea in the hope of finding her biological parents, and is a thought-provoking analysis of the emotionally oscillating experience of adoptees.

Ji-Min Park, a visual artist cast by Chou in her first film role, delivers a vibrant and at times entrancing performance in the lead role of Freddie, whose alienation in her country of origin makes for a fascinating viewing experience. Chou’s self-penned screenplay, allegedly inspired by the experiences of friends and his parents, who fled Cambodia prior to the Khmer Rouge’s occupation, does justice to a complex and deeply personal topic, so much so that there are moments in Return to Seoul, such as its sobering final scene, in which we are asked to merely sit within the depth and complexity of its protagonist’s feelings.

This means that the film can occasionally test viewer’s patience, although Thomas Favel’s vibrant cinematography and Jérémie Arcache and Christophe Musset’s hip score ensure there is always an effortlessly cool air to proceedings. Supporting the aforementioned Park is a stellar cast which elicits fine work from Oh Kwang-rok, Guka Han, and Kim Sun-young, all of whom play some part in embellishing on the difficulty of Return to Seoul’s unconventional, yet incredibly common, topic.

Pensive to the last, this is one of the film’s most unusual, challenging, and ultimately rewarding pictures.