“Return To Seoul"

Movie Review

Davy Chou is the director and writer of the 2022 drama film Return to Seoul. The story of Freddie, played by Ji-Min Park, a 25-year-old French adoptee who travels to South Korea in search of her biological parents takes her life in unexpected and new ways. The movie is a co-production between France, Germany, and Belgium.

With the complexity of the protagonist, Davy Chou develops a story that is not original but nevertheless feels new and vibrant. In the end, Chou departs from the conventional narrative conventions and makes use of his opportunity to extract as much complexity and agony from the struggle of the main character, Freddie. In this scene, there are no rose-colored glasses to be found because Chou takes great pleasure in channeling all of Freddie's inner agony. A character study is just as great as the level of depth a screenwriter goes into creating them, and Chou rises to the challenge of tackling Freddie's home search.

Freddie is a French-born adoptee who was born in Korea. As a result of time and distance, Freddie has lost a lot of her ties to Korea. She wants to go back, but how does one go back to a country that was never really their home? The narrative by Chou is challenging and does not have a clear ending. Freddie's search for answers or a home is not the subject of the narrative. It's a powerful illustration of a problem that many adoptees encounter: tolerating silence. accepting reality for what it is, rather than for what you think it should or could be. It's an issue that many people have faced, and Chou expertly handles it in his writing and in how he depicts this journey.

The way this story is illustrated is as important and pertinent to the way Chou writes and presents the story. Each stage of Freddie's journey to Korea is expertly captured by cinematographers Thomas Favel and Chou. Freddie's sleek black leather trench coat and slicked-back hair become a stunning spectacle thanks to cameraman Favel's dark lensing. Through the film's visual language, Chou's narrative ambition is fully realized.

Like Freddie herself, the plot is constantly changing. Her issue, the viewer is led to assume, is merely coming to terms with being adopted and abandoned by her birth parents. Her personal arc is not as simply delineated, though, just as her adoption tale. Freddie is going through a transformative journey that includes her unresolved sentiments about her family and her yearning to find a place where she belongs, whether she is aware of it or not. A magnificent performance is necessary for this tale to succeed. Someone with unfathomable star power who is capable of carrying the entire scene without breaking a sweat.

Park Ji-min effortlessly adopts Freddie's persona, which is occasionally overtly scalding and other times clearly eruptive. She is a chameleon, frequently unsure of herself, but she moves with a subtle assurance that appears to come out of nowhere. The core of this film is Freddie's complexity, and Ji-min is fundamental to why everything works.

The film Return to Seoul is excellent and merits praise. It is a compelling depiction of a troubled young woman dealing with issues that many people deal with throughout their lifetimes. Displacement, fear, and self-doubt are common experiences that Chou's vision and Ji-outstanding min's performance, which is among the best to be captured on camera, all beautifully depict.

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