This film is part of Rentals
Burning
Lee Chang-dong (Poetry) returns with this spellbinding, richly complex thriller about obsession, class conflict and suppressed male rage.
Director: Lee Chang-dong
Overview
Jongsu’s (Yoo Ah-in) unremarkable day-to-day life is pleasantly disrupted when a chance meeting with quirky childhood friend Haemi (Jeon Jong-seo) sparks a promise of romance. Soon to depart on a trip to Africa, Haemi asks Jongsu to cat-sit, which he dutifully does, even though the animal remains stubbornly elusive (does it even exist?). Anticipating their reunion, Jongsu is surprised at the airport to find Haemi arriving with the charismatic Ben (Steven Yeun), whom she met on the trip. No match for the poised and obviously wealthy Ben, Jongsu’s jealousy at the shift in Haemi’s affections builds over subsequent weeks.
Based on a Haruki Murakami short story, screenwriter Oh Jung-Mi and Lee have fashioned a lean slow-burner: gripping, elliptical and intriguingly ambiguous. Pitch-perfect performances from the three leads are intimately captured by cinematograper Hong Kyung-Pyo, his camera also revelling in the visual poetry of every environment. With a missing girl, a mysterious cat, an arsonist and a possible murder, director Lee expertly controls the tension until the breathtaking, explosive finale.
strong violence, sex, nudity, drug misuseRelated
The Small Back Room The Small Back Room
Thriller 1949 103 mins Director: Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger
An embittered bomb disposal expert is driven to drink in Powell and Pressburger’s compelling insight into the mental anguish of the alcoholic.
49th Parallel 49th Parallel
Government sponsored film 1941 122 mins Director: Michael Powell
A stranded U-boat crew navigate a hostile Canada in this propaganda odyssey starring Laurence Olivier.
Deliverance Deliverance
Thriller 1972 109 mins Director: John Boorman
A canoeing expedition turns into a nightmare for four men after they meet two hillbillies and steer their canoes through turbulent rapids, in John Boorman's adaptation of the James Dickey novel.
Training Day Training Day
Crime 2001 122 mins Director: Antoine Fuqua
Denzel Washington delivers an Academy Award-winning performance opposite Ethan Hawke in this gritty cop drama.
Strangers on a Train Strangers on a Train
Thriller 1951 101 mins Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Hitchcock's adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s novel is a classic example of his ingenuity. All the elements are here: the average person in an impossible situation, some amazing cinematic achievements and the gradual, ominous increase in tension.
Master Gardener Master Gardener
Drama 2022 111 mins Director: Paul Schrader
Joel Edgerton stars as a meticulous horticulturalist with a dark past, in Paul Schrader’s creeping gritty thriller.
Dead Ringers Dead Ringers
Horror 1988 116 mins Director: David Cronenberg
David Cronenberg's multi award-winning psychological thriller exploring the bizarre lives of identical twins Elliot and Beverly, both played by Jeremy Irons.
Pi Pi
Science Fiction 1997 84 mins Director: Darren Aronofsky
Darren Aronofsky’s magisterial monochrome mystery concerns a mathematician whose discovery of a powerful number leads to the dark side.
Knives Out Knives Out
Thriller 2019 130 mins Director: Rian Johnson
Daniel Craig is the Kentucky Fried Poirot with all-star suspects - Chris Evans, Ana de Armas and Toni Collette among them - in this nimble and brilliant crime caper.
Mulholland Dr. Mulholland Dr.
Thriller 2001 142 mins Director: David Lynch
David Lynch’s beautifully baffling, surreal psychological thriller.
Master Gardener Master Gardener
Drama 2022 111 mins Director: Paul Schrader
Joel Edgerton stars as a meticulous horticulturalist with a dark past, in Paul Schrader’s creeping gritty thriller.
Inland Inland
Drama 2022 82 mins Director: Fridtjof Ryder
This strange, enigmatic and engrossing thriller finds a troubled young man returning to his hometown in the wake of his mother’s disappearance.
The Humans The Humans
Drama 2021 107 mins Director: Stephen Karam
A family Thanksgiving lunch takes a dark turn in this piercingly funny and haunting debut film from playwright Stephen Karam.
Typist Artist Pirate King Typist Artist Pirate King
Drama 2022 106 mins Director: Carol Morley
Monica Dolan and Kelly Macdonald star in Carol Morley's darkly humorous portrait of a forgotten artist.
20 Days in Mariupol 20 Days in Mariupol
Documentary 2023 94 mins Director: Mstyslav Chernov
Vivid and harrowing account of life under siege, Ukrainian journalists try to fulfil their mission to capture what later become defining images of the atrocities of the 2022 Russian invasion.
Eismayer Eismayer
Drama 2022 87 mins Director: David Wagner
Drill sergeant Eismayer has a reputation as the toughest training officer in the Austrian military, but when he starts to fall in love with a new recruit, his closeted existence is shaken to the core.
Is There Anybody Out There? Is There Anybody Out There?
Documentary 2023 87 mins Director: Ella Glendining
Highlighting the importance of being seen, Ella Glendining invites us on a personal journey as she sets out to find others with the same rare disability as herself.
His Lordship His Lordship
Comedy 1932 73 mins Director: Michael Powell
A plumber discovers to his horror that he is, in fact, a hereditary Lord in Michael Powell's riotous satirical musical.
The Fire Raisers The Fire Raisers
Crime 1934 78 mins Director: Michael Powell
Michael Powell’s atmospheric thriller about an insurance man in over his head with a gang of arsonists.