When a big city pharmaceutical executive (Shin Seong-il) vacations in his sleepy hometown without his wife in tow, memories flood back as he reunites with former school buddies then falls into an affair with a local music teacher (Yoon Jeong-hee). Who's orchestrating this extramarital fling is a matter of opinion. Both seem to be manipulators who are going to end up feeling a bit abusive and used when this brief tryst comes to a close. Indeed, writer-director Kim Soo-yong's refusal to cast one as villain and one as victim is what makes Mist such an intriguing film. This is a movie more about mood and psychic states than action and conflict.
It's also exquisitely shot. Jang Seok-jun's black-and-white cinematography is a marvel to behold, especially the longshots in which we see the protagonist crossing an empty lot or moving in and out of a night fog with his love interest or witnessing a funeral procession passing by on a hilltop. Mist is a film comfortable with art for art's sake, with the idea that a picture can tell a story as well as dialogue. Watching a liquor bottle empty out on the floor thereby ruining a nearby paperback is a quick, concise way to show us someone is tired and drunk; just hallucinated ants on a work document lets us know someone is sick and tired of their job. This confident artfulness really elevates Mist to classic status. I'd watch it again. Won't you watch it once?
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