Night Journey: She's Had Enough

I've never been able to fully own the idea that time isn't linear. I believe it. But it's hard to pind down. Because, the occasional deja vu aside, life feels like we're moving in a straight line from past to present towards future unknown. From hour to hour. Or minute to minute. Yet I also acknowledge that when I get caught up in a memory, moments often get interspliced or loop around each other. Which is basically a good way to describe director Kim Soo-yong's technique in constructing the slippery psychodrama that is Night Journey. Kim's portrait of a dissatisfied bank employee (Yu Jeong-hie) who's dragged for her unmarried status flashes back and forth in time, as nostalgia and past traumas act as imbalancers for her melancholic, present-day woes.

Sex with her co-worker/flatmate (Shin Seong-il) is dissatisfying. A rape comes out of nowhere then disappears just as quick. A trip home takes a strange turn when she puts on her high school uniform (still fits!), triggering recollections of a former teacher/soldier/suitor who died in the war. But sometimes, you're not sure whether what's presented is real or fantasy. Which somehow relates to the nature of time, too. Yet despite the inner chaos, our heroine is guiding her destiny — whether she's turning down offers from men in alleys, cajoling an old schoomate for a motorcycle ride, or acknowledging the lustful glance of a military officer on the street. Because of that, Night Journey is more grit than grim.