Arirang (Kim Duk-Kim, 2011): South korea

Reviewed by Tresor Bayibsa. Viewed at the AFI fest 2011.

Arirang by Kim Duk-Kim. Arirang was a very personal documentary about the Kim Duk-Kim’s life. It was a documentary that showed his emotional journey to find himself as a director again. The reason why this movie feels really personal is because the filmmaker films himself throughout the whole documentary & he zooms in extremely close on his own face so it feels like your standing right in front of him listening to him & watching him. It captures every emotion that he displays. At one point for more than 3 minutes you sat and watched him cry & it was filmed with a closeup so you could feel what he felt. The filmmaker filmed himself having a conversation with his shadow & which gave you the feeling that he was lonely but only by his own choice. That everything that occurred throughout the documentary was his personal journey to find the answer to the new questions that had infiltrated his life.  It was very depressing to watch & I think that was his intention, the filmmaker wanted you to feel what he felt. He wanted you to understand what went through his mind at that time.

It was a very personal movie that displayed the sad emotions & life of the filmmaker.