Decision to Leave

Decision to Leave

Hae-Joon, a seasoned detective, investigates the suspicious death of a man on a mountaintop. Soon, he begins to suspect Seo-rae, the deceased's wife, while being unsettled by his attraction to her.

  • Released:
  • Runtime: 120 minutes
  • Genre: Crime, Drama, Romance
  • Stars: Tang Wei, Park Hae-il, Lee Jung-hyun, Park Yong-woo, Go Kyung-pyo, Jung Yi-seo, Lee Hak-joo, Jeong Ha-dam, Lee Yong-nyeo, Jung Young-sook, Kim Shin-young, Park Jeong-min, Yoo Teo, Go Min-si, Seo Hyun-woo, Yoo Seung-mok, Kim Do-yeon, Jeong So-ri, Shin An-jin, Cha Seo-won, Joo In-young, Choi Sun-ja, Jin Yong-uk, Choi Dae-hoon, Kim Mi-hwa, Kwak Eun-jin, Ahn Seong-bong, Kim Gook-jin, Kim Sang-hyun
  • Director: Park Chan-wook
 Comments
  • joebloggscity - 12 January 2023
    Hitchcock homage which just misses the mark for me....
    The title is one that could easily end up writing its own obituaries, but what we have is another clever film from the Korean master taking us on another emotional roller coaster.

    We have a Hitchcock style murder mystery, where we have a workaholic detective going through a midlife crisis, and finding himself obsessing over a femme fatale. He's a bit weak, and in over his head.

    It's quite a long film, but really you'll keep engrossed despite there not necessarily being many moments to jolt anyone. It's more a parable on life and obsession, whether she committed the murder seems to become a McGuffin.

    As you would expect from the incredible Park Chan-Wook, for any film buff there are lots of great film shots and settings that will intrigue, as this film pays homage to comparable old films from 1970s and 1980s in its visuals especially Vertigo. Really it is sort of a neo-noir (lite)!

    However, I have to admit that I found this underwhelming. I've been a big admirer of the director since the early days, but this one hardly challenges enough or intrigues enough. The film was fun with great humour peppered throughout, and I loved the two leads.

    It is clear to me that many professional reviewers have given this a bump-up due to the director, when I'm sure a fairer review would be a little less praiseworthy. That's not meaning its deserving of flak, but more it's nothing special. The director had an aim to make a Hitchcock line film, and as much as he has achieved it in part, as a whole it is likely far from the target he probably wanted.

    It's worth a viewing, and a welcome addition to the director's stable of films, just not one of his strongest efforts.
  • Jeremy_Urquhart - 26 December 2022
    Well-made and kind of baffling
    This one shattered my brain, I gotta be honest, especially in its second half.

    As far as the technical side of things are concerned, it's exceptionally well-made.

    I think at least some of the confusion and discomfort I feel is intended by those behind the film, but I have no idea how much. Revisiting this at some point might help me better understand the film, or better articulate my feelings.

    For now, I'm at a loss. Despite that, I will say that Decision to Leave never bored me, and it was an exceptionally good looking film (plus the lead performances were strong).

    But yeah, for now, I'm worried I didn't really get what it was going for or trying to say, and did find it to be incredibly confusing and even a little frustrating in parts.

    I'm not afraid to admit when a movie like this goes over my head, but I hope in the future (whether by reading up on it, thinking more about it, or rewatching it), I can get more on its level.