Theory and practice The scarlet canvas of a cape-coat barely manages to keep up with a boy cheerfully rushing somewhere along the village street. Bright color in the first frames reveals the undimmed serenity of the weekend, lit up with childish joy. Five boys, the oldest of whom is only 13, accompanied by a disturbingly sublime musical background, go to the forest to catch frogs. They'll never come back.
Based on the true story of missing children, the film opens with a dramatic prologue, after which from the measured life of a remote village, the camera descends into the whirlpool of a detective investigation. Thousands of people unsuccessfully comb the neighborhood, and the screen is gradually filled with characters characteristic of criminal history. The embodiment of intellectual power, Professor Hwang, will make the viewer believe that the psychological theory born in the walls of the university can explain the strange behavior of any person on the planet. And the personification of journalistic pressure, producer Kang, will cause mixed feelings with his desire to find a story that shudders the whole country.
Prove the theory and make a sensation.
Unwitting provincial newsmakers - parents of missing children - receive as much attention in a matter of months as they have not known in their entire lives. Talk shows, police questions and camera lenses will not leave without attention any telephone conversation, will not pass by the most unimaginable rumor. In anticipation of the cherished evidence and a television bomb, the search for children is closed in the backyard of the parental home.
The director, not shy of humorous moments, skillfully escalates tension, forcing the viewer to empathize with poor parents who have lost their main treasure, then with bated breath, to join in the search for evidence of the most terrible version of the event.
The apotheosis of tension results in an unrestrained pursuit of truth. Who does not care about the correctness of theories and indicators of television ratings. Who without witnesses is ready to share someone's terrible last moments. And which behind the shadow of evidence can see the tragedy.
Find love and find the truth.
8 out of 10
Original