1999: After 20 years, the personnel of a factory reunites. One of them, Yongho (Sol Kyung-gu) soon
starts acting really weird before finally committing suicide in front of
everybody by throwing himself in front of a train.
3 days ago: Yongho's life has hit rock bottom: His wife has left him, he
has lost his fortunes at the stock exchange, his company went bankrupt &
his business-partner embezzled the company's funds. Yongho spent his
last money on a gun to shoot himself, instead the husband of Sunin, his
first girlfriend, shows up on his doorstep & asks him to come with
him to the hospital, where his wife is in a critical condition. When
they arrive, she lies in a coma & might not survive the day ...
1994: Yongho is the man who has everything, a successful company,
profitable stocks at the stock exchange, a sweet wife & daughter.
But the beautiful facade is already crumbling when he finds another man
in his wife's bed, which makes him furious ... but Yongho of course also
has a mistress of his own, but he does not see a conflict here.
1990: Yongho's a cop, & he tends to get pretty brutal at examinations.
Later, he tends to blame his brutality on his victims. One guy he
tortures he did actually meet again in the 1994-segment.
1987: Yonghos wife is pregnant, he cares very little about it. One day, at a
stake-out, he wanders off & meets a girl who he tells the sad story
about Sunim, his first love. She's fascinated by his story & she
offers him to be his Sunim for the night. They have sex. On the next day
he & his colleagues capture a suspect. He then wants to see the girl
again, just somehow it doesn't work out.
1984: Yongho is the new cop at the force. He meets his future wife
for the first time. His ex-girlfriend Sunim (Moon So-ri), who has been looking for him for
4 years, finally finds him. He doesn't seem to care much about her. She's
disappointed by the way he has changed & bacame cynical since they
last met, still, she gives him her present, an expensive camera bought
from her own money. He gives it back ...
1980: Yongho's a soldier, Sunim wants to meet him at his barracks,
instead his batallion has to move out. At a firefight, he accidently
kills an innocent female student. This experience devastates him ...
1979: A company picnic, pretty much like the one at hte end of the
movie. The company is producing peppermint candy, Yongho works there, so
does Sunim. They meet for the first time, he tells her he wants to be a
photographer ...
A very cleverly told movie consisting of many small stories which
could all more or less stand on their own, but which combined paint a
full picture, trying to answer the question "why would this man
commit suicide ?" Thankfully, the movie avoids giving a definitive
answer - which would have more or less ruined the movie.
That each story can stand on its own makes this one a very tense
movie & the way of combining them shows great storytelling !
One warning though: Don't show this movie when depressed, it's a very
sad experience.
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