RETURN TO SEOUL Review: Lost Between Two Cultures

Freddie is a restless 25-year-old girl, born in Korea but adopted and raised in France, who embarks on a trip to Korea in search of her biological family. In her baggage she carries a great existential emptiness and an uprooting sullied by rancor that turns her odyssey into a tumultuous journey to nowhere in search of her real identity.

This Cambodian/French co-production is a moving tale about those people caught between two different cultures but unable to fit in any of them, that are perfectly reflected in the wonderful performance of  French/Korean newcomer actress Park-Min, who shines spreading her character´s emotions on the screen, perfectly guided by the crafty direction of French/Cambodian filmmaker Davy Chow, that presents a very interesting premise divided into two clearly differentiated parts, in which the viewers become accomplices of the protagonist in her emotional eviction and her vital ravings, which on more than one occasion branch off paths of self-destruction that are difficult to understand.

The director finds a perfect rythm that makes the interest in the plot never drops, while we go through this path of emotions empathizing with Freddie/Yeon He´s sorrow,in the clashing of her two identities, getting lost in a path of elusive affections in which reaching the place where to fit may never become a reality.

Overall, the film is a delightful experience to those movie lovers avid to escape from the false artifice of today´s commercial cinema, and are looking for real stories about characters and emotions.