This is a great film from South Korea made before Christopher Nolan's "Memento" and Gasper Noe's "Irreversible" but using the same storytelling device as those two better known films (Reverse Time Sequences). The film starts with the main character Yongho (Sol Kyung-Gu) lying under a railroad bridge for a brief scene. Then the movie moves into a scene where it seems that Yongho is barging in onto a group celebration. It turns out that the celebration is a reunion of old friends and Yongho in suit looks drunk and out of place. Yongho ruins the party by being rude, volatile and apparently crazed. He goes up to the railroad bridge platform and faces a coming train that does not stop. As he is nearing his pending doom, he yells that he wants to go back in time. The story then does indeed go back in time and we find out how and why he is this way. "Peppermint Candy" becomes a story about lost innocence, lost love and the wrong decisions we make in life that bind us in corners.
Director Lee Chang Dong's fascinating film is a thesis on the effects of human choices and how time is indeed irreversible. The film starts with devastation and ends with a beautifully tranquil sequence. It is a happy ending technically, except that the timeline is reversed so we know how much pain and suffering the antihero is going to face in his life.
"Peppermint Candy" is also a film that describes the volatile political and historical landscape of South Korea in the 80s and 90s with all the significant events corresponding to the main character's story arc. Yet, this film is rather universal as the politics never overwhelm the human story. Which is about an idealistic and innocent young man full of hope and love becoming a irrational lunatic scarred by life, history, society and choices. Lee Chang Dong is a tremendous filmmaker and this film deserves wider attention.
Rated R for nudity, sexual content, language and violence
Aspect Ration: 1.85
Korean
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