Hard Light Cinema

🪩 Part 1/2 of our series Possible Loves: Two by Lee Chang-dong

Here in Peppermint Candy, Lee Chang-dong uses a Memento-like structure to flip the story by beginning at the ending and rolling backwards through key moments in South Korea’s history to understand how we reached this moment on both a personal and national level. While the titular peppermint candy may not have the exact same purpose as a Proustian madeleine, it similarly recalls sense memory and recalls the loss and loves of youth. A spiritual cousin to A Taxi Driver and Joint Security Area, Peppermint Candy tries to find the beauty in a broken country and a path through fascism.

— Warner West, Hard Light Cinema