Address Unknown

There are plenty of films that tackle the terrible effects of colonialism, but none so bleak as Address Unknown. The title stems from the unsent letters given back to one of the unfortunate mothers that was abandoned by an American soldier, and sadly this isn’t even the worst of what happens in the film. It’s downright depressing. Writer-director Kim Ki-duk paints a town so downtrodden that abuse isn’t only inflicted by the bored and richer American allies, it’s also self-inflicted in a land without hope. Not that having hope was any better, considering that the mother still waiting for a chance to emigrate is both abandoned by her lover, and deemed as a traitor by her countrymen. But despite the horrifying things that happen in the film, it’s still a needed watch, not just to be aware of what had happened, but also because of the way it contemplates the cyclical nature of violence, through the brilliant ways the script mirrors each relationship, and Kim’s masterful use of symbolism. Address Unknown might be brutal and unrelenting, but it’s a necessary reminder of how far the occupation can and has gone, and how these horrors understandably affect the country today.

Romances end in blood and the frail hopes of individuals are torn apart in a vile karmic continuity of colonialism, civil war and occupation. After surviving Japanese colonization, Korea became the first war zone of the Cold War. The legacy of war remains today in this divided country.