Asian Film Review: 'Into the White Night' (白夜行/백야행 : 하얀 어둠 속을 걷다 )

while I was stuck on the tarmac waiting for my flight to Beijing I watched most of this Korean mystery/thriller on my iPhone.  'Into the White Night' (백야행 : 하얀 어둠 속을 걷다
) is a Korean adaptation of a Japanese novel called 'Byakuyako' (白夜行) by Keigo Higashino.

I tried to explain this film to Patrick after we got off the plane but did not have much success, its a rather (or very) complicated story line, that jumps back and forth between the present and 14 years ago.... basically a young detective investigating suspicious suicide finds a link to a 14 year old suspicious murder-suicide case and contacts the detective who was never able to find the real killer in the original case.

It turns out that the children involved in the 14 years ago case are now grown up and seemingly not contected to eachother in any way.  But once the old detective played by Han Suk-Kyu (한석규, the guy from Shiri, aka 'Korean Patrick Swayze') starts poking around, he eventually figures out what's going on now and eventually what happened 14 years ago in the case he never solved.

ah ha!I don't want to give too much away, since this is mostly a mystery....    Its not completely unpredictable but well executed and keeps you thinking.  Although as I said, if you stop and think about the whole story afterwards its a bit too much to swallow.  But of course you don't really notice it as the movie unfolds,  which is the sign of a well made, engaging film in my book.

You have to have a bit of patience for the first 30 minutes or so as it jumps back and forth from the past to the present... but if you're like me,  once you figure out who everyone is and what's going on, you'll feel like going back and rewatching the beginning to pick up on all the story bits to enjoy it more.

Anyway, its a bit overly complicated (its based on a Japanese book compiled from a serial magazine story though... so you have to expect it),  but well acted and entertaining.  Son Ye-Jin (손예진) does a good job as the female lead. 

Check it out if you get a chance.  I'll give it a solid 7/10.