Review | Busan 2023: Because I Hate Korea movie review – muddled addition to trend of films about Korean diasporic experience sees Ko A-sung play a free spirit
- Part of the Busan festival’s Korean Diasporic Cinema programme, Because I Hate Korea stars Ko A-sung as a young woman who moves to New Zealand for a new life
- Unfortunately the film doesn’t live up to its promising start, and delivers a string of ill-conceived culture-clash vignettes and stereotypes
2/5 stars
The Busan International Film Festival kicked off its 28th edition this week with the provocatively titled Because I Hate Korea, director Jang Kun-jae’s quirky tale of urban malaise and self-discovery.
While occasionally innovative and intriguing, Jang’s film is mostly a muddled and disjointed affair, and proves a low-energy opener for Busan’s high profile showcase of the best new Asian cinema.
Adapted from Jang Kang-myung’s successful 2015 novel of the same name, it sees 20-something Gye-na (Ko) grow increasingly dissatisfied with life in Korea. As pressures and expectations build, at home and at work, she makes the dramatic decision to leave everything she knows behind and head south in search of adventure and meaning.
This comes as a particular shock to her wealthy boyfriend Ji-myung (Kim Woo-kyum), who was hoping to marry Gye-na after he lands a good job. Instead, she opts for a clean break, and a simpler life in the Antipodes.