White Night (2012 film)
| Baek-Ya / White Night | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Hee-il Leesong |
| Produced by | Il-kwon Kim |
| Written by | Hee-il Leesong |
| Starring |
Hyun-sung Kim Yi-Kyeong Lee Tae-Hee Won |
| Music by |
Chris Garneau Young-hoon Lee |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 75 minutes |
| Country | South Korea |
| Language | Korean |
Baek-Ya is a Korean film about a homosexual man returning to Korea with unresolved past conflicts, who spends time with a new man.
Plot
The plot appears to follow a man who returns to Korea for one night. He has been away for an extended period of time. At a cafe, he meets up with a past love or friend he left behind when he left Korea. The mousetached man is still upset about the past event, and perhaps also by him having left. He claims that he is involved someone different, as does the main character - "a 35 year old in Germany". Equally wounded, tears begin to form in the eye of the main character, and he abruptly leaves the cafe without saying goodbye, when his friend or past love goes back in to make another order.
Later in the evening, he is approached by a man in a red jacket. They quickly become acquainted and their communications escalate towards a sexual nature. He notices a scar on the back of the main character's shoulder. The main character becomes tentative and touchy, and decides suddenly he does not want to do anything sexual with the man in red, to the man in red's confusion. However, he still wants his company, and so after some small bickering, they head to a bar.
Suddenly the main character recognises a man in the bar, and chases after him, as they run through urban streets. The man in red follows, despite not understanding the situation. It is later revealed the main character was stabbed in a homophobic attack, and the man he chased after knows the man who stabbed him, and his current location - the pool hall. The man he met at the cafe in the beginning was also attacked. The main character states it is the reason he left Korea, as it shook his life up, and outed his sexuality publicly, leaving him stigmatised and outcast. They both head to the pool hall, despite the man in red's discouragement, and together they punch up the man who stabbed him a long time ago.
Afterwards, despite shallow bickering between them, and not being comfortable being open about their emotions, it becomes clear they feel affection and compassion towards one another. They head to a park and discuss their pasts. This time, when asked, the main character states he is seeing "a 24 year old in Germany," which would seem to imply he has lied both times and therefore is actually single - too hurt to become close to anyone since. They have sex and before parting ways the man in red gives him his number. The film ends on a cliffhanger with the main character staring at a payphone from a taxi, thinking about calling him.