Early in Decision to Leave, a team of investigators stands at the bottom of a cliff, examining the body of an experienced climber splayed out on the rocks. Was it possible that he slipped? Or was he pushed? Many mysteries could be built on this premise, but only a film directed by Park Chan-wook would include a point-of-view shot from the perspective of the corpse looking up at the mountain—a line of blood crossing the open eye (or camera lens), along with a scurrying ant. Park’s latest Hitchcock homage (after the likes of Stoker and The Handmaiden) centers on the lead detective on the case (Park Hae-il) who becomes obsessed with the victim’s wife (Tang Wei) while investigating her possible role in his death. Like Hitchcock’s Vertigo, Decision to Leave manages a surprising depth of emotion, especially for a filmmaker who, with the likes of Oldboy, once seemed to value shocking audiences far more than moving them. When Seo-rae, the widow, begins to reciprocate the detective’s feelings with a tenderness not usually seen in your standard femme fatale, Decision to Leave hits notes of genuine affection, which makes the tragic third act all the more devastating. (Park and regular screenwriting partner Seo-kyeong Jeong find exactly the right word for the detective to utter at one point: “shattered.”) Tang, so good in Ang Lee’s Lust, Caution, gives an exquisitely delicate performance, while Park Hae-il makes the delivery of that “shattered” line a debilitating moment. And if all of this skewed romance doesn’t hook you, Park’s filmmaking choices likely will, including inventive transitional techniques that make this two-hour-plus movie unfold like a fluid dream. One example begins with an overhead shot of the detective and his wife lying side by side in bed, followed by a cut to an overhead shot of two cars parked side by side in a similar position. Park and editor Kim Sang-beom then cut back to the bed at least one more time before committing to the cars, where the detective now stands. Much of Decision to Leave proceeds this way, with a musical sense of misdirection. It’s a strategy that perfectly captures the experience of its lead character, who is simultaneously dazzled by this elusive widow and dazed by where his infatuation leads him.
(10/17/2022)
