Decision to Leave

Decision to Leave
Starring Park Hae-il, Tang Wei, Lee Jung-hyun, Go Kyung-pyo
Directed by Park Chan-wook

The 80s and 90s were littered by a slew of high-octane romantic criminal thrillers that are still remembered today, even if they weren't that good in their execution. "Wild Things," "Cruel Intentions," "Body Heat," "Fatal Attraction," and "Basic Instinct" are still heralded as excellent romantic thrillers of the time, and it seems that lately there hasn't been that many of those genre movies in theaters. Then along comes "Oldboy" director Park Chan-wook with his own take on the romantic criminal thriller "Decision to Leave," and it'll easily be listed as one of the best romantic criminal thrillers ever made - a tight, concise tale about murder, love, deception, and everything that goes along with it.

Detective Hae-jun (Park Hae-il) is a man obsessed with his work: he spends weeks away from his wife, he suffers insomnia due to his passion, and he maintains the impression of being one of the best youngest detectives on the force. He's brought in on a case where a man fell to his death from a mountain, and by all appearances it looks like either an accidental death or suicide, until he meets the man's widow, Seo-rae (Tang Wei). She doesn't seem upset about her husband's death, and seems almost culpable in his demise. Yet as he continues his investigation, he becomes more attracted to her, as she does him - but is she just playing him in order to escape a murder conviction, or is there something more there? His desire blinds him from the truth, and when another case occurs, he questions his motives and wonders if he's really the great detective people think he is.

People (like myself) who are fond of Chan-wook's previous work "Oldboy" and "The Handmaiden" will expect something totally off the wall and mind-bending like his previous work, but "Decision to Leave" is a more subtle tale by the acclaimed director - while the first half feels like a traditional tale akin to "Basic Instinct," the second half propels the story to a deeply nuanced tale centering on ramifications of previous actions, twisted love, and the lengths people will go for said love. It's one that subtly sinks into you instead of basing you with a battering ram, and before you know it you're totally sucked in and take deep interest in the characters.

These characters are Hae-jun and Seo-rae, and they're the Michael Douglas and Glenn Close in this masterful piece. Hae-jun is more than a bumbling detective, but a rather good one - yet his decisions are blurred by his growing love for Seo-rae, and his vision gets blurred (sometimes literally, as he applies eye drops constantly) to what's really going on. Seo-rae's husband's death is no accident or suicide, but why would Seo-rae go to great lengths to off the man she supposedly loved? For Hae-jun, it's more about her than him, and as he investigates her, he becomes more allured to her, incapable of getting her out of his head. He plays the role perfectly, as you see the inner struggle in the man as he knows the truth, but wants to forget it.

Likewise brilliant is Tang Wei, who plays Seo-rae as a more subdued Alex Forrest, a woman who has her own motives for what she does, and who comes off as more of a victim rather than a blood-thirsty cold-blooded killer. Stuck in a loveless and abusive marriage, she finds a way out and takes it, only to fall for the charming detective investigating the case. Her motives afterward point to a truly romantic feel, but you can never fully gather what's going through her head at any given moment. She's cold and calculating, but also warm and responsive. A true juxtaposition of the two parallels, she expertly plays both well.

The style of the film is also beautiful, as backdrops of fog clouds the viewer's judgment as well as the characters, and seamless transitions pull you into the story in a way you wouldn't think before. A zoom-in on a face transitions to another location, phone conversations occur as if you're watching characters siting side-by-side. Fascinating camera angles show different viewpoints of the story, such as the lens of a dead man's eye staring up with an ant crawling across it. All the visual cues hone in on the tale, and adds a depth that wouldn't be there otherwise.

If you're expecting an action-packed tale of intrigue and steamy romance, this probably isn't the movie for you - those are more like those paperback romances in the bookstore. Instead, "Decision to Leave" is a deeply romantic film under the guise of a noir mystery, and while it does include some exciting twists and turns, it's the smaller things that take precedence. The natural relationship between Hae-jun and Seo-rae are the stuff of romantic legends, even though they come together through unscrupulous circumstances. There's no steamy sex scenes, but a natural love that forms against the backdrop of murder and lies. Yet, this is a romance that's believable through the highly capable lead actors, and will have you thinking about it long after you walk out of the theater.

The Score: A+