The logic of pain in talking bodies: An approach to han in the films of Hong Sang-soo and Lee Chang-dong

Abstract

This paper’s focus is to explore the representation of grief in two contemporary South Korean films: On the Beach at Night Alone (Hong Sang-soo, 2017) and Burning (Lee Chang-dong, 2018). The article revolves around the concept of han, an inherent element of the modes of representation in Korean cinema. A legacy of the colonialist era, han takes us from the individual to the collective, on an endless search for recognition by the Other. The loss of the object of desire in an unwanted separation for the protagonists of both films can only be understood within a framework that considers the historical precedents involved in the consolidation of han. To explore the poetics of the cross-cultural nature of han, this study connects an analysis of the mise-en-scène and narratives of both films with the psychoanalytic model of melancholia.