Written

This is how it starts, a voice states as the title credits roll a good ten minutes into the actual feature. We’re witnessing protagonist A’s rude awakening, as he’s lying in a cold bathtub, bleeding from a fresh wound and missing a kidney. Who stole his organ is an obvious question, but the main issue here regards fiction versus non-fiction.

South Korean director Kim Byung-Woo uses intense cut-ups and surreal environments, to create a Kafkaesque metafilm about a man lost in the blur between fiction and reality. While protagonist A is trying to find his way through a brightly colored cinematic world, the director is portrayed on screen, searching for the missing script that contains the production’s end. At the same time, the writer has written herself into the plot, to warn A against the stalking actor portraying him.

With clever acting and a thought-provoking script, the art of moviemaking is dissected to the very core. As a confused A asks his creator and writer: Are you writing me, or am I being written by you? Indeed.

Nordic Premiere