Rest begins in the middle of the night, the beginning funds blaring only to the rhythmic snoring noise. When a person stirs to get her husband squatting straight on the bed, her husband is standing straight up opposite her. As she turns on the light, he says in a strong and distant words:” One’s inside”.
Jung Soo-jin ( Jung Yu-mi ) lives with her actor husband Oh Hyun-su ( Lee Sun-kyun ) and their dog Pepper in a typical, modern, urban Korean flat. Everything in the couple’s life seems to be exactly ordinary up until this night, when they are expecting a baby. This strange opening is Hyun-su’s initial knowledge of parasomnia. Without a recollection of what he did when he woke up, he is talking and moving.
” Sleep” is the debut film from Korean director Jason Yu, a former assistant to the Oscar-winning director Bong Joon-ho ( Parasite, 2019 ). Told in three sections, it follows this pair as they try to work out what is causing Hyun-su’s parasomnia. It may take more than just some rest strips or medication to help Hyun-su, as these opening times demonstrate. Something else is going on in their level at night.
Drawing on Asian folklore tradition and social ideas around mysticism” Sleep” is a gripping, beautifully shot divine thriller. Yu’s comeback introduces a brand-new shamanism to the display, a faith and a core component of Vietnamese culture that has been suppressed and ignored for hundreds of years, but which is then reportedly being embraced by a new generation of young people who are fans of social media.
The happy couple’s daily lives are depicted in Book 1. Through close-up images that depict a normal day, Yu depicts wed bliss. The meal lovingly prepared by Hyun-su for Soo-jin before she wakes, the plants on the ledge, a well-organised book, a large framed picture of the few.
The words” Together we can conquer everything” are scribbled on a big piece of wood before Soo-jin puts them face-down on the walls. As Hyun-su’s parasomnia gets worse and threatens his health ( eating raw foods, trying to jump from a window ), as well as that of his entire family, this sentiment will be a recurring theme throughout the movie.
Soo-jin’s family second suspects the divine might be at play, and suggests the couple seek the aid of a shaman. Shamanism in Korea society stretches back over 5, 000 times. It’s existing in the nation’s foundation myth of Dangun, the first king of Gojoseon ( the first Korean country ) and the child of the king of the sky.
Shamanism in Korean film has a long history, with features such as” Ieoh Island” ( 1977 ) and” The Wailing” ( 2016 ) being among Korea’s best. It is also a part of” Exhuma,” which was also released this year, and follows young shamans as they try to remove a family of a curse. These films, but, present mysticism as a provincial, remote concern. ” Sleep” brings it into a modern and cosmopolitan setting.
In Nap, we are introduced to the mystic Madame Haegoong, who confirms one is truly inside Hyun-su. When faced with difficulties or having trouble making choices, Koreans typically turn to mystics. In the past of Korea, mystics have played the roles of priest, doctor, and sorcerer.
In most cases, mystics serve clients as marketers – a kind of middleman between the lawyer’s world and the other earth where the spirits, the ghosts, stay. As a physician, the mystic often performs a dura, an extravagant and expensive ceremony, to allow connection with the spirit – an important part of the treatment. That proves to be the scenario for Hyun-su in” Sleep”.
The frustrated and terrible Soo-jin in” Sleep” primarily harbors mysticism, but gradually becomes drawn in as treatment options fail and Hyun-su’s behavior becomes more dangerous.
In Soo-jin’s voyage from non-believer to anxious follower, familiar mythological stories associated with shamanistic idea arise. For example, Soo-jin grows to feel that her father’s sleep issues are caused by spirits grasping onto him while he sleeps that, as Madame Haegoong puts it,” the mind becomes more vulnerable and they exploit this this walk into your brain.”
Such tales of spirits and suicide are common in Asian culture. In the film, a now seemingly crazed Soo-jin explains:” If]your soul does n’t ] ascend in ten days you become a ghost”, and” A ghost cannot ascend 100 days after death. ]It may ] wander around our planet permanently”.
These suggestions sound conventional and ridiculous. However, the idea that it’s a young woman being drawn to these concepts resonates with some North Korean youth’s new documented interest in shamanism. Similar to Soo-jin, some shamans attribute this attention to young people seeking comfort and hope in the face of uncertainty.
Solid performances are included in” Sleep,” a skillfully crafted modern occult movie with Lee Sun-kyun’s belated lead performance, who passed away last year. In his directorial debut, Yu successfully combines traditional mythological shamanistic stories with dramatic horror and drama.
Hyunseon Lee is a faculty research affiliate in the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures, and the Center for Creative Industries, Media and Screen Studies, SOAS, University of London.
The Conversation has republished this post under a Creative Commons license. Read the original content.