Bleak Night (2011)

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Winner of the New Currents award at the 2010 Pusan Film Festival, the dark indie drama Bleak Night paints a brutally realistic portrait of broken friendship and teen discontent with fatal consequences. After high school student Gi Tae (Lee Je Hoon, from the gay indie hit Just Friends) takes his own life, his guilt-ridden father (Jo Sung Ha, Yellow Sea) tries to seek out answers. He learns that Gi Tae had two best friends - Dong Yoon (Seo Jun Young, Grudge: The Revolt of Gumiho) and Hee Joon (Park Jung Min) - both of whom have been absent in the aftermath of Gi Tae's death. As the film jumps between events in the past and present, the father gradually learns what went wrong among the three friends, ultimately leading to the death of his son. Shot on handheld cam, Bleak Night drew acclaim for its realistically grim portrayal of the complex dynamics that built and broke the three teens' friendship. The film's astute study of how shifting loyalties, high school politics, and bullying catapulted towards a shocking tragedy is both believable and compelling. Writer-director Yoon Sung Hyun makes an impressive debut with a student film that has proven to be much more, garnering great praise for the young filmmaker at international fests and marking him as a name to watch in Korean cinema.