🔗 Share this article Winter in Sokcho Analysis: A Moody Slow-Burn Tale of Familial Bonds and Closeness in a Korean Frontier Town Adapted from a novel by Korean-Swiss writer Elisa Dusapin, this subtle yet refreshing drama follows hotel employee Sooha (Kim Bella) as she drives author from France Yan (Zem Roschdy) to the DMZ just north of the city of Sokcho. Symbolism abounds: Koya Kamura’s debut film also resides in a no man’s land of the spirit, with Sooha, abandoned by her French father while she was still in utero, trapped between dual heritages. Once the French-speaking employee is compelled to accompany the mysterious author, she loiters uneasily between tetchy friendship and complex desire. Daily Life and Upheaval When she’s not digging into visually stunning marine dishes prepared by her fishmonger mother (Mi-hyeon Park), Sooha is relaxing with her partner (Do-yu Gong), an aspiring model gunning for a move to Seoul. But this familiar rhythm is overturned when the foreigner settles in for a long-term stay. At first conforming to her biases about rude French men, he turns out, on Googling him, to be critically lauded graphic novelist Yan Kerrand. Coming to Sokcho in search of creative fuel, he manages to prise the story of Sooha’s missing father from her. She spies on him through a air duct – but the question lingers whether he’s a proxy father, or something else. Inner Turmoil and Symbolic Layers Sooha’s buried emotions surface in bursts of clandestine, winding moments of physical constraint and liberation. We are privy to only her internal world, though; Yan stays a remote presence, upholding his solitary principles and stingy with particulars of his past. His enigmatic role, as Sooha projects her needs on to him, is deliberate – but this imbalance prevents Winter in Sokcho from reaching its full potential. Visual style – and restraint, with Sooha’s parent and partner both advocating plastic surgery on her – is clearly a central idea for Kamura. But in spite of Yan’s profession, it seems a bit separate from the primary narrative, like the mysterious bandaged diner also in residence. Performances and Cinematic Craft The three focused performances at the core – an nearly aggressive Zem, increasingly scattered Kim, and the self-involved Park Mi-hyeon – give Winter in Sokcho its emotional anchor, and if Kamura can’t quite narratively contain the cautious standoff between hotelier and guest, he is always on his toes in terms of feeling, often exploring a physical, sensory imagery. Obsessing over emptiness, on the verge of succumb in internal sensations, Kamura creates an intriguing kind of modern ghost story. Winter in Sokcho can be seen on Mubi from November 7.