Pandora's Box

I feel like a true blogger. I'm here at the Busan bus terminal, waiting for another hour to catch my bus back to Seoul. It departs Busan at 1:00 AM and will arrive in Seoul around 5:30 AM. Hardcore, yes, I know. The reason I decided to leave at 1:00 AM is that the subways and buses in Seoul don't start back up until 5:30 AM. I've been warned to never take a taxi at night alone, hence the perfect timing.

I just watched "Pandora's Box" at the Lotte cinema, as part of the Busan Film Festival. It is a Turkish film about three siblings who retrieve their Alzheimer's inflicted mother. The mother bonds with her wayward grandson and the two form a unique bond. A fairly standard storyline about a family feeling the effects of abandonment from a father, but the acting and actors were refreshing. Why? They looked real. No flawless close-ups of Nicole Kidman. No steamy body shots of Brad Pitt. These actors were plump, dumpy, dirty, messy... all in all, they were normal! Foreign audiences must also have a longer attention span, as I realized that foreign films tend to linger on each scene about eight seconds longer than an American film would.

I also had a chance encounter with a French producer from Canada. I didn't catch her name but I spoke with her on the escalator from the basement floor to the eighth. She worked on a movie titled "Victoria" with a Danish actress/director by the name of Anna Karina, who also happens to be the head of the judging panel at this year's Busan Film Festival. Turns out she loves Busan and will spend a day in Seoul. Right as I was about to ask her to hang out with me in Seoul, someone called her name and she had to get going. I sorrowfully watched my chance to break into the film industry get lost in a sea of eager Koreans. Woe. Woe. Woe.

At least I had a green tea Krispy Kreme donut to cheer me up.