Khedro69

When I come across a mysterious movie that is like a puzzle, I'd like to first gather all the pieces that are there.

Haemi:

• She has left her childhood place, her whole family, she's in debt, has no friends. She's clearly escaping something, a part of herself like her past.
• Another important thing about Haemi is the stories she tell about her childhood that are not clear whether they are real or lie since Jong Su doesn't remember them.
• She has a cat which very much has the same quality that she has, stray.
• The little light she gets on her wall means a lot to her.
• Her room is really messy which signifies her messed up life.
• "He's my one and only friend." and "He's the only person I trust.", referring to Jong Su.
• Little Hunger (her past) - Big Hunger (Salvation)

Jong Su:

• Everyone seems to be leaving him: mother, father, sister, Haemi, and even his calf.
• Just like Haemi, he has problems that root in his past.
• He's also looking for salvation (waiting in Haemi's room for light to get on the wall).
• His care for greenhouses is perhaps because they represent his identity, the place and culture he grew up in.
• Helping Boeling (not sure if I got the cat's name correctly) means helping Haemi to him since they basically represent the same idea.
• Her concerns for Haemi are probably because she is the last thing remaining from his past and he's actually fighting his past trying to prove himself that he's not forsaken: he's not destined to be left by everyone.
• His hanging jaw signifies his uncertainty and lack of confidence.

Ben:

• Confident, apparently satisfied, and most importantly a player (as he admits that).
• The cosmetics box and the accessory drawer strengthen his claim of being a player.
• Seeing a new girl right after Haemi goes missing, putting makeup on her face, keeping Boeling and the accessories (from his previous victims), smiling at Jong Su every time he goes to one of his gatherings, they all show that he is confident about what he does even when Jong Su becomes suspicious.
• When he tells Jong Su that he has this habit of burning greenhouses every two months, he's not really talking about greenhouses. By greenhouse he means Haemi who is that "greenhouse really close to Jong Su."

Even though Burning is not a hard film to understand for many, I had to do quite some serious thinking to fully grasp it. At the scene when Ben is cooking for Haemi and Jung So, Lee Chang Dong gives us the key to the whole mystery: metaphor. Without it I probably couldn't realize the reasoning behind many of the actions and emotions I witnessed in the movie.

To put it all together, Haemi is a stray who is escaping her past seeking the meaning of life in a fragile, desperate condition. Her plastic surgery, her sleeping with Jong Su even though she still carries the scar he left her in childhood ("You are really ugly."), and the anecdotes she recites are all sings of a battle inside her, a struggle for salvation. Also we must keep in mind that it was Jong Su who rescued her from the bottom of the well while she was crying and looking up at the round sky and sunlight. He is like a savior angel to her who came down from the heavens (considering the circumstances). The momentary sunlight she gets on her wall every day shows how hopeless her life is. It's in fact a metaphor for Jung Su, her only hope, but when Ben comes around with everything that Jung Su isn't, she gives in to her desires: immediate escape from the past. Although it later becomes clear that she still has only one real hope ("He's the only person I trust.")

In a similar way, Jong Su has serious issues in his past and his way of fighting them is his struggle to prove himself that not everyone has to leave him. He's not confident for most of the film, but when he's left with no options but to face his problem head on, he gathers all his strengths and wipes away one of the causes of his problems. Even though he doesn't solve anything (in the way we define "solve"), he does the best he could do. By stripping and burning his cloths alongside Ben and his fancy car, he cleanses himself of everything he hates. That is when he eventually finds salvation.