This 2014 documentary, about a South Korean couple who have been married for 76 years, opens with a wide shot of a vast, snow-covered forest and a tiny figure perfectly positioned on the far-left side of the frame, sobbing into the wind. This scene and many others elicit some uncomfortable questions about the motives of director Moyoung Jin, who employs a cinema verite style in framing his subjects and allowing their conversations to flow in long, uninterrupted takes. Moyoung’s unfettered access to the pair is extraordinary, yet they often seem to be performing for his approval. The husband struggles to breathe from the start, which signals immediately how the story will turn out and gives one the distressing sense that the director is exploiting his pain to tug at the viewer’s heartstrings. In Korean with subtitles.
My Love, Don’t Cross That River
1 hour 26 min • 2014
