Fragment
South Korea | Korean, English subtitles
2024 | 105 Minutes
Director: Kim Sung-yoon
Cast: Kim Gyu-na, Oh Ja-jun, Moon Seong-hyun
While opening night of the 29th edition of the always incredible Fantasia film festival was centralized around the new Pedro Pascal and Joaquim Phoenix film, Eddington, a fantastic Korean film named Fragment was playing in the spotlight’s shadow across the street.
Fracture is a haunting piece of film that will surely stay with me, fresh in my mind, for at least the foreseeable future as I try to fully comprehend it. What is it about Korea that makes the nation produce such incredible films?
See Also: A Legend at Fantasia Festival 2024
In a time where the so-called Hollywood mainstream is so stagnant, stuck in a endless loop of rehashing the same dribble, regurgitating the same tired fecal matter over and over again, Korean filmmakers are consistently finding great new heights. It’s to the point now, that if I see a film that was made in Korea, I automatically want to see it. Then again, when my mainstream options are yet another tired interpretation of Superman, the choice really is an easy one.
I told myself I wasn’t going to rant today.
At its premise, the plot is fairly simple. There has been a double-homicide that has the local school children in a tizzy as they come to terms with the events in their own way.
Rumor has it that the son of the killer, and that of the victims, are both students at the school which has the whole school searching for who these people might be.
I thought I had figured out early on who the slain couple’s child was only to have that notion ripped away as the plot and storyline unraveled. More and more, the film becomes an emotional rollercoaster filled with injustice and senseless bullying and the viewer can’t help but feel sorry for certain characters. I’m trying to keep the mystery for future viewers here as best I can while still explaining what’s going on.
Once the twist drops, those emotional feelings are amped up and the brilliance of the story reveals itself fully. Fragment succeeds on several levels. It’s wonderfully scripted, and acted, and the cinematography is fantastic.
While not exactly your traditional coming of age story, Fragment does contain those elements as the three main characters find themselves forced to adapt to life-changing events that through no fault of their own, have forever changed their lives.
Each of them is forced to accept the things they cannot change while learning to deal with a whole new collection of feelings and emotions – and make no mistake about it, the audience is along for the ride and also going to feel all of these things too. Fragments does such a splendid job of making its viewers care about the individuals involved, which more and more is becoming a lost artform in modern cinema.
Of course, eventually everything is going to collide into a car crash that drags all the films elements together, and without telling you what happens; I’ll simply say what I hoped would be the outcome was, and that made me love this brilliant film even more. You’ll know what I mean when you see it – and buddy, you should see this film.
The greatest feat achieved by Fragment is the raw emotion that the film rips out of its audience. Over the years, I have come to truly appreciate Korean film for its ability to do exactly this, but Fragment does it like few before it have. In short, Fragments is a brilliant piece of cinema that I truly hope finds an audience that will appreciate its glory.
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It’s only the first day of the 2025 Fantasia film festival, and already I feel as if the bar has been set, and Fragment is the film to beat.
If this is but the start, I eagerly await how the rest of the festival as it unfolds. These are the best three weeks Montreal has to offer – which says a lot given how much variety of entertainment can be found in this city.
