Return to Seoul (French: Retour à Séoul; original English title: All the People I'll Never Be) is a 2022 drama film written and directed by Davy Chou, starring Ji-Min Park as a 25-year-old French adoptee who travels to South Korea seeking her biological parents.
| Return to Seoul | |
|---|---|
 French theatrical release poster | |
| French | Retour à Séoul |
| Directed by | Davy Chou |
| Written by | Davy Chou |
| Produced by |
|
| Starring |
|
| Cinematography | Thomas Favel |
| Edited by | Dounia Sichov |
| Music by |
|
Production companies | |
| Distributed by |
|
Release dates |
|
Running time | 119 minutes[1] |
| Countries |
|
| Languages |
|
| Box office | $2.2 million[2] |
Return to Seoul premiered in the Un Certain Regard section of the Cannes Film Festival on 22 May 2022.[3] The film was selected as the Cambodian entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 95th Academy Awards,[4] and made the December shortlist.[5] It received critical acclaim.
Plot
editFreddie, an affable 25-year-old woman, was born in South Korea and adopted by French parents. She arrives in Seoul for a two-week vacation after her flight to Tokyo is cancelled. She quickly bonds with Tena, the desk clerk at her hotel, and sleeps with a man she meets in a restaurant. Tena and a friend of hers tell Freddie about the Hammond Adoption Center. Freddie expresses no interest in finding her biological parents, yet visits the agency later.
The agency is restricted by law from revealing details of her parents, but are allowed to send them up to three telegrams per year notifying interest from adoptees. She travels to Gunsan for a brief, uncomfortable reunion with her father, Tena serving as translator. On learning that her mother has not responded to all three telegrams, Freddie returns to her biological father's family for a three-night stay. Her father repeatedly makes drunken calls to her and sends her text messages in Korean regretting giving her up and promising a new life in South Korea.
Back in Seoul, Freddie tells Tena in a bar that she finds the father's relentless attention oppressive and asks her to tell him to stop. She then cruelly mocks declarations of love from the man she slept with on her first night in Seoul. As they are leaving, she tries to kiss Tena, who rejects her and tells Freddie she is "a very sad person". Freddie returns to her hotel with the DJ from the bar, but is confronted by her drunken father, who scolds her for ignoring his attempts at contact and scares off the DJ. Tena then suddenly appears, but her father ignores Tena's attempt to speak to him and as her father grabs hold of her arm, Freddie screams at him not to touch her and leaves.
Two years later, Freddie is living in Seoul. She goes on a date with André, a weapons dealer, who tells Freddie that she would be good in his industry. Freddie tells him that it is her birthday, and that every year on her birthday, she wonders if her mother is thinking about her. At a surprise birthday party thrown for her, she reveals to a co-worker who is also an adoptee that her mother has finally responded to several follow-up telegrams to say she is not interested in meeting her. It is revealed that Freddie's father still emails her, but she largely ignores him. Freddie tells her co-worker to contact Hammond, but her co-worker says she is following advice to learn about the Korean culture and language beforehand.
Five years later, Freddie speaks broken Korean and works with André selling missiles. On a business trip to South Korea, she goes with her French boyfriend, Maxime, to meet with her father. Her father plays her a piano tune that he wrote and performed, and Freddie is surprised at how it moves her. She becomes annoyed at Maxime when he says to her father that it is Freddie's destiny to help defend South Korea from North Korea. After dinner, she breaks up with him, heads to the entertainment district, and wakes up the next morning alone in an alley.
Freddie learns that her biological mother has responded positively to another telegram from Hammond, sent by a sympathetic employee in violation of policy. Freddie and her mother meet at a Hammond facility and Freddie weeps as her mother embraces her. Her mother gives Freddie her email address so they can stay in contact.
A year later, on her birthday, Freddie arrives at a hotel seeking a room. She writes an email to her mother apologizing for not contacting her earlier, and says that she thinks she is happy. The email fails to deliver as her mother's email address is no longer valid. Freddie goes to the hotel lobby and notices a piano with sheet music. She sits down and attempts to sight read the music, hesitantly at first, but soon producing a beautiful melody.
Cast
edit- Ji-Min Park as Frédérique "Freddie" Benoît, a French adoptee of South Korean descent searching for her biological family
- Oh Kwang-rok as Freddie's biological father
- Guka Han as Tena, a hotel worker who helps Freddie on her journey
- Kim Sun-young as Freddie's biological aunt
- Yoann Zimmer as Maxime
- Louis-Do de Lencquesaing as André
- Hur Ouk-Sook as Freddie's biological grandmother
- Émeline Briffaud as Lucie
- Régine Vial Goldberg as Freddie's adoptive mother
- Cho-woo Choi as Freddie's biological mother
Production
editDirector Davy Chou got the idea for the film from a similar experience with his friend, also a Korean French woman, Laure Badufle, in her 20s adopted from South Korean biological parents, who traveled with him to South Korea during the filming of his 2011 documentary Golden Slumbers to meet her biological father and grandmother for the first time.[6] Seeing how emotional their meeting was, he decided to make a film along similar lines. Not knowledgeable in Korean culture or the experience of adoption at first, he researched these elements by talking to his friend and other adoptees as well as reading books, identifying some similarities with his own life as the son of immigrants from Cambodia who had left the country before the Khmer Rouge took over. Chou met Ji-Min Park through a "personal introduction" and decided to cast her as Freddie, her first film role, as he saw her as someone who "shared the essence of Freddie's free-spiritedness". He further developed her characterization through conversations with Park, which "challenged some of his notions as a male director and helped him understand how a young French woman might respond to aspects of Korea's highly patriarchal society."[7]
The film is an international co-production between France, Germany, Belgium, Qatar and Cambodia.[8][9] Filming took place over six weeks in late 2021 in South Korea and Romania.[10]
Release
editThe film had its world premiere in the Un Certain Regard section of the Cannes Film Festival on 22 May 2022 under the English title All the People I'll Never Be.[11] Shortly before its Cannes premiere, Mubi and Sony Pictures Classics acquired the distribution rights to the film in different regions, with Sony Pictures Classics changing the film's English title to Return to Seoul.[12][13] Return to Seoul was released theatrically in Cambodia on 18 November 2022 by Westec Media Limited,[14][15] in France on 25 January 2023 by Les Films du Losange,[16] in Germany on 26 January 2023 by Rapid Eye Movies,[17] and in Belgium on 8 February 2023 by Imagine Film Distribution.[9] In the United States, it was released for a one-week awards-qualifying run beginning 2 December 2022 in New York City and Los Angeles, followed by a limited theatrical release on 17 February 2023.[18]
Reception
editCritical response
editOn the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 97% of 122 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.1/10. The website's consensus reads: "Sensitively attuned to its protagonist's quest, Return to Seoul uses one woman's story to explore universal truths about the human condition."[19] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 87 out of 100, based on 37 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[20]
Accolades
edit| Award | Date of ceremony | Category | Recipient(s) | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Asia Pacific Screen Awards | 11 November 2022 | Best Film | Return to Seoul | Nominated | [21] |
| Best Director | Davy Chou | Won | [22] | ||
| Best New Performance | Ji-Min Park | Won | |||
| Asian Film Awards | 12 March 2023 | Best Director | Davy Chou | Nominated | [23] |
| Best Supporting Actor | Oh Kwang-rok | Nominated | |||
| Best Newcomer | Ji-Min Park | Nominated | |||
| Best Editing | Dounia Sichov | Nominated | |||
| Best Music | Jérémie Arcache and Christophe Musset | Nominated | |||
| Best Sound | Vincent Villa | Nominated | |||
| Boston Society of Film Critics | 11 December 2022 | Best Film | Return to Seoul | Won | [24] |
| Cannes Film Festival | 27 May 2022 | Un Certain Regard | Davy Chou | Nominated | [25] |
| Lumières Award | 22 January 2024 | Best Female Revelation | Ji-Min Park | Nominated | [26] |
| Magritte Award | 9 March 2024 | Best Foreign Film | Return to Seoul | Nominated | [27] |
| Most Promising Actor | Yoann Zimmer | Nominated | |||
| Sydney Film Festival | 19 June 2022 | Best Film | Return to Seoul | Nominated | [28] |
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Return to Seoul (15)". British Board of Film Classification. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
- ^ "Return to Seoul (2022)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 25 September 2024.
- ^ Ide, Wendy (22 May 2022). "'Return To Seoul': Cannes Review". Screen Daily. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
- ^ Kereya, Keo (19 October 2022). "'Return to Seoul' chosen as Cambodian entry for Oscar". The Phnom Penh Post.
- ^ Giardina, Carolyn (21 December 2022). "Shortlists for 95th Academy Awards Unveiled". The Hollywood Reporter.
- ^ Jung, Jia H. (2 May 2023). "Metamorphosis of Korean French adoptee Laure Badufle, co-writer and inspiration for 'Return to Seoul'". The Korea Times.
- ^ Brzeski, Patrick (18 May 2022). "Cannes Hidden Gem: A Visceral Search for Identity in 'Return to Seoul'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
- ^ "Return to Seoul (Retour à Séoul)". Cineuropa. Retrieved 20 May 2023.
- ^ a b "Return to Seoul de Davy Chou (2022)". Unifrance. Retrieved 20 May 2023.
- ^ Lemercier, Fabien (20 December 2021). "EXCLUSIVE: Davy Chou's Return to Seoul is now in post-production". Cineuropa. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
- ^ "The films of the Official Selection 2022". Cannes Film Festival. 20 May 2022 [26 April 2022]. Archived from the original on 21 May 2022.
- ^ Barraclough, Leo; Keslassy, Elsa (21 May 2022). "MUBI Acquires 'Return to Seoul' Ahead of World Premiere at Cannes (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
- ^ Ravindran, Manori (16 May 2022). "Sony Pictures Classics Snaps Up Cannes Title 'All The People I'll Never Be,' Renames Film as 'Return to Seoul'". Variety. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
- ^ Kereya, Keo (19 November 2022). "'Return to Seoul' opens in Cambodian cinemas". The Phnom Penh Post. Retrieved 20 May 2023.
- ^ "Movies & Dramas – 2022". Westec Media Limited. Retrieved 20 May 2023.
- ^ "Retour à Séoul" (in French). Les Films du Losange. Retrieved 20 May 2023.
- ^ "Return to Seoul" (in German). Rapid Eye Movies. Retrieved 20 May 2023.
- ^ Billington, Alex (30 November 2022). "Park Ji-Min is Outstanding in Adoption Drama 'Return to Seoul' Trailer". FirstShowing.net. Retrieved 20 May 2023.
- ^ "Return to Seoul". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved 23 July 2023.
- ^ "Return to Seoul". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved 20 May 2023.
- ^ Frater, Patrick (12 October 2022). "Kamila Andini's 'Before Now and Then' Heads APSA Award Nominations, New Zealand's 'Muru' Collects Diversity Prize". Variety. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
- ^ Calnan, Ellie (11 November 2022). "'Before, Now And Then' wins top prize at Asia Pacific Screen Awards". Screen International. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
- ^ Rosser, Michael (6 January 2023). "'Decision To Leave' leads Asian Film Awards nominations". Screen International. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
- ^ King, Loren (12 December 2022). "Boston Society of Film Critics announces 2022 winners — and one surprising tie". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
- ^ Lattanzio, Ryan (21 April 2022). "Cannes 2022 Adds Competition Titles, Special Screenings: See the Full Lineup". IndieWire. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
- ^ Lemercier, Fabien (14 December 2023). "Anatomie d'une chute domine les nominations pour les Lumières". Cineuropa (in French). Retrieved 14 December 2023.
- ^ "Nominations aux Magritte : un record pour le long-métrage 'Augure' de Baloji" (in French). RTBF. 9 February 2024. Retrieved 23 February 2024.
- ^ Jefferson, Dee (19 June 2022). "Belgian film Close, about teen male friendship, wins Sydney Film Festival's top prize". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
