Lee Chang-dong’s stunning relationship drama Possible Love
There are moments in cinema that don’t just tell a story; they settle deep into the soul, leaving an echo long after the credits roll. One such moment comes from Lee Chang-dong’s 2018 masterpiece, Burning.
The film is a masterclass in simmering tension and unspoken anxieties, but it is a specific scene, featuring a young girl and a simple piece of fruit, that remains etched in memory. It’s a moment where simplicity masks profound existential questioning.
In that scene, a girl mimes eating a tangerine, offering a peculiar lesson on the art of deception and perception. Her advice is deceptively simple, yet it carries the weight of a complex philosophical riddle: “Don’t try to pretend there is a tangerine, try to forget there is not.”
This seemingly innocuous instruction transforms a simple act into a zen koan. It is a subtle commentary on the gap between reality and appearance, the inherent difficulty of sensing truth in a world saturated with illusion.
The beauty of the observation lies in its paradoxical nature. It suggests that the act of perception is often less about what we see and more about what we choose to ignore. It forces the viewer to confront the nature of reality itself—a space where truth is often found not in what is presented, but in what is intentionally withheld.
It is a perfect encapsulation of the film’s atmosphere: a quiet, haunting exploration of alienation and the elusive nature of truth, wrapped up in an image that is both playful and deeply profound. The memory of that girl and her tangerine still glows, reminding us that the most impactful stories are often those that challenge our understanding of what we believe we know.
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