Lee Chang-dong’s slow-burn enigma: Burning

Steven Yeun, Jeon Jong-seo, and Yoo Ah-in star in Burning (left to right).

The greenhouse, elusive cat, tangerine peeling, and a (perhaps imaginary) well big enough for a body to fit into — leaves you pondering the meaning of the ending in the shower, long after watching. This is a brilliant example of a literary film. Adapted from Haruki Marukami’s short story “Barn Burning”(1983), which also nods to Faulkner’s short of the same title written in 1939, this cinematic representation…