Upon the release of the final season ofThe Walking Dead, many fans reflected on the countless stars who left the show throughout its run, and went on to do even bigger and better things; of all the actors who kickstarted their career on the post-apocalyptic zombie show,Steven Yeunhas had the most significant level of success. Yeun is one of the most inherently likable actors of his generation. Whether he’s playing a teenage superhero inInvincible, a traumatized former child star inNope, a charming activist inSorry to Bother You, or a caring father inMinari, Yeun can convey casual decency and earnestness like few others. While some of his fans may have been surprised to see that he’s playing a more aggressive role in theNetflix dark comedyBeef, Yeun has never been more diabolical than he was in the2018 romantic thrillerBurning.
What Is ‘Burning’ About?
Directed by the greatLee Chang-dong,Burningexamines the social and economic tensions within modern South Korea through the prism of a twisted love triangle. The protagonist Lee Jong-su (Yoo Ah-in) is dealing with every millenial’s worst nightmare, as he must protect his father from deceptive lawyers to save their family business while performing delivery jobs to sustain himself. While he’s offered a glimpse of hope when he falls in love with his old classmate Shin Hae-mi (Jeon Jong-seo), that optimism evaporates when Hae-mi returns from a trip to Africa with her no acquaintance Ben (Yeun). Ben is financially established, charismatic, sociable, and seems to be unshackled to any sort of responsibility; he’s essentially the polar opposite of Jong-su.
A common theme in modern South Korean thrillers,such asParasiteandThe Handmaiden, is the way that those of different financial classes are separated, whichBurninguses as the source of romantic and sexual tension. In this story of the haves and the have nots, it’s Ben who is gifted with the social advantages, the charisma, and the benefit of not having anyone to care for but himself. He’s everything that Jong-su desires, and the young delivery man’s anger begins to boil as he learns a disturbing secret about Ben’s past. Yeun is absolutely magnetic, and plays a twist on the audience as well; we should hate Ben because of what he represents, yet we can’t help but be drawn into Ben’s reality because of Yeun’s captivating work.
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In ‘Burning,’ Ben’s Arrival Makes Jong-su Doubt
When we’re first introduced to Jong-su, he’s instantly relatable. He’s caring for his father by dealing with the sort of legal minutiae that lawyers often use on elder clients; it’s the sort of shady business practices that necessitate a young person’s sharp perspective to untangle. Unfortunately, this makes it even harder for Jong-su to work on his real passion for writing and becoming an author, which has begun to feel more like a wild fantasy than anything else. However, it’s his chance encounter with Hae-mi that reshapes his world. Running into a beautiful girl from his past feels like a miracle, and Hae-mi only asks for one thing in return; she needs someone to care for her cat while she’s doing a missionary trip in Africa. It’s as if Chang-dong is setting the audience up for some sort of disappointment.
Ben’s arrival with Hae-mi instantly casts fear and doubt into Jong-su’s mind. Yeun displays a sort of causal knowledge of countless different subjects, all of which Hae-mi finds fascinating. He’s not aggressive towards Jong-su, which only feeds into the tension; Jong-su has been tirelessly caring for Hae-mi’s cat in order to simply spend another moment with her, yet Ben seems to have no issues captivating her interest for an extended period of time. Jong-su isn’t necessarily toxic, but simply seeing someone as seemingly perfect as Ben both befuddles and angers him. In a way, the viewer is almost culpable because we’re instantly more interested in Ben than the film’s protagonist.
What Is the Actual Burning?
What infuriates Jong-su even more is the enigma of Ben. Jong-su sees the world in very clear-cut ways. He works, has his degree, and cleans up after Hae-mi’s cat; he thinks that should be enough to satisfy him and give him his due rewards, but he’s constantly met with setbacks that are beyond his control. However, Ben seems to not have any of these burdens; in fact, Jong-su doesn’t even know what he does for a living. This is part of the reason that Yeun is so masterful in the role. He can hint at his knowledge and shake off any probing questions about his profession without seeming suspicious, as if his mysterious activities and unclear source of money somehow make him even cooler.
Jong-su’s fascination and frustration with Ben is encapsulated during the most pivotal sequence in the film. In an attempt to bond with Hae-mi, Jong-su invites his crush to his family farm, but much to his displeasement Ben joins them for a late night of smoking cannabis. As Hae-mi dances under the influence of the drug, showing the sort of freedom that she clearly adopted from Ben, Yeun delivers a startling monologue about his secret activities. Ben admits that every two months, he burns a greenhouse as a hobby. Everything about Yeun’s delivery feels absolutely alien to Jong-su; he feels like he’s making conversation, not admitting culpability for a crime. It’s the type of sequence that would have fit perfectly within an award season clip submission, as Yeun wassadly overlooked for Best Supporting Actorby the Academy Awards.
The Mystery in ‘Burning’ Continues
The audience never loses its connection to Jong-su, because now we’re instantly as intrigued by Ben as he is. However, the simple trick that Yeun pulls is that he dominantes our attention so that Jong-su just seems pathetic, uninteresting, and boring in comparison. Jong-su can’t help but compare himself to Ben and desire everything he has; he goes to increasingly extensive lengths to learn more about the mysterious arsonist. Yet, every new detail about Ben only infuriates him even more. Ben admits that he burns greenhouses near Jong-su’s family farm, owns a Porsche, and even suggests that Hae-mi has dropped out of both of their lives because of her financial instability. Ben even has a new cat, as if he’s subconsciously torturing Jong-su with the memory of his initial commitment.
Yeun is so diabolical because we’re left wondering about all the mysteries that Ben introduced. Did he really burn the greenhouses? Is he responsible for Hae-mi’s disappearance? Where does he get his money? Was there ever a cat to begin with? It’s a strange, yet magnetic role that showed that Yeun could steal a film despite the inherent mysteriousness of his character. Beforeyou get obsessed withBeef, Burningis an essential showcase for Yeun’s talents.
