Gyeong-gye

In this epistolary road movie, two paths diverge, and for good reason: three filmmakers with different nationalities visit shifting borders. It all begins with inner frontiers: that of the foreign resident whose stupefaction on finding his favourite dish from “back home” in the local supermarket is actually very clement. This is matched by the awe of the Indonesian visitor (Rudi Haryanto), who sees Tokyo as “a giant cinema”. However, the cuts in Fluid Boundaries advance towards less enraptured sentiments: the gulf between the foreign workers’ dreams and their life in Singapore, the destruction of a Cape Town neighbourhood that is experienced as an uprooting by an immigrant family… Before long, “otherness” on a territory materialises as a ruin where narrative alone can bring History back to life, as on the Indonesian island that took in 250,000 Vietnamese 40 years before. The cuts interiorise borders, making them more doleful. Mun Jeonghyn’s uncle, a Japanese resident, separated from his North and South Korean family for 65 years, epitomises all by himself the capriciousness of borders. Doubtless, the boat of Vladimir Todorovic’s friend, built out of road signs, could help to give bearings in a world shaped with no concern for human ties… But the crisis has got the better of this composite vessel. Sailing at will, finding one’s bearings: what should be humanly simple has never been so difficult since technology made everything possible. (Charlotte Garson)