In ADDRESS UNKNOWN director Kim Kiduk shows a diminished eye for the visual soundbite that turned heads and sometimes stomachs in THE ISLE. There the graphic fishhook insertions could be argued as too literal signifiers of love pulling together and tearing insides apart. Unfortunately, nothing in ADDRESS UNKNOWN is as visually gripping despite the addition of dog butchery to the bodily mutilations. Here, when what little shock wears away what is revealed is a melodrama with overt political ambition that doesn’t sustain between soundbites. Instead of focus and characters Kiduk relies on repetition to provide the illusion of import. Adult lives are all on hold from the Korean War while the nearby strawman U.S. military base draws their children to violent ends like some dark star. Like a Narcissus in love with his shocking images, Kiduk has yet to realize that the dirty pond isn’t so deep.

If you've seen the trailer you've seen what little surprise the first half of BARAN builds up to. Majidi's usual saccharine is gone but so has his centre. A misguided lazy parade of sufferings (this time of Afghan refugees scraping by in Iran, mostly on an Iranian who falls for one of the workers) hoping for a shred of significance.

Director Im Kwon-taek seems inspired by the pansori to always reach for some kind of grace, succeeding quite a few times and in some of those instances recalling Rococo in lightness. The passion of this tale - boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy must pass state exam to get girl back (seriously) - lies in the telling, evident when the pansori, rendered gospel music-like, elicits an enthusiastic response from the audience.