For over two decades, the Udine Far East Film Festival has been presenting a wide range of films from East and Southeast Asia. Often these features are making their European premieres or international festival premieres at Udine – but ever so often, the elegant Teatro Nuovo is graced with a world premiere, and audiences in this charming North Italian town are the lucky first viewers of the film in the whole world.

Such was the case with upcoming filmmaker Kim Bo-sol’s The Square, a contemplative and unembellished take on forbidden romance. Kim’s directorial debut for a feature film is a divisive endeavour that takes place in North Korea, where a reckless Swedish diplomat attempts to defy fate to stay with his love. Countering the gloom of the story is a beautiful anime style that grittily details rosy cheeks against falling snow; if you don’t like sitting through 73 minutes of unshifting sombre tones, the sheer beauty of The Square will at least offer some respite with every light of a cigarette (and indeed a lot of cigarettes are lit in this film).

Isak Borg (Lee Chan-young) is not a reliable or particularly likable protagonist, but perhaps this could be taken as a commentary on the ego-driven attitudes of some white people in foreign countries; to them, the world is their oyster, and any cultural barriers can be diluted, respectfully or otherwise. Whether you agree with the story’s intention or not, it sparks an entryway for conversations to be held about the cultural impact of Korea’s historical North and South divide, and why different opinions are still arising today.

If it was simply Kim’s goal to get people talking, he’s more than achieved this objective. And perhaps the audience agrees; at Udine’s closing night, The Square won the White Mulberry award. We’ll be anticipating this polarising film’s reactions as it travels the rest of the world.

Written by Maddie Armstrong

Image courtesy of the Far East Film Festival

_{View of the Arts is an online publication dedicated to films, music, and arts, with a strong focus on the Asian entertainment industry. With rich content already available to our readers, we aim to expand our reach and grow alongside our audience by delving deeper into emerging platforms such as K-pop and Asian music more broadly. At the same time, we remain committed to exploring the vibrant and ever-evolving global landscape of film, music, and the arts, celebrating the immense talent and creativity that define these industries worldwide.}