White Night (2009) User Reviews

It could have been so good...

[haorant-1-28468 · 6/10 · 14 March 2011]

There are certain directors who can make a simple love story between a girl and a boy so fascinating, so romantic, so heart touching that you feel that this can not be just a film. Yet at the same time there are also directors who manage to screw up a script/story which is already so good and so exciting. The director of the film White Night is a mixture of those two personalities.

The great part of this film is the love story between the two main actor/actress. I was really sucked into their relationship and it was quite a few times which I was forced to remind myself that this is only a film, its not real. The relationship between them is very ordinary for a film, you can see many examples from other romantic films but this director really managed to make it very thrilling and moving.

However the same can not be said about the film in general. The writer of this film is a genius, I could see how great this story would have been had it been a stand alone book, Im sure it would have been a bestseller. For some odd reason the director of this film screwed it up. First is the pacing, at the beginning everything was going so fast. Random people turned up and disappeared, names got cast around and it was hard to hang on to to the plot and know who was who. I am not a native Korean so to remember the names of people have always proved a huge challenge in Korean films, however this one is even more difficult since for the first hour or so everything was so fast, and the many flashbacks made everything ... confusing. The last part of the film was very slow, nothing much happened and when I finally knew the names and the plot I really wanted action, something unexpected to happen but I never got any. The ending was very sad and boring. The woman who have been so warm for the whole movie suddenly turned cold, very cold, with no obvious reason.

I would advice the director of this film to make a pure romantic film next time, not some mystery thriller. Winter Night was a mediocre film which should be watched by people who seek a great love story and not a mystery/thriller film. The person who is the murder is obvious already in the first few minutes....

A Very Bad Ending

[rpico5 · 5/10 · 9 November 2020]

The only thing that I hate about this movie is the climax (and very important part). After all the waiting of how mystery revealed, the ending ruined it all. Plot is dragging and too long. Other than is just ok, not son ye jin n go soo best performance compare to han suk kyu

Okayish thriller, kind of confusing

[mister_bateman · 6/10 · 17 March 2020]

There are two timelines and a lot of different characters in this movie, which makes it a bit confusing. It also drags on for too long with unecessarily added complexity, considering the basic story is fairly simple. It's not really bad, but not very good either.

Decent Story With Some Issues

[Foutainoflife · 7/10 · 6 January 2020]

Let's just get it out of the way, I like the story. I really did. I didn't like how they pieced it all together.

It might have helped to have had a bit more separation between the flashbacks and the current events. At the beginning of the film it was so tightly intertwined that it was hard to get a grasp of what was taking place.

It is filmed great. There are some great moments of cinematography, in my opinion and while the actors seemed a bit cold and rigid, I think it worked well. Portraying them in such a manner really helped in driving home the desire to disassociate from what was happening in both their past and present events.

It seemed to be a bit long and it dragged in a few places. The climax was an initial let down but the more I thought about it the more it grew on me. However, I still would've appreciated seeing a more just end but c'est la vie, right?

Not a bad watch. Decent story. Could've been laid out better. Ending could've been better. A bit long and convoluted but I still liked it. It won't be for everyone though.

Disappointments in the Dark

[pulpficat · 7/10 · 1 March 2024]

White Night is a film that promises thrills but falls short of expectations. Its detective elements are passable, yet disappointingly predictable. It's almost as if the director's intention was to guide viewers through the deductions, leaving little room for surprise. The most challenging aspect lies in deciphering the motives, shrouded in secrecy until nearly the film's end.

The film's focus leans heavily on psychology. The central idea revolves around a mentally unstable girl and her similarly disturbed boyfriend. However, the psychological exploration lacks depth, mired in a tangled web of unnecessary subplots and diversions. It seems the director aimed to highlight the villainess, but instead, the narrative becomes needlessly convoluted and labyrinthine. This film could easily trim half of its content without losing substance.

Except for the initial setup, the psychological motivation of the culprit remains disappointingly shallow. The overarching explanation seems to be "they're crazy". Overall, the film lacks the haunting, thought-provoking quality one might expect from a psychological thriller. It fails to leave a lasting impression or evoke profound contemplation.

Slow paced investigative drama

[m-ramanan · 7/10 · 15 September 2022]

RATED 7/10 Language: Korean Source: Nil

Slow burning investigative drama. The investigation and revelation of crime layer by layer is done very effectively. The twist, motive of murder and the characters are developed very well.

The problem of the movie is length and dragged climax. Felt it is dead slow in the middle. The investigation angle and story is good but the way it is dragged is bit unacceptable.

Be patient and adjust to the pace, this will be a good watch. The thriller and mystery part is handled very well. Worth the watch.

--just to fill 600 characters repeated below Be patient and adjust to the pace, this will be a good watch. The thriller and mystery part is handled very well. Worth the watch.

Unexpected plot twists make this extraordinary movie

[Misss25 · 8/10 · 27 April 2021]

This movie completely blew me of. It is almost close to '' the old boy''. The story is great at the same time very sad. The movie commence with a simple murder case, so I thought it is all about solving a murder case. But OH MY GOD! It was just a trailer, the whole movie was waiting ahead. Started unfolding mysteries about past. Though I loved this movie twists but I am bit disappointed for its ending.

Another filmmaker needed here.

[andy_n_johansen · 4/10 · 28 April 2010]

This big budget suspense movie started out with a good story but eventually it becomes more and more uneven.

It is nicely shot, but the script is messy and almost every scene is headed towards a climax and it just kills the mood and the interest in the story.

I personally felt like that the film crew focused on shooting all the scenes but did not succeed in editing the story together well enough. Many scenes also feel like they did not need to be in the film and i did not really feel sympathy for any of the main characters.

With another director like Jong Boon-Ho or Park Chan-Wook i think this movie could have been very well made, instead of this more or less forgettable mess of what is basically a very interesting crime suspense story.

Be patient this involving thriller is worth it

[phd_travel · 9/10 · 16 May 2020]

This is a rewarding movie with interesting characters and a good emotionally involving well written story. Don't be confused by the 2 time zones present and the murder 14 years ago. Read a bit of the synopsis to keep that clear. The story isn't hard to understand. As more is revealed the central characters are sympathetic. I was really rooting for them. Son Ye Jin and Go Soo are well matched pair even though they don't have many scenes together, they make a convincing couple. She looks beautiful here and acts well to get sympathy for such a complex character.

Highly recommended.

boring, confusing, doesnt make sense.

[jindann · 2/10 · 6 May 2021]

Boring, confusing, doesnt make sense. The choreograph of events is such a mess, so are the development of characters which is disastrous and confusing. It could have been better if it clearly expresses or hint off the incidents and relations of characters, while the movie tried to create an atmosphere of suspense but bitterly fails, with its slow pace and lack of intensity it simply loses the interests of the audience.

A fitting ending for a great story

[martidis · 10/10 · 17 July 2022]

One of the best movies I have seen in my life. Watch how the characters evolve. As they grow that boy and that girl change. Along with that, their priorities change too. You need to watch it carefully. Some things are not so easy to understand.

The ending was magnificent. I was shocked that some people didn't like it. A great way to end the story and to emphasize how the 3 main characters (boy, girl, detective) evolved.

lumpy angst

[j_eyon · 2/10 · 4 August 2018]

An angst-driven horde of characters blended into a thin batter of a plot - resulting in a confusing mix of flashbacks and contemporary - there's an embedded challenge - just try and keep the timeline straight - if that's your type of story - then you need help

the actors are the best reason for watching this film - with middle-aged Han Suk Kyu providing his usual potency - lovely Son Ye Jin providing loveliness - and Lee Min Jung making a strong presence as the rich man's female assistant - Go Soo as the tortured young man - and a hodge-podge of very capable supporting actors

Why did I watch

[sreeragmeppadath · 1/10 · 2 April 2019]

What's this movie about?It's so boring and it does not have anything interesting.Im going to kill the guy who suggested me this trash