A Man sits idly on railway tracks at dusk. As the day turns dark, he starts walking down a secluded road, asking for a lift from any passing vehicle, with no luck. After a while, he stops a mini-truck by stepping in front of it and, uninvited, he gets into the vehicle, asking only one thing of the driver, “Will you have a drink with me?” Suspecting him to be a North Korean spy because of his accent, the driver takes the man straight to the police station, where he is entrusted to a Lieutenant till they are able to verify the Man's identity. Once again, the Man has but one thing to ask of the Lieutenant, “Have a drink with me.”
Jero Yun's film, which played in the Directors' Fortnight at Cannes, has an interesting premise and builds up an intriguing mystery, but it ends up frustrating with its ambiguity. While there is closure for the characters, the audiences are left in the dark. Is the mystery Man indeed a secret defector or even a registered one? Any potential information we do get on our characters' lives, in the form of a voiceover, ends up confusing regarding its authenticity, particularly because of its placing.
“Hitchhiker” does, however, do a pretty good job of portraying the existing mistrust and, dare I say, prejudice in South Korean minds regarding people from the North, even if they are registered defectors. The film's focus on the mostly wordless actions of the two protagonists, revolving around a drink and ramyun that the two share, does make for compelling viewing.
The cinematography by Kim Byeong-il, on the other hand, has a beautiful noir look to it, with its use of bleak colour palette and high contrasts. One particular shot that sticks to mind is a high-angle one of our two leads huddled up under an open umbrella as the rain pours down, made further bewitching with its use of slow-motion. Greater emphasis is put to using long-takes, which further heightens the sense of mystery, particularly in the above mentioned drink and ramyun scene, which makes up the better part of the film's latter half. While there are not many challenging scenes, the acting by Lee Tae-kyu and Hong Seong-il is very natural and believable.
Clocking in under 20 minutes, “Hitchhiker” slightly feels like it could have benefitted with a slightly longer runtime and a bit more exposition. As it stands, it proves to be an engaging if ultimately unfulfilling work.
