Director Um Mun-suk works with his best friend, the popular singer Hwang Chi-yeul, in a film that moves into family drama/road movie paths, but also includes a ‘sudden stranger appearance' element, probably in order to to fit the latter in the story.
Accompany is screening at Osaka Asian Film Festival
The film begins in a church, where a woman who appears to be a teacher, is called in the principal's office by a young student. The teacher of interest is Su-yeon, a counselor at an orphanage and she has four days to settle family affairs in the distant city of Asan before she is back on the job. As she is walking on the street, on her way to take the bus, she seems to be followed by a man, whose attitude resembles stalking significantly, as he also enters the same bus. It turns out that he is Sang-su, a busker who eventually forces his way and his music into her life.
The 32-minute short revolves around two questions essentially: What are the family affairs that Su-yeon has to settle and that seem to burden her significantly, and why is Sang-su following her. The mystery works well for the film, retaining the interest until the revelation about the former question, which is more common than one would expect, particularly since, up to that point, the movie moved into a path that much resembled a thriller. Actually, this aspect comes back at some point, although in rather unexpected fashion.
The beginning of the movie seems like a short that was supposed to be a family drama, but the inclusion of Hwang changed it in a way that is not exactly reasonable (and actually resembles the concept of the stalker as presented in Kim Ki-duk's films). Expectedly, this approach does not work particularly well, maybe with the exception of the funeral scene, which is, though, disconnected from the rest of the narrative, even if it is quite impactful. This issue becomes painfully evident in the finale, which moves rather forcibly into melodramatic paths, and also asks too much from the male protagonist, whose charisma was actually carrying him until that point.
Check also this interview
On the other hand, Lee Seung-yun's laconic performance is quite good, with her eloquently exhibiting her inner struggle that eventually erupts in the best fashion.
Regarding context, there are comments about grief and how help can come from the most surprising places, but these are not exactly developed here, something that also faults the characterization. In general, Um Mun-suk seemed to have had a story for a feature on his mind, which he then condensed in the short format, something that did not work particularly well for the movie.
This issue and the forced inclusion of Hwang Chi-yeul results in “Accompany” definitely having more faults than merits, although the fact that the director has some good ideas, but just needs more space to expand them, is also obvious.
