Lee Chang-Dong’s Delayed Adaptation Of Haruki Murakami’s ‘Barn Burning’ Now Back On

Last fall, cinephiles were pleased to hear that “Secret Sunshine” and “Poetry” director Lee Chang-Dong was getting ready to shoot his next film. There weren’t many details available at the time, other than the picture was slated to star Kang Dong-won and Yoo Ah-in in what was described as a mystery thriller about a woman who becomes entangled with two men, one rich, and the other trying to make ends meet. Well, some new details have emerged.

It turns out that production didn’t start as planned, but the red tape that tied things up has cleared, and the director is now getting ready to roll next month. Even more, the film is an adaptation of acclaimed author Haruki Murakimi‘s short story “Barn Burning.” Here’s the synopsis from the New Yorker, where it was first published:

The narrator, a married Japanese writer, meets a woman at a friends wedding in Tokyo, and proceeds to tell the story of their bizarre relationship. Studying with a famous mime and working as a model for an ad agency, she gets anything she wants from men (clothes, food, money). She mimes peeling a tangerine, and is so good at it that it makes the writer question his sence of reality and where one’s existence fits into the scheme of things. This characteristic is prevelent in his relationship with her. She introduces him to her new boyfriend that she met in Tangers. He, a handsome, well-traveled man who drives a German sports car, says he’s in the import-export business. One day she and her boyfriend bring food and marijuana over to the writers house and proceed to get drunk and stoned. During the impromptu party, the boyfriend tells the writer that he burns down barns every couple of months. He says the barns are expendable and are just waiting to be burned. He never injures people or animals, or lets the fire get out of control. After this, the writer becomes obsessed with finding the next barn he will burn, but never finds it. About a year later the writer meets the boyfriend in a bar. Both have lost touch with the woman. When the writer tries to find the woman, he comes to a dead end. The writer continues to keep an eye out for burning barns, and keeps getting older.

There’s official word yet on the final casting, but we’re sure things will start being formally announced as cameras get set to roll. Either way, it’s been quite a while since “Poetry,” and we’re certainly intrigued to see what Lee Chang-Dong delivers next. [Modern Korean Cinema]