LAFF: 10 Minutes

Lee Yong-Seung's directorial debut, 10 Minutes, is a pointed look at what decisions are faced by young adults as they finish college and enter the workforce. While at its surface noticeably Korean, 10 Minutes explores young adulthood well enough for the film to be embraced by western audiences. While Americans can't relate to the type of family hierarchy present in most Asian families, the politics of office life are fairly universal. But where the strongest connection to the film comes from is understanding that moment of fear, loneliness, and confusion that happens when finishing college. 

Hochan (Baek Jong-Hwan) is prepping for his final exams, hoping to become a successful film and television producer. Problematic grades and a struggling home financial situation prompt him to get a paid internship at a government agency that produces content packages for various media outlets. He settles in nicely and when his supervisors realize how good he is, they give him more responsibility and treat him as a full time employee. When a promotion presents itself Hochan must decide if he should forget his life dream and move up the corporate ladder. His family, pressured for money, encourages him to stay - it's steady, comfortable, and the job search would be over!  Hochan goes for the promotion and is unfairly passed over. 

That moment when you have to decide to stay in comfort or breakout and struggle to obtain your goals is all too familiar to all of us.   With so many challenges in life, sometimes 'solving' the hardest (success, wealth) right off creates a sense of relief and calm. 10 Minutes look at this moment in life is honest and, by the end, inspiring. Jong-Hwan's portrayal of a young man in limbo is refreshing.  Films often don't portray this specific part of life.  Graduating college and having all those.... choices to make (and the choices others want you to make) is daunting and this film wonderfully captures that brief, yet important, moment in life.