KOFFIA 2015 MOVIE REVIEW: CLEARER THAN YOU THINK





4/5

CLEARER THAN YOU think is an anthology animation film from young and talented director HAN JI-WON, who is called “animation prodigy of South Korea”.

There are four stories in total. The plots are focused on simple life of everyday Korean people. The first is about a young man looking for love and doubtful of his future, the second is about an office girl dreaming of love, the third is focused on a broken friendship of the high schoolers over one of them quitting the band, and the fourth is a fairy tale journey of a pouch, who escapes home and befriends a flightless crow.

The common theme that unites the episodes is the illusiveness of a dream and the stand one has to take against the circumstances to follow it. The ability to find their way under pressure of the society in modern day Korea is highly praised by each storyline and shown as the only way to remain true to one’s self.

CLEARER THAN YOU THINK is not for everyone: some simplistic takes on character designs and backgrounds may turn the viewers away. There are also some lengthy scenes and confusing montage, but that's just a few negatives and the common feature of many independent films.


While the animation is very simple and a low key, there’s no doubt about the talent of the animator. HAN JI-WON has a natural ability to tell simple stories in an outstanding way, combining humour, irony and sadness. She has the perfect control of character and the style, and it would be interesting to see what she could do with a much larger budget when the time comes.

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