[Dispatch | Busan=Reporter Jeong Tae-yun] Watching a film means leaving with one story.

Eight films encountered at the 31st Busan International Film Festival each gave a different story. The best work was the Iranian film "Bread and Books."

The animation "A Long Night" showed the power of familiar emotion and moved Busan to tears. On the other hand, some films left regret despite interesting attempts.

Official invitations from 59 countries and 247 films each unfolded different worlds. From Asian cinema to animation and OTT series.

We looked back at eight worlds met in Busan.

1. "Day and Night to Each Other" | The Fun of Eavesdropping, the Tedium of Direct Telling

Eavesdropping is fun. But when told directly, it was tedious. The opening film "Day and Night to Each Other" (Director Kim Jong-gwan) is filled only with the conversation of four couples seated across from each other at a cafe.

There is no incident or twist. Instead, it captures even the faint sound of a coffee cup placed on the table. Director Kim Jong-gwan's signature mise-en-scène remains intact.

The film must captivate the audience solely through the dialogue of two actors. However, certain episodes leave the question, "Why am I listening to this story?"

That was the case with the final episode dealing with the breakup of a couple in their twenties. It would have been interesting if overheard from the next table, but when told outright, interest does not arise.

What shone was Shim Eun-kyung. Playing a web novel writer, she layered an oafish charm onto otaku-like qualities. The precarious conversation with Lee Hee-joon makes one lean in to listen. What if there were more such moments?

2. "Lookback" | Beauty Covered Sorrow

It is beautiful. But it hurts less. Director Hirokazu Koreeda adapted Tatsuji Fujimoto's manga into live-action. Four seasons in Akita Prefecture, the scratching of pencil on paper, two girls drawing with their backs bent for a long time.

The screen is flawless. But beauty does not guarantee emotional depth. For instance, in the animation, Fujino's imagination of saving Kyomoto was absurd and sadder for it.

The audience wept watching Fujino's back as she picked up the pen again before irreversible loss. The live-action version covers even that sorrow with beautiful imagery.

The weight of loss lightens, and pretty friendship lingers long. It would have been touching enough without knowing the original. But for audiences who remember the animation, something more was needed.

3. "Our Grandmother Is a Rubik's Cube Master" | Moves Only on Yang Tze-ching's Strength

It is the story of a grandmother who challenges a Rubik's cube competition at a late age. The message is familiar. There is no age too late to challenge, and family sustains life.

What made the seemingly static cube dynamic is Yang Tze-ching. The speed at the fingertips shows the time the actor poured in. That effort overlaps with the protagonist's face and adds emotion.

It is pleasant, light, and moving too. Just up to there. The actor's strength is clear, but it is hard to find the film's own charm that transcends the actor. Only Yang Tze-ching pulls, and only Yang Tze-ching pushes it forward.

4. "Shaving" | Only the Audacity Remains

It is bold. But I do not know where it is going. The only genre film among this year's competition entries. The protagonist is Suyeon (played by Noh Jeong-ui), who carries the wound of dating violence.

After her kind boyfriend Jinji (played by Kasatsu Shō) has his cheek cut by the razor blade of his ex-lover, he begins to reveal past violence to her.

The direction going back and forth between reality and fantasy is intense. Suyeon struggles on her own to break her trauma without help from anyone.

But as it progresses to the second half, it feels like it is running out of direction. It is ambiguous whether that audacity lifts the character's emotion or simply pushes it.

5. "Satoko Always" | 15-Year-Old Satoko Took It All

Age 15, 35, 55. Three women with the same name each want to write something. The concerns and desires of different generations lead to writing.

What overwhelms is Himeno Kansu, who plays 15-year-old Satoko. It is hard to believe she has no acting experience as she holds the frame firmly.

The scene of writing and erasing before writing assignments like "Writing a Love Letter to Your Favorite Food" and "Writing a Suicide Note," muttering the story, is not acting but feels real.

That is why it is regrettable. 15-year-old Satoko is so intense that the two Satolkos that follow are hardly visible. 15-year-old Satoko alone would have been enough.

6. "Bread and Books" | Is It Goodwill or Self-Rationalization?

It was the question that lingered longest in Busan this year. Solan (played by Mohammad Rahim), the only teacher in a barren village. When the philanthropist who provided school meals passes away, the children too leave the school.

When the school closes, he will also lose his job. Solan withdraws the deposit on the house where he lived with his mother and enters the school. At night, he smuggles oil to buy ingredients to feed the children.

At first, you find yourself cheering him on. But at some point, you begin to question. Is what he is protecting the children, or his own life? You are made to see the reality that public responsibility is left to one person's goodwill.

The film does not easily make Solan a hero. In the end, what touches the heart is the mother. When the camera closely captures the mother's hands as she cooks the children's rice, love remains above all questions.

Mohammad Rahim delicately portrays that wavering. After the film ends, the happy smile Solan wore as he washed his mother's feet lingers long.

7. "A Long Night" | Knowing, Yet Crying

The only animation in the competition section. A white rhino named Noden and a penguin "I" endure wounds, comfort each other, become family. And each moves forward on their own path.

It moves adults more than children. Suzy's calm narration neither explains nor teaches. Watching the two beings, life flows like a panorama.

It is a familiar story. Yet it never fails to move. That is welcome. Above all, it feels good to watch such a film in a theater where you can share emotions with others.

Telling a universal story with universal emotion. "A Long Night" shows how difficult that simple task is, and how beautiful.

8. "The Remarried Empress" | Persuading Unfamiliarity

It was the hottest potato. Korean actors completed a Western-style romance fantasy in live-action. It was as unfamiliar as the names Navier and Sovieshu.

Watching "The Remarried Empress" directly eased much of that concern. Costume, set, and music persuade unfamiliarity through a world carefully built. The experience itself of stepping outside familiar grammar is new.

The biggest smile spread across the audience when the new "Queen" appeared. One remaining task remains. How will the vast original work be contained within 10 episodes?

Meanwhile, the closing ceremony of the Busan International Film Festival will take place on the 15th. The Busan Award Grand Prize film, which qualifies for submission to the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film, will be announced at the closing ceremony.