Okay, gang, it's time for a new "Week:" Update Week 2025! For starters, as you can see, we've got 2022's
Return To Seoul, where the import blu is superior to the domestic release. Every Day hereafter will go another step even further: each release is DVD-only here in the states, and only available on blu via import. Of course, as always, this is written from my local US-centric point of view in regards to what constitutes an "import." Depending on where you live, dear reader, you may instead be learning some ways you're better off than your American compatriots. Either way, you're going to be looking at some lesser known, yet higher quality, releases of some great films, so let's get started.
Return To Seoul is the second, but really the international break-out, feature by Korean writer/ director
Davy Chou.
Park Ji-min is a French citizen whose holiday gets diverted to her birth country of Korea, where she gets unexpectedly gets put on the path to finding the parents who put her up for adoption/ emigration as a baby. What's great about this film, besides its luscious photography and incredible lead performance, is how militantly unsentimental it is. This is the polar opposite of some sappy, Hallmark family drama, and the plot goes in some directions I can guarantee you won't predict unless you've had it spoiled for you. Is it dark? Yeah, but more to the point, it just stubbornly refuses to replace honesty with your typical Hollywood romanticism. This is the rare movie with an ending that hits because it cut no emotional corners along the way.
So Sony Pictures Classics released this on DVD and blu in 2023. I've just
got the DVD for us today, because it was barebones and so undesirable. I
mean, I would've gotten the BD if that was all there was, but in the
UK, Mubi released it just a couple months later as a nice, little special edition. There's also a French 2-disc set, which looks enticing as it also includes Chou's debut, 2016's
Diamond Island, but neither blu is English-friendly at all, so that's off the table. But Mubi's in the UK, so it's perfectly English, right down to the packaging (I don't know why, but I see some people online get really hung up on that).
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2023 US Sony DVD top; 2023 UK Mubi BD bottom.
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This is a new release, so it was safe to expect the same DCP to be used as a master on every release of this, as we can see is the case between Sony and Mubi. It was also shot digitally, so there's no questions of film scanning or grain hunting. But you can definitely see the quality jump between SD and HD. First of all, Sony is slightly horizontally pinched to 1.83:1, while Mubi has the exactly correct 1.85:1 aspect ratio. But more critically is just the jump in resolution. Chou's imagery is full of fine detail, which gets soft and distilled on the DVD. Furthermore, the many underlit club and night scenes get hazy, where it's harder to discern facial expressions on the Sony. So it's really worth spending that little bit extra for a blu.
Of course, it helps that both blus have the original 5.1 audio in DTS-HD. The DVD is obviously lossy. Mubi also throws in a 2.0 mix, also in DTS-HD. Both discs include optional English subtitles, parsed out into three separate versions on the Mubi: full, HoH and only for the non-English dialogue. Sony drops the third, but throws in French and Spanish subtitles for international viewers. So all in all, I'd say that makes the Mubi slightly preferable for English-language viewers.
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Cambodia 2099
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But of course where it really shines is in the extras. All Sony has
is the trailer, and a collection of bonus trailers. Though, to be
fair, the trailer is curiously absent from the UK release. But that's hardly competitive to what Mubi's got, starting with an on-camera interview with Chou. He speaks in English, though there are still optional English subtitles as well. Then there's his 2014 short film,
Cambodia 2099. Presented in 1.86:1 HD with removable subs, it's not as powerful a work as
Return, but it's still rather good. Finally, there's a behind-the-scenes look at the rehearsal for Ji-min's famous dance scene. Interestingly, here her friends are also dancing, which they do not do in the final film. Mubi also springs for the fancier packaging, including six art cards and a slipcover.
So sure, if you just want to watch the film, the US release will do
just as well. But fans who care will definitely want to spring for the
Mubi. And if you're thinking of getting any of these international releases this Import Week, I'll just throw in a gentle reminder that you might want to do so before our president locks us ever deeper into our tariffed off fortress nation.
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