Split (2016)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2016
	Director: Choi Koo-hee
	Actors: Yoo Ji-tae, Lee Jung-hyun, David Lee
	Country: ROK
	Genre: Thriller, Drama
	Conditions of visioning: 24.04.2017, Teatro nuovo, FEFF2017, Korean with English subtitle
Synopsis: Chul-jong (Yoo) is a legendary bowler in Korea until a car accident ended his career. Since then he is just a junk. Hee-jin (Lee) owns a classical bowling alley but is covered by debts. They decide to play for money and this becomes promising only Chul-jong convinces a young autist named Young Hoon (David Lee) to play with him.
Review: At the beginning, I thought I would not be captivated by the bowling, but Split deals more with the relation of the autist kid with the ex-professional bowler. About respect to the autist, about self-confidence, about trust, about understanding the other in order to make the best out of the team. And this was for me really interesting and well transmitted by the director. The conflict on paying back the debt seems to me only secondary in the movie. A bit as Dustin Hoffman is coached by Tom Cruise in Rainman, here Yoo is coaching David Lee. And alike Chul-jong tries at the beginning just to abuse of his competences and discovers in Young Hoon a person only when he notices that he has been a fan of him. It does not speak for Chul-jong but at least it plays the role of the main turn in the movie. The mentor role is Young Hoon while the rookie/hero is Chul-jong who learns from Young Hoon. Then the rhythm of the movie is kept quite well via the periodic encounter with the bad guys, alternating with bursts of team building. In these bursts, the communication flow is quite interesting. Hee-jin encourages Chul-jong to more tolerance toward Young Hoon. Chul-jong connects actions of Young Hoon with his own experience and shares these findings with Hee-jin. And only this way, as a team, they manage to get the best of Young Hoon and of themselves. Really a good lesson of communication.  The acting is fair. And is excellent for the role played by David Lee.
Rating: 7 /10