Film critics must be undergoing contortions in order not to use the term “Hitchcockian” in describing “Decision to Leave,” the latest effort from critically acclaimed Korean filmmaker Park-Chan Wook. Given Sir Alfred’s continuing influence over popular culture, it’s difficult to avoid — particularly when “Vertigo” is mentioned as inspiration in the press materials accompanying Mr. Wook’s picture.A less high-flown comparison would be “Taste of Fear,” a 1961 thriller starring Susan Strasberg made by the penny-pinching auteurs at Hammer Films. A psychological thriller that blatantly borrows from Henri Georges-Clouzot’s “Diabolique,” “Taste of Fear” plays off a set of jerry-rigged plot points, including false expectations, sundry double-crossings, and ill-judged amorous pursuits. Mr. Wook’s movie isn’t quite as pulpy, but it does prove itself similarly adroit at gamboling over well-trod ground.“Decision to Leave” is centered on Hae-Joon (Park Hae-il), a veteran cop who suffers from insomnia and whose marriage is hobbled by geographical distance: He keeps an apartment in the city while his wife lives in environs considerably more bucolic. While working on a gangland murder investigation, Hae-Joon is side-tracked by the death of a wealthy businessman who is found lying at the base of a spectacularly theatrical mountain peak.The case seems cut-and-dried: The guy was an avid mountain-climber and, well, accidents happen. A pro forma investigation is put into motion and, in quick order, proves complicated. Hae-Joon meets with the widow and her response to the news of the death arouses his suspicion. Confronted with photos of her husband’s battered body, Seo-Rae (Tang Wei) can barely be bothered to raise an eyebrow.Seo-Rae is, as it turns out, an emigre from China — her frustrations in speaking Korean are a recurring motif — and works as an aide to the elderly. Considerably younger than her late husband, Seo-Rae is also, as should already be obvious, beautiful. Hae-Joon goes on what seems like a perpetual stake-out of Seo-Rae’s home and workplace. If you can’t sleep, you might as well tail a potential suspect.The death of Seo-Rae’s husband is ruled a suicide, but that doesn’t stop our hero from seeking out her company. Hae-Joon cooks delicious Chinese food of dubious authenticity for her. In recompense, Seo-Rae lulls him to sleep with a whispered poem about the sea. The tone of these meetings is romantic, not sexual. The only time we encounter sex during “Decision to Leave” is in a sadly comedic scene in which Hae-Joon makes love to his wife, Jung-an (Lee Jung-hyun). Hae-Joon, you see, can’t stop thinking about that gangland murder. A policeman’s wife, it appears, gets used to this kind of thing.Whereupon Mr. Wook, who co-wrote the screenplay with Chung Seo-Kyung, takes Sir Walter Scott’s tangled web and tangles it, but good. So much so that we can’t help but become confused, particularly when Ho-Shin (Park Yong-Woo) saunters into the proceedings during what initially feels like the film’s post-script. Viewers will be forgiven for not quite intuiting the exact nature of Seo-rae’s relationship with Ho-Shin. Mr Wook sometimes plays fast-and-loose with the story’s timeline when he should be laying out just the facts, ma’am.“Decision to Leave” is an elegant film, handsomely mounted and often funny — though not quite as funny as it should be. Mr. Wook has a fondness for melodrama and ends the picture with an extravagant flourish that would have made Douglas Sirk applaud or, perhaps, blush. Next time around, maybe Mr. Wook will return to pushing the cinematic buttons that made “The Handmaiden” such a puzzling confection. For now, he’s given us something leaner to chew on.
