Park had found it difficult to secure funding for her sophomore film amidst Korean cinema 's currently declining investment environment , and though her screenplay won the Kodak Award and received ( ) worth of negative film from the Pusan Promotion Plan in 2005 , it would eventually take almost seven years to complete '' Paju '' . Park said , " I stopped ( filming ) because I could not make any more modifications to it . I wanted to talk about emotions shared by two people who are similarly alone . More than a love affair between a man and a woman , the relationship between Joong-shik and Eun-mo is more of compassion that those in agony are likely to develop for each other . " Park said Paju is the perfect backdrop for this mysterious and gripping story . " When I think of Paju , I always view it as a mysterious place because it was always foggy whenever I visited there and it also sits right next to the border area dividing the two Koreas . I wanted to portray that mysterious feeling in the film . " '' Paju '' played to highly impressed reviews in its debut in the 14th Busan International Film Festival . The PIFF jury awarded it the NETPAC Award , describing it as " a fine example of passionate , high-quality filmmaking . " '' Screen International '' said of director Park , " This should help to cement Park 's reputation as one of South Korea 's most talented arthouse directors " while '' Variety '' praised the film 's handling of elements of melodrama , action and mystery , saying they " make it function like a Bergmanesque thriller . " '' The Hollywood Reporter '' wrote that " Seo delivers one of the most believable depictions of conflicted female emotion as has ever been put on film in Korea . " ''Koreanfilm.org '' called it " without question one of the best Korean films of 2009 . "
14th Busan International Film Festival
14th Busan International Film Festival
Paju (film)