Before "The Chaser", Na Hong-jin made a small name for himself with a string of acclaimed student films. The last of these, "Sweat", is a stylized mood piece about exactly what it proclaims. An experimental film at heart, there are nevertheless identifiable characters, and a skeletal quotidian narrative develops -- everyday life recorded by high-speed cameras in extreme close-ups. It doesn't have the serial-killer thrills of "The Chaser", but you might see hints of that film's stark visuals and draining physicality. A beautiful piece of aesthetic work with sweat as a thread. But no one sweats for the same reasons. This ode to sweat, in slow-motion shots with a rhytmic musical accompaniment, presents the daily cycle of a man (and a woman), which is at a certain level also a cycle of life.
