The 2009 film “Walking the White Night” is a South Korean adaptation of a popular Japanese mystery novel written by Keigo Higashino.

A pawnbroker is found murdered in a remote town. Three people are fingered as suspects, but all of them have perfect alibis. The case is eventually closed after the prime suspect, a woman living with her daughter, kills herself. While investigating the homicide case, detective Dong-su loses his son. The film picks back up after 14 years have passed. When a man is brutally killed, Dong-su senses by instinct that it is related to the murder case that occurred more than a decade ago. The detective is convinced that the past murder victim’s son, Yo-han, is involved in the recent murder, and reopens the cold case from 14 years earlier, just days before the statute of limitations on the case expires. In the meantime, a young business tycoon orders his assistant, Si-young, to check the background of his fiancee, Mi-ho. In fact, Mi-ho is the daughter of the key suspect in the case 14 years ago, who committed suicide, and Mi-ho has erased her true identity and transformed herself into a new person in order to forget her past. Si-young soon learns that a mysterious man lingers by Mi-ho’s side like a silhouette. The enigmatic man is none other than Yo-han, the dead man’s son who is being tracked by detective Dong-su. The detective finally uncovers the truth behind the old homicide case. Fourteen years ago, the victim was killed by his own son, Yo-han, who tried to save his girlfriend, Ji-ah, Mi-ho’s childhood name, from being raped by his father. It turns out that Mi-ho killed her own mother when she found out the boy had killed his own father. For the following 14 years, the boy has been eliminating anyone who threatens her life, lurking by her side like a shadow, driven by love and guilt for their shared childhood tragedy but requiring nothing from her in return.

The melodramatic thriller raises a grave question about justifications for murder when victims are exposed to violence. The intriguing storyline unfolds through the seemingly contradictory combination of light and shade, of beauty and bizarreness. This paradoxical juxtaposition is well evidenced in the use of Tchaikovsky’s beautiful classical number “Swan Lake” as the thriller’s theme song.

For newcomer director Park Shin-woo, it must have been challenging to condense the famous original Japanese novel into a two-hour mystery romance and to add his own color to the movie version. In fact, the director makes few changes to the original story but focuses more on offering plenty of emotional expressions and showcasing the personalities of the main characters. Veteran actor Han Seok-gyu initially refused to take the role of the detective in the movie because he didn’t feel he would be fit for the part. But he eventually changed his mind after receiving a hand-written letter from the director. The actor said he decided to join the project because he was convinced by the director’s sincerity and passion.