The Fifth Thoracic Vertebra

The Fifth Thoracic Vertebra is about mould, not backbones. So why the weird title? Because, I’m guessing, debut writer/director Park Sye-young thought it had the right effect. This is a film that’s all about effect, mood, and Park conjures like a master right from the opening seconds, where a removal guy is talking on the phone to the woman whose stuff he’s meant to be moving. The woman isn’t there and he’s haranguing her. Meanwhile the guy next to him is talking right over the top of him in a separate conversation. It doesn’t overlap, as traditionally “realistic” dialogue in movies does (see Robert Altman), it attempts to overwhelm. After the removal guy’s … Read more