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Ever heard of the korean movie \*\*Decision to Leave\*\* directed by Park \*\*Chan-wook\*\*? who is also the director of Oldboy and The Handmaiden - the director who lets the audience see, only what "he" wants us to see. But I'd say this movie is a bit different from his other movies... less nudity, less violence, more like a food that looks very bland on the outside but hides layers of flavors and leaves you with a long lasting aftertaste.     

This movie holds a special place in my heart because I watched this movie for the sake of watching a suspense thriller and ended up liking it for it's subtle romantic elements, beautiful metaphors, poetry like narrative and most importantly the ending...

This movie uses mountain, sea, and rain for aesthetics but also as emotional metaphors for the characters’ inner worlds and for a love that was doomed even before it began.     

# The Mountain 🏔️ The Sea 🌊 and The Rain 🌧️ — A Tragic Triad of Love

In this movie, the mountain and the sea are not just places. They are the two lovers connected by fate and separated by destiny.

The Mountain (the male protagonist who is a detective)— represents strength, pride, rooted, restrained and bounded by logic and law. He lives above his emotions, in a cold world where feelings cannot touch him.

His love is silent, controlled, unseen and buried in the deepest corner of his mind.

Mountains do not move. They endure.They are strong but they are lonely.

The Sea (the female protagonist) - represents chaos, longing, vastness, surrender. She is wild, mysterious, unpredictable and restless. Her emotions are like tides - overwhelming, beautiful yet dangerous. Sea cannot stay. Sea cannot be held...    

Their Love was like a Collision of two worlds.

Mountain cannot descend into the sea, he would crumble. Sea cannot climb the mountain she would loose herself. Their love was a tragic misalignment of two worlds, two elements.

And then there is the Rain… the third metaphor, the tragic mediator.

Rain is the only moment when the mountain and the sea become one.

Rain fell on the mountain, swept deep into his rigid edges and softened him.

Rain fell into the sea and became one with her chaos.

Rain was that brief moment when both their worlds touched without destroying each other.

In this movie, their first intimate/romantic encounter is shot in rain — which shows us that rain is the only place where two people like them can love each other without consequences. But rain is temporary and so was the fate of their love.

The mountain should return to his stillness. The sea should return to her depths. And the rain?

It falls between them as a reminder that some stories are not meant to be lived. They are meant to be felt deeply, briefly and should be left to slip through our fingers.

But is it as easy as it sounds?

Whenever it rains - the mountain lets himself feel the softness he once held.

Whenever it rains - the sea feels the tenderness she once earned for. She flooded when she loved, she drowned anything that got too close to her.

The rain carried their love across two worlds... never letting them forget but never letting them return either.

Some stories do not end because their existence is beyond logic, beyond what we can see superficiallly and sometimes it does not live in the heart, but in the space between what we wish and what we cannot have.    

There's a beautiful line in this movie I'd like to quote. This is said by the female protagonist -

***"The moment you said you loved me, your love is over. The moment your love ends, my love begins"***

Beautiful right? But the fun fact is, the male protagonist never admitted his love for her or neither did he said he loved her. But his selfless acts of kindness was the greatest form of love she ever felt. For her, he was the definition of love.

This movie leaves us with a question - how far will you go for love? and the ending of this movie will blow your mind bcoz you won't see that coming. The romantic elements of this movie is so subtle and the line between love and destruction is very blurry.    

Maybe that is why their love could exist only in rain. Because rain belongs nowhere.

It falls from the sky,

touches both the mountain and the sea for a brief moment, and disappears before either can hold it.  

And perhaps that is the tragedy of certain loves — they are not meant to stay long enough to become life. Only long enough to become grief.

\~Skyiiie💜

DECISION TO LEAVE - The Mountain The Sea and The Rain - A tragic triad of Love