Synopsis
From outside, this film appears to be a medical mystery drama. Careful observation, however, will reveal that theme of the movie is based on the opposing relationship between the rationalism of the Western civilization and the para-rationalism of the Eastern culture. While the movement of every object in the world is governed by the rational order, the field of medicine is the territory which represents the Western rationalism in its clearest form. The mechanism of the western medicine is based on the process in which the essential characteristics of the human body are defined by the collective information gathered from analysing the very last unit that make up the matter. In this respect, any medical practice that does not entail the rational method of analysis is classified as sorcery. This is reflected in the historical fact that the modern ages began with the banishment of the witchcraft. Kang JiMin, a resident doctor at the Neurology Department, is the character that exists on the borderline of the Western medicine. Although his profession is based on the Western rationalism, the way he practices his skills is not different from the way the psychics practice the shamanism. The problem is, he can actually cure the fatal diseases this way. On the opposite side of the picture, there is Lee SukMyong, another doctor who is a Harvard graduate. Naturally, the relationship between the two doctors has the conflicting nature. Such conflict has crucial implications, for it not only reflects their personal discord but also the fundamental conflict between the Western and the Eastern, and between rationalism and non-rationalism. If the word mystery means reaching beyond the realm of rationalism, this film is truly faithful to its genre. (LEE Seong-Wook)