<Tumbleweed> is a ‘post-Failan′ created by rookie director Lee Duck-hee, the assistant director of Failan by Song Hae-seong. It is a moving human drama about the life, desire, frustration and dream of a small-time bully Chang-su, who often goes to prison for money. As soon as Chang-su meets a girl who makes him want to live a decent life, he encounters a dangerous reality that can lead him to death: the girl is the woman of a gang boss. <Tumbleweed> reminds us of Kim Ji-woon′s <A Bittersweet Life> and Lee Chang-dong′s Green Fish through a series of deja vu. But by embellishing it with rich intertextuality, the director turns those deja vus into the film’s strength. The hints of deja vu, big and small, are also partly homage. The character of Chang-su is no doubt related to Kang-jae (Choi Min-shik) in <Failan> and Makdong(Han Seok-kyu) in Green Fish. But he has self-respect, spirit and also some hot air which the other two did not have. Strangely, one cannot hate his attitude and even notices a sense of pathos. The birth of a character, the rebirth of actor Im Chang-jung, the rediscovery of Chung Sung-hwa and the unabated presence of Ahn Nae-sang - <Tumbleweed> deserves to be called ‘film of discovery in 2012’. (JEON Chanil)