The 6th Pusan International Film Festival opens with director Bae Chang-Ho′s new film, The Last Witness; a solid drama without an inch of error. The body of an old man is found on the banks of the Han River. During his inquiry into the matter, detective Oh finds two photographs. He discovers that the photos were taken at an elementary school on Geo-Je Island, where he goes investigate. While there, he finds a diary written by a woman named Sohn Ji-Hye. The contents reveal the shocking truth about a prisoner-of-war camp located on Geo-Je Island during the Korean War. Bae Chang-Ho realistically depicts the Geo-Je P.O.W. camp, shown briefly in the film JSA Joint Security Area as documentary footage. Although there are dramatic scenes of resurgence and escape, the director′s interests are elsewhere. He is more interested in portraying the lives of individuals crushed eneath the weight of history. The film heads towards an ending of unadulterated love, similar to those found in film classics. Bae Chang-Ho led Korean cinema in the 1980s with films such as Deep Blue Night, a piercing commentary on desire and the needs of the masses. Since then he has made fascinating films exploring different genres, and personal films such as Love Story. However, his interest in understanding what constitutes a ′Korean personality′ has not waned. The director incorporates the stylistic approach of a mystery film, and successfully intersects a historical incident with a love story. Perhaps his ability to use the popular film structure, while retaining artistic significance, is something he has learned through his many years of filmmaking. (Han Sang-Jun)