What Becomes Visible Only After Disappearing [Slate]

Movie still from "Nuruk".

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We live in an era where everything is measured by numbers and judged by efficiency. Life and culture are no exceptions. Acts of believing in intangible values are often dismissed as ignorant madness or stubbornness.

The film "Nuruk," directed by actor Jang Dong-yoon, brings this bitter reality into the setting of a brewery. Through the character of Daseul (played by Kim Seung-yoon), a girl who grows sick with worry over the disappearance of nuruk, the movie traces the essence of the fundamental trust and faith that modern people have lost. The classic conflict between an individual seeking truth and the majority suppressing them is combined with the indigenous theme of Korean traditional liquor.

Daseul is obsessed with makgeolli to the point of secretly bringing it to school. She treats traditional nuruk as a family heirloom. Her brother, Dahyun (Song Ji-hyuk), disapproves of her behavior. His concern is expressed in a distorted way. He completely erases all traces of nuruk from the brewery. He forcibly removes invisible beliefs with physical strength. Daseul immediately senses the absence of nuruk from the changed taste of makgeolli. She suffers from this longing with her whole being, enduring pain so intense that it evokes religious persecution.

Movie still cut from "Nuruk".

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What Daseul tries to protect is not just a simple fermenting agent. Director Jang Dong-yoon distinguishes between makgeolli brewed by traditional methods and ordinary makgeolli by describing them as "alive and breathing" versus "devoid of vitality and fossilized." While ordinary makgeolli is a standardized industrial product created for profit, Daseul’s family’s makgeolli is a cultural heritage condensed with human devotion, layers of accumulated time, and faith in invisible entities. The difference lies not in functional superiority but in ontological identity.

This is not just about makgeolli. The exclusion of intangible values in the name of efficiency and productivity happens all around us. For example, traditional techniques infused with the touch of artisans disappear, pushed out by automated factory systems. Local cultures that have accumulated over long periods are diluted as they are consumed as tourist products. Because these values cannot be proven with numbers, they are dismissed as inefficient and become targets for elimination.

The everyday landscape bears witness to this. Neighborhood bookstores have long been reduced to inefficient spaces in the face of online discounts and express delivery. Small local bakeries have been pushed out by the standardized flavors of franchise bakeries. Immediate production volume is prioritized over techniques honed with time and care, and verifiable data takes precedence over wisdom passed down through generations. In the name of efficiency, we are erasing things that cannot be restored.

Still cut from the movie 'Nuruk'.

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When a neighborhood bookstore disappears, it is not simply the loss of a place to buy books. The carefully curated selection by the owner, the conversations that recall customers’ preferences, and the chance encounters with unexpected books all vanish together. What happens when a small local bakery closes? The smell of bread baked at the same time every morning, the greetings recognizing regular customers, and the memories of flavors that changed subtly with each season are all lost. Though these cannot be measured in numbers, they form the invisible web of relationships and memories that support our lives.

This is precisely what the film captures through the metaphor of nuruk. The nuruk that Daseul strives to protect is immeasurable, yet it represents everything that sustains life. The neighborhood bookstore, the bakery on a quiet street, and the “nuruks” hidden in each of our lives-though they are being erased in the name of efficiency, they are the things that made our lives meaningful. Is your nuruk still alive?

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