November 23rd in Chicago, IL. I happen to be a fan of director Chan-wook Park. His Vengeance Trilogy is brutal and dark (really f*cked up stuff). He did a real nice job with Stoker (although it moved a little slowly at times). Park has proven to be a solid director and I for one go out to see his films despite the fact that they may be hard to find. Since I am a Park fan, I didn't bother with viewing the trailer, I saw that it was playing nearby and went to see the picture.
Set in Japanese occupied Korea, there are four main characters: "Count Fujiwara (Jung-woo Ha)," Sook-Hee (Tae-ri Kim), Uncle Kouzuki (Jin-woong Jo) and Lady Hideko (Min-hee Kim). "Fujiwara" is no count, hes a conman who's trying to swindle Lady Hideko's trust fund. He enlists the aid of Sook-Hee, a thief, to help him get in the lady's good graces and help gaslight her into a mental asylum then split the inheritance. Hideko is the kept woman of her uncle, the very wealthy Kouzuki, a collector and dealer of antique Japanese erotica (Hideko performs readings of the works, it's an interesting scene). Lady Hideko and Sook-Hee grow closer and soon Sook-Hee begins to show jealousy towards "Fujiwara." Sook-Hee ends up confessing to Lady Hideko of "Fujiwara's" plan and talk about running away together. The time comes for Lady Hideko to be committed and suffice to say that Sook-Hee is in for a surprise. However it turns out that Hideko is playing everyone. She has a special plan for "Fujiwara" and flees with Sook-Hee (who orchestrated an escape from the asylum) with the help of her criminal family.
This is a real interesting film. Park ratchets up the tension very well. The film as a running time of 144 minutes but it never drags along. Park draws you in and takes you through several plot twists that kept me off balance. Excellent acting. Excellent cinematography and a real interesting story. The picture received a 94% Rotten Tomatoes rating and deservedly so. However, the only real issue I had was that things between Hideko and Sook-Hee got a little too graphic (to the point where I had to apologize to my wife because I didn't realize that the film went there). As a 46 year-old dude, I just felt that Park went a little too far on the sex scenes. It took a little bit away for me. The relationship between Hideko and Sook-Hee raised a few points with me: was Sook-Hee recruited because she was a lesbian (something probably frowned upon in 1930's Korea and she kind of had to have been because she seems to know what she's doing)? This is a film worth watching but be warned, it does get graphic.
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