Korean film flips gender roles

[shy-mizuno.livejournal.com]

By John Glionna

SEOUL - Young-mi Lee is a South Korean filmmaker who likes to expose secrets. Her movies plum deep into her characters' psyches, revealing confidential lives and repressed desires.

Her 10 short films have been populated by the likes of a cab driver who realizes she's a lesbian; a composer with a closeted sexual drive; and two roommates - one Japanese, one Korean - whose sublimated racism is exposed in a battle over a man.

"I like to focus on a person who doesn't look very special and dig deep into their life," she said. "And every single time, this otherwise very normal character is harboring a huge secret."

In her first feature-length movie, "Secrets, Objects," the 45-year-old London-trained director is taking on her most controversial subject yet: the voracious hidden sexual appetite of a supposedly happily married, middle-age woman in Seoul.

In a country that's hypemodern in many regards, "Secrets, Objects," shines an uncomfortable spotlight on the still very traditional mores of marriage and the identity of wives vis-a-vis husbands.

The film centers on a ng-mi Lee is a South Korean filmmaker who likes to expose secrets. Her movies plumb deep into her character's 40-year-old college professor; played by Jan Seo-hee, who maintains a supersize inner lie: Though she's the author of a bestselling book on how to maintain a happy marriage, she long ago separated from her husband. But in a culture where many women lack a public persona outside their relationship, she feels forced to keep the breakup a secret.

Her charade unravels after she stumbles into a relationship with a man 19 years her junior; played by Jung Suk Won, a male escort who also happens to be her student. Their frank, often out-of-control affair teaches her how to pursue her sexual fantasies in a world dominated by men's desires.

The film stands out against typical South Korean movie fare in which women are seldom the pursuers and in which older women are often portrayed as sexless housewives whose ferocity is expressed in their protectiveness of their marriages and children but never in the bedroom.

"The movies has two very deep-rooted taboos," said Korean film critic Kim Young-jin. "It breaks the Confucian teaching about teachers and students and will make people very uncomfortable with portrayal of a middle-aged woman driven by her sexual desire. It's an incredibly provocative film for Korean."

Not surprisingly, it wasn't easy for Lee to fund her million-dollar budget.

"When I showed the script to potential female investors, they all said, "This is my story,' but most were too afraid to take on the system," Lee recalled. "With the men, their faces changed when they read it. I could tell instantly that they didn't like it; they didn't like the role reversal."

The filmmaker - whose shorts have been featured at festivals in London, Sao Paulo, Brazil, Berlin, and San Francisco - recalls being aware, even as a child in the 1970s, of the unequal relations between the sexes in South Korea.

"Men don't play by the same rules," she said. "When I was 9, I looked at my parents and said, 'If this is married life, I'm never going to get married.' "

Lee lost herself in the darkness of movie theaters. As a college student in the 1980s, she took part in demonstrations against South Korea's repressive military regime. Her activism earner her four months in jail, where she shared a cell with nine other women, seven of whom had been accused of adultery.

One told Lee she had fallen for a man 15 years her junior. She ran off with her lover on his motorcycle, pursued by her husband; she was later sentenced to jail for her indiscretion. The woman told her: "I love him so much, but I still wanted my husband too. I wanted them both in my house."

Still young and inexperienced, Lee couldn't grasp the poignancy of the woman's pain, "But her story pierced my heart like an arrow."

In 1995, she left South Korea to attend Britain's National Film and Television School. Six years later she returned to Seoul. Though much changed after the military regime was toppled in 1987 and democracy had blossomed she felt men still ruled the roost in 21st century South Korea. Lee plunged into moviemaking. In 2008, she decided to make her first feature-length film. And she knew the subject she had to explore. "If I didn't tell this story, I'd regret it for my entire life as both a woman and a filmmaker," she said.

Something I saw while eating breakfast. This is just my personal thoughts, but why is adultery illegal? Since when does government get involved in personal affairs? But I guess different culture, different views. Still, kind of stupid.

Source: Glionna, John. "Korean film flips gender roles." ChicagoTribune [Chicago] May 11, 2011, Section 3: pg 3

Comments

[spread.livejournal.com]

Amazing~
This sounds like something right up my alley..
I like what she has to say.
TBQH.

[mandyyy.livejournal.com]

....sho... is that you?

[loverboy.livejournal.com]

Adultery is illegal because Korea is backwards.

[jaded-skys.livejournal.com]

they're actually abolishing that law soon, thank god. It's mostly women who are sentenced, not men, but it's also really hard to get someone convicted as they need hard evidence, not just circumstantial.

[chaincombo.livejournal.com]

Trained in london XD
Deffinetly going to look out for this, I think i've seen one of her shorts before.

[devilstay.livejournal.com]

Sounds great, I'll watch her shorts, and she was trained in London? Yeah! Makes me happy, when I see,London mentioned in anything.

[hannahime25.livejournal.com]

Is that Alisha from Misfits in your icon?

[audiograms.livejournal.com]

Need to see this and all the others mentioned in this article!

[jia-zhang.livejournal.com]

I will never understand how adultery is illegal in Korea and how women are locked up for it. This is really just archaic for a supposed democratic country.

[miinolee.livejournal.com]

Can someone tell me where to find her short films, or at least the names of them? I'm really curious about them.

[audiograms.livejournal.com]

I second this motion!

[x-materialize-x.livejournal.com]

Thisss!

[kittycurious.livejournal.com]

I fourth this motion!

[sweetemerald513.livejournal.com]

Woah, sounds interesting

[warwarwar.livejournal.com]

One told Lee she had fallen for a man 15 years her junior. She ran off with her lover on his motorcycle, pursued by her husband; she was later sentenced to jail for her indiscretion. The woman told her: "I love him so much, but I still wanted my husband too. I wanted them both in my house."

she should make that into a movie too!

[royalantares.livejournal.com]

This sounds really interesting.

Did you transcribe this up OP? You are awesome.

[shy-mizuno.livejournal.com]

Did you transcribe this up OP?

Uhm...what does that mean????

[royalantares.livejournal.com]

I mean did you transcribe this? I originally wrote, "Did you write this up," but I realized it could be taken as, "Did you write this article?" and I accidentally left the "up" in there. Woops.

[shy-mizuno.livejournal.com]

If you mean did I rewrite it from the article, yes I did. Don't apologize, I asked because I don't know 'transcribed'

Also, what is an OP?

[royalantares.livejournal.com]

Haha yeah, I meant did you type this from the newspaper article because the source was an image and not a website.

OP means "original poster". It can be used for the poster of the post or the first commenter in a thread of comments (not the first comment in the post).

[shy-mizuno.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[royalantares.livejournal.com]

P.S. Do you have the full version of your icon (Heesica)?

[shy-mizuno.livejournal.com]

. . . . No...uhm, if you look up 'Hanchul' you might be able to find it. It's Heechul-hyung hugging Hankyung from behind.

[runaway-kiki.livejournal.com]

lol I love how the OP doesn't know what an OP is. xD; Cute.

[shy-mizuno.livejournal.com]

Uhm...thank you??/

[runaway-kiki.livejournal.com]

You're welcome. :D

[tofucakes.livejournal.com]

thanks for sharing this, OP!

[she-shies-away.livejournal.com]

She sounds like a really interesting filmmaker.

[letsrelapse.livejournal.com]

Her films seem really interesting, especially "Secrets, Objects". Hope I can find out more about her, I'd love to see some of her shorts. Kind of hoping if her films have been shown in the UK before, I can convince my local indie cinema to show some haha. Also, I had no idea adultery is illegal in Korea. That is crazy. :|

[gunsandsmoke.livejournal.com]

i love what she's saying. fuck yes exactly preach etc!!!! now i have to try to hunt down everything she's ever made oi but she's not even under an entry in naver...


i did find this cyworld that seems to be a sort of promotional front for her film! http://minihp.cyworld.com/pims/main/pims_main.asp?tid=62270450


ooohhhhh

[miszmba.livejournal.com]

sounds interesting. it's things like this that open up my mind a little more.

[hellafun.livejournal.com]

the movie sounds good

[katzsong.livejournal.com]

Adultery is still illegal in my country too, since this country is supposed to be based on religions. And don't say it is backwards. It's just the way things are. Every country has its own character. Deal with it.

[naeve14.livejournal.com]

Same. I live in a so called "muslim country" (I have my own reasons to put the so called thingy) and adultery is illegal. Just like you, to called a country backwards because they punished adulterers, be it men or women, doesn't sound really right....

[shy-mizuno.livejournal.com]

If I sound rude, mean, or anything negative, I sincerely apologize. I was only stating my thoughts after reading this article. Again, I apologize.

[katzsong.livejournal.com]

It is nice for you to apologize. But I'm not addressing my comment to you. This is actually a response to some of the comments above me.
For me it's more like you don't get to mock my parents or my country. That will be my job. Peace out.

[lobotronic.livejournal.com]

I love articles like this that shed light on some forward-thinking women in Korea. Sometimes I get really disheartened by the intense sexism in Korean culture. I love kpop and all, but I get so sick of it after a while...this makes me certain there's hope that things will change. :)

[kittycurious.livejournal.com]

Her shorts sound so interesting, and I'm looking forward to her feature film. I hope I can find them somewhere online, because chances are they won't be playing anywhere near me. :(

[bolingi-aii.livejournal.com]

Why wouldnt adultery be illegal? marriage is still a contract and comitting adultery is violating it. Now I dont think it should be punished with jail sentence, but whatevr the couples decide prior to getting married. But I guess in Korea only women get sent to jail for adultery? Thats horrid, I feel a tad bit sorry for the women who have their lives wasted in jail becaudse of it.

[jaded-skys.livejournal.com]

No, either sex can be sent away, the person accusing it just needs hard evidence. I believe it's more the idea that women try to hold onto their marraiges and are more likely to "ignore" infidelity than men who see it as a direct hit to their masculinity.

[bolingi-aii.livejournal.com]

aah thank you for clearing that up for me. I wonder how many men go to jail for it comparedto women, maybe the laws/conviction rates on it are biased as well?

[obeytheempress.livejournal.com]

she and her films sound so interesting. i'd love to be able to watch her shorts.

[obeytheempress.livejournal.com]

The woman told her: "I love him so much, but I still wanted my husband too. I wanted them both in my house."

I'd totally watch a feature-film about this.

[pretzel-knot.livejournal.com]

wow, love the subject matter of her films.

[22by7.livejournal.com]

I LOVE HER WORK.

[dreamerbri.livejournal.com]

i'd love to see her short films and upcoming feature film but i wouldn't know where to find them.

[lynethia.livejournal.com]

A woman after my own heart.

[reebeegee.livejournal.com]

Ah! I read about this in teh paper the other day. It's nice to see it up on omona.