One of the more anticipated Korean films of the upcoming 2010 calendar is director Im Sang-soo’s remake of the 1960 classic THE HOUSEMAID. It will be Im’s first film since his trilogy on modern Korean history, which includes THE OLD GARDEN (2006), THE PRESIDENT’S LAST BANG (2005) and A GOOD LAWYER’S WIFE (2003). The film most well-known of these three, especially in the West, is definitely THE PRESIDENT’S LAST BANG, which details the real life events surrounding the 1979 assassination of former dictator Park Chung-hee. It was very controversial, especially with the conservative South Korean press, upon initial release, but also received high praise from Western critics, many comparing its political satire to Stanley Kubrick’s DR. STRANGELOVE (1964) (you can read my review of the film here). However, I believe the first film of the trilogy, although the least overtly political, is in fact the masterpiece of the group. A GOOD LAWYER’S WIFE (which is actually a misleading translation of the Korean, Ba-ram-nan Ga-jok, which is more literally “the adulterous family”) not only has a background dealing with the Korean War, but also explores the whole patriarchal history of the society and its films. It is one of the first mainstream releases to quite explicitly break with and even challenge many of the misogynistic narratives of the New Korean Cinema.

“In Im’s films, the site of sexual intercourse is a site where the various problems of Korean society, namely exploitation and repression, are revealed intensively, and at the same time the site from which the energy capable of overcoming those problems originates.” (Huh Moonyung, “Beyond a History of Masculinity” in IM SANG-SOO (Seoul: Korean Film Council, 2008): 19)

The story of A GOOD LAWYER’S WIFE, as the more appropriate Korean title THE ADULTEROUS FAMILY suggests, revolves around sex and infidelity. The film begins with the lawyer Yeong-jak discovering the remains of people killed during the Korean War, and this political subtext remains in the background throughout. But the plot centers around the various sexual relationships between family members. Yeong-jak is having an affair, and his unsatisfied wife Ho-jeong begins flirting with the teenage boy next door. Also, Yeong-jak’s mother has taken up with another man even while his father is in the process of dying of cancer. What is most intriguing, especially in a Korean context and in the light of earlier films like HAPPY END, is that the adultery that is most supported by Im is that of the women. As Huh points out, it is their eroticism that is placed against the male family line of blood violence. Im based the character of the father and his North Korean grandfather on his own background, and seems determined to try to break with this violent history and attempt to embrace a more matriarchal line. A key scene in this regard is the mother’s description of her sexual affair, which horrifies Yeong-jak but yet amuses his more sympathetic wife.

The above stills give an indication of the style of the film. Unlike THE PRESIDENT’S LAST BANG, which is shot in a rather classical manner that Im modeled on Hollywood works like THE GODFATHER, A GOOD LAWYER’S WIFE generally uses a long take, long shot technique. This becomes more and more prevalent as the film continues, and culminates with one of the more remarkable sequence shots in recent cinema. This more than four minute take between the now separated couple Yeong-jak and Ho-jeong begins with her alone in her dance studio. He enters from the back and tries to persuade her to get back together now that she is pregnant. She tells him the baby is not his, he states that he still wants to be with her, but she rejects him, saying that “you are out of the picture”. She then continues her cleaning/ dancing as the credits roll.

This final sequence shot is both technically impressive and thematically exhilarating, as Ho-jeong has clearly achieved a freedom from the past and has a sense of joy for the future. What makes A GOOD LAWYER’S WIFE successful is that all of this is accomplished without turning any of the characters into simplistic caricatures. Yeong-jak is not a pure villain by any means; he is portrayed as a realistically flawed person, and is given moments of sympathy. The same is certainly true of his father. Likewise, neither Ho-jeong nor Yeong-jak’s mother are seen as perfect; they are presented just as complexly as individuals. Im is able to clearly convey his themes without having to resort to two-dimensional stereotypes. Just like the long take style he employs, the story is laid out for the viewer with a clear point of view that at the same time avoids any of the more manipulative techniques of lesser directors.

Huh Moonyung and Jung Ji-youn’s book on Im Sang-soo, published as part of the Korean Film Directors series, can be purchased on-line here or at most major book stores in Korea, usually in the books on Korean culture section.

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