By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Kang Yi-kwan
Starring: Seon-gyun Lee | So-ri Moon | Tae-woo Kim
Country: south_korea
Year: 2005
Running time: 118
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0478025/combined
Bruce says: “Hyun-jung is a young professional who is secure in every way. Her job is terrific and she is both appreciated and rewarded for her efforts and talent. She is her parents favorite child and she is madly in love with her boyfriend Mi-Suk who is both handsome and fun. Hyun-jung has a circle of friends and a boy in her glamorous Seoul office building named Chang-Soo who has a mad crush on her. When Hyun-jung and Mi-Suk take a vacation to the east coast, out of the blue Mi-Suk says Lets stop seeing each other. Hyun-jung, taken totally unaware, replies Lets get married. He says, No, I feel like Im wasting away.
“Hyun-jungs world is shattered. Her younger sister makes matter worse by reminding Hyun-jung that a younger sister cannot marry until the older sister is married. So get out there and date someone. When Chang-Soo brings her roses and leaves his business card Hyun-jung calls him. After a brief courtship they marry in spite of their class and religious differences. Hyun-jung misinterprets her relief as happiness as Chang-Soo can plainly see. Chang-Soo lies and says he has been transferred to another part of the country for six months. To everyones surprise Hyun-jung quits her job and joins him. Chang-Soo works long hours and Hyun-jung is left alone. After Hyun-jung becomes pregnant she discovers that her husband had lied to get away from her. They return to Seoul but the marriage is failing. She accidentally runs into Mi-Suk and they spend the day together. After the baby is born she begins an affair with her old lover. By this time Hyun is slowly beginning to understand her feelings. Mi-Suk
explains he still loves her and the reason he left her before was that he loved her more than he loved himself. When Chang-Soo begins following through with a divorce Hyun-jung tells him Im sorry I never worked to make things better.
“SA-KWA, which means both ‘apology’ and ‘apple’ in the Korean language, is the story of a young carefree woman slowly turning
into a responsible adult by examining herself closely. Writer/director Kang Yi-kwan is a very good storyteller but needs a strong hand when it comes to editing. Some scenes read as though they were ones he absolutely could be not bear to cut ; yet they contribute little to the story, often giving the viewer information unnecessary for the story line. His visual sense is not excellent, merely adequate. The acting is admirable. So-ri Moon is excellent, maturing subtly as she learns life’s lessons. 3.5 cats
“SA-KWA was shown at the 2005 Toronto International Film Festival.”