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Sex, lies and extramarital bliss
By Joon Soh
August 14, 2003
The new domestic film "Paramnan Kajok (A Good Lawyer’s Wife)" begins with an
innocent but altogether unnecessary act of deceit. Yong-jak (Hwang Jeong-min),
the lawyer of the film’s title, is driving along an empty rural road when his
path is blocked by a dead dog. After he finishes the unenviable job of clearing
the carcass out of the way, he calls ahead on his cell phone and instead of
telling the truth, makes up a story about being stuck in traffic.
This harmless lie speaks volumes about the series of deceptions that envelop
Yong-jak and his family. During the film, almost every adult member has an
extramarital affair and everyone tries to turn a blind eye to these
transgressions.
Yong-jak spends more time with his mistress than at home. His wife, Ho-jong
(Moon So-ri), begins meeting with a high school boy from next door. His mother
(Yoon Yeo-jeong) is romantically involved with an old elementary school friend.
The only one not fooling around is the father (Kim In-moon), but the feeling is
that he would be too, were he not on his deathbed.
The movie, however, isn’t interested in moralizing about these relationships,
nor does it want to turn the whole affair into a farce. In fact, given the
reality of many marriages in South Korea, where the divorce rate is on the rise
and love sometimes plays a distant third or fourth to such conditions as
economic status and family background, there is something oddly normal and
familiar about the domestic dishonesty being portrayed.
Using this element of familiarity, Lim Sang-soo, a director who has also
painfully detailed the sex lives of his characters in previous films, lets the
relationships play out their consequences. And as the story develops, we come
to realize that not all affairs are the same, and that some lies may be better
for the people involved than others.
The strength of "A Good Lawyer’s Wife" is its cast, which does a wonderful job
throughout the film balancing bitterness with affection. Moon, who won critical
acclaim for her role in "Oasis" last year, puts on yet another solid
performance as a woman searching for a reconnection to life. Sung Ji-ru, known
for playing comic characters in numerous films, makes the most of his
supporting role as an alcoholic postal worker who ends up having a devastating
effect on the family.
The film makes a few unexpected and awkward turns that threaten to derail the
momentum of the narrative, but Lim makes everything come together for a
powerful and profound ending. A tale of suburban dysfunction, "A Good Lawyer’s
Wife" is an involving journey that successfully brings out the affirmative and
beautiful from a state of domestic collapse.
"A Good Lawyer’s Wife" opened in theaters nationwide yesterday.
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