(Movie Review) Aspirant poet chases booze and women in debut of young director

(ATTN: photos available)
SEOUL, Nov. 26 (Yonhap) -- In 1996, director Hong Sang-soo set up his own
territory in South Korean cinema with his first feature "The Day a Pig Fell into
the Well."
The comical movie, featuring a ne'er-do-well novelist chasing woman after woman,
earned Hong the nickname "Korea's own Woody Allen," and soon, he had dozens of
emerging directors copying his style, eager to lap up the cream of his talent.
At first glance, "I'm in Trouble," a feature debut by 32-year-old So Sang-min,
appears to be paying yet another homage to Hong.
Seon-woo (Min Seong-wook), a hardly recognized poet who won one writing contest
with a poem he wrote in college, has no idea what he should do with his life and
spends day after day moping and drinking.
After yet another heavy drinking spree with a long-time friend Seung-gyu (Lee
Seung-jun), Seon-woo fails to keep an appointment with his girlfriend's father.
Angry and disappointed, the girlfriend Yu-na (Jeong Ji-yeon), the only silver
lining in Seon-woo's miserable life, informs him she is leaving.
Desperate to win her back, Seon-woo visits her regional hometown, joined by his
friend. The plan keeps backfiring, however, as the two men are unable to keep
away from alcohol and women.
One of the four products of the 2009 Korea Academy of Film Arts (KAFA) annual
film project, "???Trouble" was named best film at South Korea's Pusan
International Film Festival this year together with Iraqi-Japanese co-production
"Kick Off."
Sponsored by the Korea Film Council and conglomerate CJ Group's Culture
Foundation, the KAFA film project is aimed at supporting first or second feature
works by emerging directors. The project gathered attention last year with its
first four creations including "Members of the Funeral" winning at international
film festivals.
Portraying the trials and tribulations of a young Korean male, not yet ready to
live up to social expectations or take responsibilities, the movie received
favorable reaction from European critics in particular and has been invited to
the upcoming Berlin International Film Festival.
French director Jean-Jacques Beneix, who headed the Pusan fest jury, said: "We
noted the absence of optimism and a certain fear of the future (in the movie).
Asian cinema looks like its European counterpart and depicts a dark picture of
the world situation."
While the apparent resemblance to Hong Sang-soo films clearly tones down the
film's own character, director So, a graduate of New York Brooklyn College and
the Seoul-based KAFA, manages to unfold the plot in a smooth manner. Humorous
dialogue and incidents pepper the film in just the right amount, showing So is a
filmmaker who has the ability to suppress the desire to say or show too much.
So's protagonist, Seon-woo, is also somewhat more pleasant and even charming at
times compared to the male characters in Hong's film as he portrays confusion,
submission and immaturity rather than hypocrisy or arrogance.
"We are all weak humans who frequently yield to temptations and are influenced by
trivial matters in life," the director said. "I wanted to bring out this aspect
through the love story of an immature, shameless man."
"I would still have to call the movie a romance," festival programmer Lee
Sang-yong said. "We loved, most of all, the humor and reality."
"???Trouble," with a running time of 98 minutes, will be screened at the CJ CGV
Movie Collage in Seoul and Busan beginning Dec. 10.
hayney@yna.co.kr
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