My Friend and His Wife (2008)
My Friend & His Wife (2008)
DVDRip | AVI | 640 x 352 | XviD @ ~1300 Kbps | 111 min | 1,44 Gb
Audio: Korean AC3 5.1 @ 448 Kbps | Subs: English, Korean
Genre: Drama
DVDRip | AVI | 640 x 352 | XviD @ ~1300 Kbps | 111 min | 1,44 Gb
Audio: Korean AC3 5.1 @ 448 Kbps | Subs: English, Korean
Genre: Drama
Ye-Joon and Jae-Moon have been best friends since their military service. Now, Ye-Joon is an upwardly mobile foreign exchange dealer and Jae-Moon is a humble cook. Jae-Moon has a charming wife, Ji-Sook, who manages a small beauty shop. The couple had been saving money to move to the United States in search of a better future. However they find out that the money has fallen into the wrong hands, and their savings are lost. Time passes, and the two friends go on with their lives, not seeing each other as often as before. Meanwhile, Ji-Sook wants to go to a beauty workshop in France. Jae-Moon encourages her to go and promises to take care of their newborn baby. After Ji-Sook leaves for Paris, Jae-Moon invites Ye-Joon for dinner at his house. But a tragic accident occurs, testing the nature of their friendship.
I haven't seen either of Shin Dong-il's other films but after seeing My Friend & His Wife I certainly want to. It takes a sobering look at loyalty, asking "How do we choose between our friends, our lovers and our selves?" The story is classic melodrama but the style is unobtrusive and naturalistic, until the tumultuous finale.
The three lead actors are all very good, with Park Hee-soon a standout as a struggling cook trying to juggle his commitment to his demanding wife and high-achieving longtime best friend. Jang Hyeong-seong plays the friend with fiery conviction, by turns loathsome and pathetic, and Hong So-hee brings a world of depth and feeling to her role as the wife. One scene, a single take of her sitting alone in front of a mirror, speaks volumes about her desperation and yearning for affection.
Aside from the human drama, however, the film serves as an angry allegory about South Korea's relationship with the West, in particular France and the US (a common thread in recent South Korean cinema). Many overt references to globalisation, the People's Revolution and the struggle between blue and white collar classes make clear the fact that Shin has a point to make. Jae-moon and Ye-joon represent polar opposites - Jae-moon is an earthy, family-oriented man, frequently shown cleaning up the mess caused by others (particularly Ye-joon), while Ye-joon is driven by money and prestige. In the middle, Ji-sook seems to represent the aspirational working class who longs to shake off the routine of a workaday existence and move on to better things. The allegory is a clever device that adds further relevance to an already potent story.
My Friend & His Wife only confirms the fact that Korean cinema is alive and well and has a bright future.IMDB Reviewer
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My Friend and His Wife (2008)
My Friend and His Wife (2008)
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