|
Cast:
Shim
Eun-ha
Lee
Sung-jae
Ahn
Sung-kee
Song
Seon-mi
Ryu
Seung-su
Producer:
Lee
Choon-yeon
Director:
Lee
Jeong-hyang
Score:
  
|
ART
MUSEUM BY THE ZOO
AKA:
N/A
Year:
1999 Reviewer: Andrew
Saroch
Chul-Soo
leaves the military to be with his beloved fiancée,
travelling to her apartment to give a surprise. He lovingly
cleans it, prepares a dinner for her and patiently awaits her
return. Unfortunately, Chul-Soo is the recipient of the
surprise as he discovers that his fiancee has moved out and
the current occupant, Hi-Chun, is not impressed by the effort.
Eventually, Chul-Soo contacts his errant girlfriend and learns
that she is about to marry another man, much to his utter
dismay. Taking pity on his situation, Hi-Chun decides to let
him stay at the apartment temporarily until he can get back on
his feet. Though the heart-broken stranger is initially
critical of his day-dreaming host, the two begin to understand
each other's predicament and start to collaborate on a script
together that distills together their personal experiences.
First-time
director Lee Jeong-hyang fashions a mellow romantic comedy
from a popular conceit - two people who start off resenting
one another, but gradually become friends. Interestingly
though, this Korean hit never really throws its stars into a
romantic maelstrom even though the clichés seem to indicate
that it's leading pair are heading into familiar territory.
Lee Jeong-hyang. Instead, the onus remains on the thin line
between their day-to-day dealings with each other, their
reluctant friendship and their joint screenplay. All three
elements are fused together to create an enticing, though
flawed, semi-romantic comedy.
As
with many accomplished films, the gentle pace hides a skilful
narrative hook that keeps its audience patiently awaiting the
pay-off. In the case of 'Art Museum By The Zoo', the hook is
the vast difference between the leading pair; Hi-Chun is the
dreamy-eyed fantasist while her sparring partner is the
bitter, critical realist. The gulf between the two is
emphasised enough for the inevitable reconciliation to be
eagerly anticipated. The one drawback is that Chul-Soo is
painted as such a disagreeable character that the melting of
his icy demeanour appears hard to swallow. As he spends most
of the first half savagely attacking his host, the question
arises as to why she doesn't evict him. It's therefore
difficult to sympathise with his plight, though the eternal
optimism of Hi-Chun helps us ignore this rather incisive flaw.
Korean
cinema has embraced one of the oldest genres and continues to
produce variations on it that run from the depressingly
average to the sublime. 'Art Museum By The Zoo' seeks the
comfort of the generic conventions while also gently
subverting the audiences expectations of the production. Ably
supported by popular actress Shim Eun-ha and newcomer Lee
Sung-jae, director Lee Jeong-hyang manages to generate enough
of an ambience to make 'Art Museum By The Zoo' a more than
pleasant diversion. It may be accused of heading towards a
dead-end, but the journey is where the enjoyment lies.
|
