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Starring
:
Kim
Ji-soo
Hwang
Jeon-min
Seo
Dong-win
Kim
Hye-ok
Lee
Dae-yeon
Director
:
Lee
Yoon-ki
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THIS
CHARMING GIRL (2005)
Reviewed
by Andrew Saroch
Jeong-hye
(Kim Ji-soo) is a young Korean woman whose solitary life
revolves around her mundane job at a local post office and a
very monotonous home life. This lonely existence is
necessitated by her inability to form proper relationships, a
sad result of a repressed trauma. Despite this, Jeong-hye
seems content to slowly potter around her small flat,
socialise with a few work colleagues and humour her aunt when
she phones to badger her about her life. A few events conspire
to bring back the repressed thoughts that have permanently
affected Jeong-hye, foremost among these being a lunch
appointment with her ex-husband who reveals that he is getting
married to someone else. She also begins to develop a
tentative bond with an equally fragile writer who regularly
frequents the post office to send away his manuscripts.
However, it is only when she can confront what has happened in
the past that she can achieve any kind of harmony in her life.
A
challenging, difficult drama, 'This Charming Girl' is a film
that centres on one young woman's battle against the past.
Such a familiar idea may not sound such an off-kilter
prospect, but Lee Yoon-Ki's execution ensures that this is a
very pensive viewing experience. Although the said theme may
be what underpins this narrative, the director concentrates
the camera on his lonely and isolated protagonist with her
day-to-day existence. Asian cinema is never afraid to show its
characters as detached figures who, while having a need for
friendship and companionship, struggle to integrate into
society. Such characterisation makes figures like Jeong-hye
deeply sympathetic, but never relegates her to just being a
pathetic figure in need of our patronisation.
While
the incident that scars the eponymous character may not be too
difficult to telegraph, it's gradual exposure due to fractured
flashbacks and what is intimated by background figures makes
it especially powerful. Such a process also helps us to
understand Jeong-hye before all of the past truths are fully
revealed, something that enables us to see the troubled life
of people who exist in our day-to-day environment. Lee Yoon-ki
builds up this heightened realism through focusing on the
emptiness of her world and the way it barely touches our own.
As
with Ann Hui's 'Summer
Snow', 'This Charming Girl' has a
pragmatic style that favours diagetic music to create its
ambience. Even when the soundtrack is external, it is a very
subtle arrangement that helps retain the mystique of this very
delicate creation. Such
consideration to detail ensures that Lee Yoon-ki's work rises
above the more run-of-the-mill dissections of similar themes;
this is not the commercial, Hollywood-ised execution, but an
honest and poignant production that has the power to live
beyond the constraints of the running time. Occasionally the
minimalist style gives way to a touch of self-conscious
steadycam work, but this unfortunate trait is mostly avoided
and such unnecessary tricks are in the minority. Instead, the
majority of the running time is devoted to young woman's
struggle with her inner-demons and loneliness, a story that
thrives on a lack of the trappings that afflict higher profile
films.
Though
the ponderous development of the storyline makes 'This
Charming Girl' a piece that relies on the patience of the
viewer, it is difficult to see how it could be handled any
other way. Lee Yoon-ki's devotion to the routine of his chief
protagonist is repetitive and almost wearing at times, but it
successfully gives us some idea of the mundanity of
Jeong-hye's life and how there is clearly something under the
surface of this interesting character. The fact that we are
willing to sit through such scenes and be drawn into the
storyline rather than distanced is a credit to the care the
director takes and the value of the leading woman. Jeong-hye
is superbly played by Kim Ji-soo who allows us into her life
and to see that, under the lonely veneer, she has so much to
offer someone. Each look that Kim focuses into the
middle-distance is filled with so much untapped emotion that
it is impossible to take your eyes off the gravitas of the
leading lady.
'This
Charming Girl' is quite unlike any other film that tackles a
similar subject. The 'Charming Girl' is not an eternal victim
and yet her unspoken loneliness is painful to watch. The
viewer is tantalised with moments when Jeong-hye seems so
close to befriending the nervy writer who enters her
workplace, but even here the man behind the lens does not
offer easy resolutions. Instead, this is a drama that leaves
many questions unanswered and relies on its audience to work
for conclusions. It takes the said effort, but 'This Charming
Girl' is a rewarding insight into tragedy and the gradual
attempts to find closure in one's life.
Rating:
 
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