se7en45
06-10-2005, 01:02 PM
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y197/se7en45/green.jpg
Noksaek Uija (aka Green Chair) - (Cheol-Su Park / 2005)
Writer Park Chul-Soo has based this romantic drama on the true story of a divorcee in her early thirties who had an affair with a youth who was nineteen. Under Korean law the age of consent is twenty and when their liaison was discovered the woman was arrested and sentenced to community service for her crime.
The film does not attempt to judge but rather observe the situation as the woman resumes her affair when she is released back into society. The use of comedy, surrealism, Greek theatre techniques and the clinical cinematography help to generate a sense timelessness and alienation.
Jung Suh, as she so effectively proved in Seom (aka The Isle), is electrifying. The creeping doubt and fear of loss are all brought to the boil in a wonderfully nuanced portrayal. Her beguiling eyes bubble with dark and brooding tragedy.
Some may be rather shocked at the frank prologue where the two lovers embrace tightly with swathes of golden light mingling with the sweat on their naked bodies. The film is littered with many such scenes but the director refrains from depicting wall-to-wall erotica. These scenes are always tender, joyful and some are so unearthly that they fly into the realms of metaphysics. However, this did not save the film from being shelved by the Korean distributors when they saw a preview. The movie is not sleazy but there was a genuine fear that it might cause offence to the conservative nature of Korean society.
However, film connoisseurs have woken up to this film and it has now been graced with a lavish Starmax DVD presentation. The film is housed inside a sturdy slipcase which resembles a tearstained vellum parchment. The Amaray case holds two discs, the first disc contains the film in a clean 1:85 (Anamorphic) transfer with a choice of either Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround or Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo with optional English subtitles. The second disc contains around 90 minutes of extras such as a documentary and two trailers, one theatrical and one adult.
* * * / * * * * *
Above Average.
Noksaek Uija (aka Green Chair) - (Cheol-Su Park / 2005)
Writer Park Chul-Soo has based this romantic drama on the true story of a divorcee in her early thirties who had an affair with a youth who was nineteen. Under Korean law the age of consent is twenty and when their liaison was discovered the woman was arrested and sentenced to community service for her crime.
The film does not attempt to judge but rather observe the situation as the woman resumes her affair when she is released back into society. The use of comedy, surrealism, Greek theatre techniques and the clinical cinematography help to generate a sense timelessness and alienation.
Jung Suh, as she so effectively proved in Seom (aka The Isle), is electrifying. The creeping doubt and fear of loss are all brought to the boil in a wonderfully nuanced portrayal. Her beguiling eyes bubble with dark and brooding tragedy.
Some may be rather shocked at the frank prologue where the two lovers embrace tightly with swathes of golden light mingling with the sweat on their naked bodies. The film is littered with many such scenes but the director refrains from depicting wall-to-wall erotica. These scenes are always tender, joyful and some are so unearthly that they fly into the realms of metaphysics. However, this did not save the film from being shelved by the Korean distributors when they saw a preview. The movie is not sleazy but there was a genuine fear that it might cause offence to the conservative nature of Korean society.
However, film connoisseurs have woken up to this film and it has now been graced with a lavish Starmax DVD presentation. The film is housed inside a sturdy slipcase which resembles a tearstained vellum parchment. The Amaray case holds two discs, the first disc contains the film in a clean 1:85 (Anamorphic) transfer with a choice of either Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround or Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo with optional English subtitles. The second disc contains around 90 minutes of extras such as a documentary and two trailers, one theatrical and one adult.
* * * / * * * * *
Above Average.