On the surface, the South Korean movie Ardor is a movie about a bored housewife having a passionate affair, in revenge for her husband's unfaithfulness, featuring sensual love scenes. But, in the background, director Byun Young-joo tries to tell a woman's story about gaining power, about her ego and about her desire. The film has a feminist message.
Housewife Mi-heun thinks her life is pure happiness, with a loving husband and a beautiful daughter, until one Christmas Eve she finds her husband's mistress in her bed. The illusion of a perfect life is shattered.
To help mend their marriage, Mi-heun and her husband move to the countryside, where she meets In-gyu, a charming doctor who plays around with women. In-gyu proposes a game of love to Mi-heun and a passionate affair begins between them. The rule of the game is that as long as one of them doesn't say "I love you," the affair may continue. Mi-heun decides to create a series of lies for her husband, in the same way her husband used to lie to her.
PHOTO COURTESY OF HWA JAAN FILMS
Actors Kim Yoon-jin and Lee Jong-won both give convincing performances. Kim, in particular, renders a depth of acting, shifting from a pure and vulnerable wife to a woman of secrets, also gaining vigor in life from the dangerous extra-marital relationship. Kim was the North Korean assassin in action thriller Shiri (1999); and the selfish woman in Mr. Iron Palm (2002).
But it is Ardor that sees her give her most polished performance. By getting the most out of his leading actress, director Byun makes this movie a film by a woman for women.
It is not a sugar-coated tale, telling you to expect Mr. Right, but the voicing of a woman's desire and independence in a gender-unequal society such as South Korea. With this movie as her first dramatic film, Byun (who was a prolific documentary maker prior to the film) also shows a sophisticated depiction of women's psychology in her detailed narratives.
The only pitfall of the movie is that the development of the story is a little predictable. For those who are used to a Hollywood style-housewife-having-an-affair movie, one might be disappointed to find no surprises toward the end of the movie.
That US assistance was a model for Taiwan’s spectacular development success was early recognized by policymakers and analysts. In a report to the US Congress for the fiscal year 1962, former President John F. Kennedy noted Taiwan’s “rapid economic growth,” was “producing a substantial net gain in living.” Kennedy had a stake in Taiwan’s achievements and the US’ official development assistance (ODA) in general: In September 1961, his entreaty to make the 1960s a “decade of development,” and an accompanying proposal for dedicated legislation to this end, had been formalized by congressional passage of the Foreign Assistance Act. Two
March 31 to April 6 On May 13, 1950, National Taiwan University Hospital otolaryngologist Su You-peng (蘇友鵬) was summoned to the director’s office. He thought someone had complained about him practicing the violin at night, but when he entered the room, he knew something was terribly wrong. He saw several burly men who appeared to be government secret agents, and three other resident doctors: internist Hsu Chiang (許強), dermatologist Hu Pao-chen (胡寶珍) and ophthalmologist Hu Hsin-lin (胡鑫麟). They were handcuffed, herded onto two jeeps and taken to the Secrecy Bureau (保密局) for questioning. Su was still in his doctor’s robes at
Last week the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said that the budget cuts voted for by the China-aligned parties in the legislature, are intended to force the DPP to hike electricity rates. The public would then blame it for the rate hike. It’s fairly clear that the first part of that is correct. Slashing the budget of state-run Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) is a move intended to cause discontent with the DPP when electricity rates go up. Taipower’s debt, NT$422.9 billion (US$12.78 billion), is one of the numerous permanent crises created by the nation’s construction-industrial state and the developmentalist mentality it
Experts say that the devastating earthquake in Myanmar on Friday was likely the strongest to hit the country in decades, with disaster modeling suggesting thousands could be dead. Automatic assessments from the US Geological Survey (USGS) said the shallow 7.7-magnitude quake northwest of the central Myanmar city of Sagaing triggered a red alert for shaking-related fatalities and economic losses. “High casualties and extensive damage are probable and the disaster is likely widespread,” it said, locating the epicentre near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay, home to more than a million people. Myanmar’s ruling junta said on Saturday morning that the number killed had
RSS