| |
When a film opens with five carefree schoolmates, laughing, linking arms and having their photograph taken on a sunny day, it's inevitable that their friendship is set for a stormy period. And so it proves in Jae-eun Jeong's debut feature which charts the lives and relationships of the quintet after they leave education and begin learning about the world of work, wages and increasing remoteness from the innocence of youth.
The film's strength lies in its characters and setting. Taking their first, frosty steps away from the sanctuary of school, all of the main figures seem like lost children, each faking a semblance of confidence in ways which simultaneously expose their strengths and weaknesses.
Hae-joo acts as the group's nominal leader, selfishly putting her whims above the needs of her friends and emerging from school determined to fill her life with beautiful people and expensive clothes. Shortly after securing a reasonable job in a brokerage firm she characteristically reflects on her ambition, "I can't live my life running errands all the time. I'll fix my nose, learn English and I will definitely succeed." Of the other four friends, a pair of twins are present largely for comic relief while the compassionate Tae-hee and Ji-young act as a counterpoint to Hae-joo's blinkered vanity.
In terms of setting, the action unfolds in an eye-catchingly dismal city in South Korea, ostensibly scarred by shantytowns and over-lit bars playing over-loud music. "Inchon is on the outskirts of Seoul, the capital city," explained Jae-eun Jeong. "I felt that this matched my characters who are also outsiders."
The script never sacrifices honesty for sentimentality, raising this drama above a standard coming-of-age story. It's a sharp, poignant reminder which accepts that everyone changes and that those smiling friends on the school photograph, once so close and well loved, will invariably grow distant and half-forgotten.
Gavin Collinson
|
|
Attack the Gas Station! (Sang-Jin Kim, 1999) 
