Motel Seoninjang

"Within limitations one will find true mastership", as the saying goes, and boy, does it fit the bill here ! Cut into 4 episodes which, on first look, are but loosely connected, and set in but one room, 407 of Motel Cactus, this film is pretty much boxed in from the outset.

Performance of the actors and the camera-work are so breathtakingly wonderful though, that these limitations become strong points ! Mood is instantaneously created and crawls under the viewer's skin; the joys and sorrows of the different characters hits home immediately.

Cinematographer Christopher Doyle refuses to see any limits here, and opens up his magic box completely: focus pulls, blinking lights, mirror shots, subtle play with shadows and burning out light sources, hand-held camera-work ... Anything goes and this creates an exciting setting for the small yet strong peeks into the lives of the visitors of Room 407 of Motel Cactus.

The best way to describe this film is that it's like a puzzle that you have to piece together in order to see the overall picture. Unfortunately, once all the pieces are in place you discover that the picture is like an abstract painting which is open to interpretation. Because of that, it is quite possible that I have missed a hidden nuance or misinterpreted an event which changes the overall message. That said, feel free to disregard anything that you don't feel is pertinent. Also be advised that in order to try to explain the meaning of this film it is necessary to reveal large portions of it. Therefore, if you haven't seen the movie and want to figure it out on your own please disregard any further comments. Having said that, as far as I can tell this is a story told in 4 parts. All of the parts are held together by a single thread in that everything happens in Room 407 of a cheap hotel in Seoul known as the "Motel Cactus". The first story centers on an attractive woman named "Choi Hyun-Joo" (Hee-Kyung Jin) who is in love with a married man, "Lee Mi-Ku" (Woo-Sung Jung). They celebrate her birthday by having passionate sex but after everything is said and done both of them know that their relationship is coming to an end. The second story features two college students who are working on a film for their school project. One is a naive young woman named "Seo-Kyung" (Kim Seung Hyun) who apparently loses her virginity to the other student, "Joon-Ki" (Woong-Soo Han). Whether or not this was part of the film project is not known to me but it appears that she regrets it afterward. The third story reintroduces Choi Hyun-Joo who is melancholy over her failed relationship with Lee Mi-Ku and has returned to the same hotel and reserved the same room-presumably in an effort to relive her memories. She gets drunk at the bar and ends up having a sexual encounter with another man named "Kim Suk-Tae" (Shin-Yang Park). While he is sleeping she gets dressed and leaves without saying a word. The fourth story revolves around a young divorced woman named Min Hee-Soo (Mi-Yeon Lee) who still has feelings for a former boyfriend-who just happens to be the same man in the previous episode, Kim Suk-Tae. And although they each want to reconnect there seems to be too much that has happened between them for either of them to reconcile. Whether the sexual encounter crystallized this or not isn't quite clear but they both seem to realize it all the same. In short, this is a film about loneliness which is only temporarily relieved by sex. Afterward, things are no better. The cinematography was excellent, the acting was good, the actresses were all quite beautiful, but the story was confusing and the script left much to be desired. Now, I have no doubt this movie would fit in rather well at certain film festivals due to the artistic approach that was taken. But I doubt it would satisfy a general movie audience and my rating takes that into account.

Rain on windows, running water on glass shower stalls, a waterfall painting under glass with simulated falling water: this is the unifying visual motif of this film. Almost every shot involves reflections in wet glass, or is shot through a rainy window. In many films, water is used to signify cleansing or purification, but here, people wash, bath, get rained on and do not become clean. Indeed, the wet glass feels more like an oily slick of something sinful or dooming. Four stories play out in succession at the hotel: a couple with commitment issues comes to have sex, a pair of college students arrive to shoot an 'art' film, two strangers who met in a bar come in to get out of the rain and a divorced woman meets an old flame.

All of the stories are sad and fatalistic. People arrive at the hotel with flaws and failings and leave with them intact. Sex is a temporary distraction which leads nowhere and changes nothing. This is the film's message and the stories are well written and acted but the downbeat tone makes for a somewhat difficult viewing experience.

here's a nice alternative. Christopher Doyle's incredible cinematography lends this film a certain inherent value as a Wong Kar-Wai supplement, but in all fairness the aesthetics can only take it so far. Although it is my no means less than a very good film, it's very concept (four short segments taking place in the same motel room) carries with it certain limitations. Whereas Wong Kar-Wai is always able to get very deep down into his characters, this film doesn't have time to allow it's characters much room to develop, so there is a certain surface-level detachment to the entire proceedings. We see these couples (and they are photographed exquisitely), but we don't really get to know them.

It is true that some reviewers have written great things about this film. However I have something different to express regarding "Motel Seoninjang". There is no doubt that it presents a novel concept. The idea of showing a film made within a "film" is fine. This is because Park Ki Yong tried his hand at depicting something different. However there is a serious problem with this film as it runs out of steam too soon. This is because there is very little coherence between what is being filmed and what the director intended to portray. As far as the erotic elements are concerned, to my mind they are too fake, arty and simply pretentious. This is not only my reaction but many other viewers felt it too when they saw this film at an Asian Film Festival. A similar hard to understand style can be found in Park Ki Yong's another film called "Camels". Sorry to disappoint all animal lovers but there were no camels at all in that particular film.