"Plum Blossom" is a strange coming-of-age story from South Korea. It is incorrectly labelled in some quarters as a soft-core pornographic film, which is incorrect. There is no real eroticism in the movie, and most of the nudity is male.
The plot concerns two teenagers who pass through high school and university together as best friends, and the sexual liaisons they have on the way. Jay-ho changes schools and is immediately targeted by a beautiful teenage girl who attempts to seduce him. He is wary of her at first, and is then interrupted mid-coitus by her mother, who chases him away. They finally manage to seal the deal, but the girl's behaviour grows increasingly erratic, and Jay-ho, never particularly interested in the relationship, pulls away with drastic consequences.
Su-in, on the other hand, falls in love with his teacher, but we don't see too much of their relationship, and I didn't care about it much. Both boys go on to other relationships, of apparently meaningless sex, until one of the two falls for a nurse who has perhaps the strongest personality of any character in the movie, which might be just what he needs.
You might remember I said that most of the nudity is male? The boys regularly hang out together in their underwear, and in one scene, one bathes with the door open so that his pal can watch, who either pretends to start masturbating, or really does. Further, when they move out of home they share a room, and think nothing of having sex with the other in the room. I was surprised when this strange thread of homoeroticism never went anywhere. Maybe it's cultural, but it seemed deliberate that they are a little too comfortable with each other, and I was waiting for a relation to "blossom" between the two of them. I hope this isn't considered a spoiler by anyone, but it never did.
In fact, the movie as a whole is rather distancing, which is why I describe it as "strange". For something like this, you need to get into the heads of the characters, but it never feels like you really do. I wasn't even able to connect the dots between some events in the story and some of the behaviour of the characters, as I see some people have done online.
Yet I still recommend "Plum Blossom". Why? Because sex has to be one of the most lied about topics in the world, and movies should be a place where truth is told about it... and yet is so often not. Therefore it was greatly refreshing to see a movie about teenage boys in which it is the girl who is the initiator of the sexual relationship, as they generally are in first sexual experiences - and in which the boy is not even that interested for most of their encounter. I wish there were more movies that were this truthful, but when they make them, I hope they do it with more warmth than the creators of "Plum Blossom" used.
