301, 302

Very dark and mysterious film that interweaves a relationship between two neighbors, and a present day investigation. The screenplay is pondersome, and yet deliberate, in feeding (pardon the pun) the viewer certain amounts of information at a time. We get to know the characters, and exceptionally so, their quirks. The atmosphere is very dark, and claustrophobic, which adds so much to the film. The memories are haunting. It would be very hard not to talk about this movie after viewing it. Creepy, and at times, rather darkly funny, 301/302 is an offbeat choice very worthy of your consideration. Recommended.

A thin but attractive writer has suddenly gone missing and the only suspect appears to be her comely neighbor in Cheol-su Park's "301/302." The central fascination of "301/302" deals with two decidedly different women – one an extrovert, one an introvert – whose lives have been corrupted by food: the chef (Apt. 301) based most of her husband's affections and later her own inadequacies of providing exceptional meals while the anorexic writer (Apt. 302) can't shed the memories of her sexually abusive father – who worked as a butcher – and refuses to eat as a consequence. Now divorced, 301 meets 302 and transfers her love to her new neighbor, trying against all odds to get the thin, pale woman to eat her meals.

The film has several plot inconsistencies that are never cleared up. 302 appears to have virtually no contact with anyone except for the occasional telephone call from a mysterious editor/writer/friend, but yet the very morning after her disappearance the police have gone looking for her. An unnamed building resident last witnessed 302 going into 301's apartment, but the hallways are always empty and void of other people. Then, in the film's final moments, it becomes clear that 301 has adopted some of 302's physical appearance, cutting her hair to match that of the thin writer; given her desire to eat and eat and eat, why would she suddenly choose to adopt the looks of one who abhorred eating? However, in the broader recipe, these points aren't significant. What matters most is the relationship these two women have with one another and their past lives. Their respective histories are told in effective if not alarming flashbacks, and, despite their differences, it becomes thematically clear why they would be inevitably drawn to one another in the unique environment created by the filmmaker. The viewer can see the conclusion coming, but, like preparing a good meal, it's really more about eating than it is the cooking.

It's an odd relationship, but – if not predictably – these two women are destined to be together. Only 301 can fix 302's problems … with a solution that isn't exactly a five-star dessert.

Psychological Foreign (Korean) Thriller

Stimulating cinematography, foreign artistic humor, unconventional yet identifiable characters, cohesive character development and interaction, slow start.. interesting movie.

Humorously misleading packaging (US Version) DVD case reads something along the lines of, "food, sex, and humor" with an image of lovemaking and Korean food. Yes, these are the core themes of 301, 302 but to label this movie as just that for an unprepared audience.. well that's like serving up a plate of stinky tofu and describing it as "healthy Asian food." I absolutely love it, it's genius.

This South Korean offbeat thriller won the 1995 Grand Bell award in its native country.Song-Hee lives in room 301 and Yun-hee in room 302 of the New Hope Apartments.After meeting,they realize they have opposing but eerily complementary neuroses:Song-Hee likes to cook,and Yun-hee hates food.And so begins a strange friendship that attracts scrutiny when one of them disappears."301,302" is not as disturbing as it's reputed to be.Even slightly horrifying climax is predictable and not surprising at all.The pace is extremely slow and the film becomes quickly boring.Some viewers may be disgusted by a huge numbers of close-ups of food,but I wasn't offended in the least.Still the director Cheol-su Park draws some interesting parallels between sex and food.Overall,if you are a fan of Asian horror give this one a look.6 out of 10.

Eun-jin Pang is a gourmet chef who lives in apartment 301 and Sin-Hye Hwang is an bulimic writer who lives in apartment 302. Hwang disappears and Pang is interviewed by a detective. Pang was the last person who saw Hwang alive, but she says she has no idea where her neighbor is. Flashbacks reveal a different story. This is an entertaining, lurid thriller with a couple of very good performances and some awesome looking food (and some not so awesome looking food). Cheol-su Park's direction is quite good, especially the excellent composition. He recently was struck by a car while crossing the street and passed away. 301/302 was one of the first South Korean films to be distributed in the United States.