Une femme libre

It's all happening here. A bored couple have various extramarital flirtations in a torrid atmosphere of dodgy financial dealings and lust-filled entanglements. Meanwhile the family as a family is rather left to look after itself. The acting, given that it is melodrama, is fairly good and the settings are entirely convincing. You might not like the Korean (or indeed any) version of America in the fifties but it is believable and indeed fascinating. The plot bounces along from one flirtation or crisis to another, while the female characters alternately support each other or eye each other competitively. There are resonances from a culture undergoing change and real issues and dilemmas, like all good melodramas, for the characters. What is the role of women? Is life about appearances or something more? What is the balance between thinking of the future and enjoying yourself while you can? Who is exploiting who in business, employment and relationships? Perhaps we're all using each other?

This film begins just a few years after the end of the Korean War with a woman by the name of "Oh Seon-yeong" (Na-yeong An) asking her husband "Jang Tae-yun" (Am Park) whether it would be okay with him if she accepts a job offer at a nearby store in Seoul. Considering that he works full time as a professor at a local university and that they are raising a young child, he doesn't particularly like the idea, but he eventually relents and she eagerly starts working not too long afterward. It's during this time that one of her friends, "Choi Yun-ju" (Kyeong-hie No) encourages her to join a lavish social club which she believes will boost her self-esteem. To her chagrin, during the very first meeting she is told that the club is hosting a dancing festivity in the near future and she is subsequently pressured into attending. Not knowing how to dance, she bashfully asks her next-door neighbor, "Shin Chun-ho") Min Lee to teach her. Being somewhat of a ladies' man, he quickly accepts her proposal with the secret intention of eventually seducing her at the appropriate time. Meanwhile, Oh Seon-yeong's boss, "Han Tae-suk" (Dong-won Kim) also becomes attracted to her and uses his position to further his own romantic ambitions. Considering that her husband hasn't paid much attention to her for quite a while, Oh Seon-yeong is quite pleased at this sudden interest in her by both Shin Chun-ho and Han Tae-suk and, before she knows it, she is spending a great deal of time with one or the other. Likewise, her husband has also recently met an attractive young woman named "Park Eun-hee (Mi-hie Yang) and he is also feeling somewhat enamored of her as well. The problem, however, is that the longer both Oh Seon-yeong and Jang Tae-yun spend with their new acquaintances, the more their marriage suffers--and soon both of them will have to make a choice whether to stay married or not. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this film tried to encapsulate some of the social pressures South Korean society experienced during the immediate aftermath of the Korean War with the integration of Western concepts featuring quite prominently in that regard. I dare say that, considering that the South Korean film industry was in its infancy during this time, this effort turned out relatively well, in my opinion. Admittedly, I didn't particularly care for the rather ambiguous ending but, even so, I enjoyed this movie for the most part and I have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.