Hyo-sup is a second-class writer whose sole comfort is to write and to love Bo-kyung, a married woman. Bo-kyung, a housewife in her 30s, believes she can realize her previous aspirations and tries to escape from her life with Hyo-sup. Dong-woo is Bo-kyung's husband, a cowardly and ordinary businessman who always suspects his wife's unfaithfulness. Min-jae is a ticket seller at a cinema, dreaming of becoming Hyo-sup's wife. Hypocrisy, worldly desires, and complex relations of these four characters either lead viewers into a world of fantasy or make them shudder with disgust.
The character Hyo Seob sums up what it is to be a struggling writer who at one point in his career was not only a successful writer, but also a university lecturer. However, it seems that although he is poor in monetary means he is rich in love. He in fact has two women who love him: A 24-year-old former co-worker and a very attractive married woman. However, even with these strings of affection, Hyo Seob still loses control and repeatedly gets drunk which leads to not only physical harm, but also damages his already stagnate career. The only thing that seems to give Hyo Seob even moderately happy is that the married woman, Bo Kyeong, has ceased having sexual relations with her husband which gives him sole possession of at least that.
Bo Kyeong comes off to be a very unhappy woman. There is no affection between her and her husband and the only glimmers of light in her life centers around Hyo Seob, who is "cheating" on her with a young woman 11 years his junior.
Dong Wu, Bo Kyeong's husband, spends most of his time working. He tries to keep a cool facade, but a few times in the film his crafted mask breaks. Because he is no longer having sex with his wife, Dong Wu looks to prostitutes to fill his desires. While on one trip he has sex with a prostitute and does not use a condom which causes much tension throughout the remainder of the film.
The young woman who is dating Hyo Seob, in my opinion, is the saddest character in the film. She gives all of her love to a man, who although a tad affectionate, seems to think of her as little more than a vessel for his sexual desires and a proofreader. She works a number of small jobs just to make ends meet. Even doing voices for pornographic cartoons. One of the bleakest moments in the film is when she goes to see Hyo Seob on his birthday and Bo Kyeong is there. This scene ends with Hyo Seob slapping her viciously several times while she continues to state how much she loves him.
Cheating Notes
The novelist fucks the businessman's wife in a hotel room (13:15). We partially see her panties slide down her legs as he takes them off, him sucking her toes, her bras getting removed, but basically, its' strategic nudity only.
Another wife and her husband have sex in a missionary position (44:45). She gets nude and moans loud and there is pumping action.
The cheating wife's businessman husband has sex with a prostitute (52:42). She rides him and also gets nude.
The novelist and his girlfriend, a former co-worker who is 11 years his junior, have a big fight because she comes to his place unannounced and finds the businessman's wife there. Because of this, she finally lets her admirer fuck her (1:21:31).
(Spoiler!)
At 1:45:26, we see the novelist and his girlfriend's naked corpses at his place, covered in blood. Sitting beside them is the girlfriend's admirer, with a knife in his hand. It seems that he thought that she was already his girlfriend after she slept with him and got enraged when he found her in bed with the novelist.
Summary
Director Hong Sang-soo's movies never fail to entertain me even if they are dialog-driven. He likes to incorporate the cheating wife/gf scenarios in them a lot. As to the hottest of his films in terms of cheating, I think On the Occasion of Remembering the Turning Gate (2002) is still the best, but all of his cheating wife/gf films have something erotic and precious in them in one way or another.
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