Tonight I watched The Art of Seduction, with Son Yeh Jin and Song Il Guk; not sure what I was expecting except a comedy. Unfortunately, it failed to live up to that. What a disappointment They play Han Ji Won and Seo Min Joon, two players/con artists/liars who deceive their way into and out of relationships.
*spoilers*
In the beginning, they size each up as the next conquest, something 'different' from their past flings. It's clearly a war of egos--he gets sex out of his game, she gets money and expensive things. There really isn't anything likeable about the two characters, though Son Yeh Jin does her best to appear attractive, if only at a superficial level--the spoiled, self-centered hot chick who's hotness overwhelms everything else.
When she is brought to a hospital after pretending to be sick, he takes the opportunity to get back at her. But she gets her revenge by inducing a seizure, after slipping some drug into his pepsi. Not very funny; she does wonder if she went a bit too far, but if that happened in real life, she would be in jail, not pondering what she should do next to move the 'relationship' along.
It appears that she does fall in love with him, but why? It's not clear what exactly she is looking for in a guy--she's definitely not looking for a stable relationship, as she does not talk about it in those terms. He's just a trophy, just as she is just a trophy for him--but trophies in what ways? The movie never makes their motivations clear. Later, when they end up in Cheju, she tests him, but why does she want him to prove himself? For what? To show that he's worth wasting time over? Does she really get that much from having a guy wrapped around her finger--obeying her and seeking to fulfill her wishes, and spending money on her?
After he gets sick after running around the rain trying to procure this and that for her, she decides to reward him with a kiss and they end up having relations. So this worldly woman who should understand what is to her advantage and what isn't decides to have (casual) sex with a guy she knows is a player?
But wait, she decides to leave the hotel because she doesn't know how to proceed, leaving a note that says "to be continued?" What sort of assurance would she have that the guy wouldn't treat her as a very expensive prostitute and break off all contact after that? A real guy player, like Seo's father, is mostly after the sex--why should the son be different from that father? Is the storyteller telling us that he's been looking for true love all this time? Is the movie suggesting that there is some sort of parity between male and female players? Because if it is, the writer of the script is a moron. In real life most people know that when it comes to sex, males have the advantage in so far as it is easier for them to disconnect emotionally from the act--a female player, I presume, attempts to get as much out of the guy before she gives him anything in return. So I am assuming the sex is just casual for her, since they end up parting, recognizing that they are players and that they won't change. But very few women treat sex so casually in real life--those who do usually have deep issues.
At the end, it's hinted that they will end up together, but what is explicit is that they both acknowledge each other as equals who have being a player in common. So two selfish people might learn about real love through each other? It's worse than Untold Scandal... truly 'unbelievable.' (And if this is the sort of transformation that is being portrayed--it's done very poorly, especially for him--it takes place instantaneously, without any development.) The movie is also a bit vulgar in its treatment of certain subjects, which makes one wonder what sort of coarsening effect pop culture and other forms of entertainment are having on Korean society.
I have no idea why Son Yeh Jin decided to do this movie, but it makes me doubt the image she tries to put across. This movie is another step down for Korean cinema and pop culture in general. My guess that the second half of this year will be even more lacking in quality films, and that 2007 will be worse.
Don't waste time on this one.
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