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A Good Lawyer's Wife (Baramnan Gajok) South Korea
After shocking MIFF audiences in 2001 with his forthright look at teen life in Tears, acclaimed director Im Sang-soo returns with A Good Lawyer's Wife. Peering inside the dynamics of a family in which almost everyone is having an illicit affair, in addition to a personal crisis, this award-winning drama explores the mores of middle-class South Korean life with astute precision.
Ho-jeong leads a sexually unfilled life with her hard-working, yet unfaithful, lawyer husband. Resigned to her husband's philandering, Ho-jeong has settled into a routine of caring for her precocious adopted son and eccentric, alcoholic father-in-law. One day she notices a teenage boy spying on her. Following him into a cinema, Ho-jeong is initially shocked by his advances, but soon warms to this 16-year-old and embarks on a torrid affair. As the threads of this family start to unravel, shocking and darkly humourous events pepper their lives, threatening to break them apart forever.
Spearheaded by a powerful and daring performance by Moon So-ri as the reinvigorated heroine, who astonished audiences last year with her remarkable work in Oasis, A Good Lawyer's Wife screened to acclaim at Venice, Toronto and Pusan Film Festivals.
D/S Im Sang-soo P Shim Bo-kyung, Shin Chui WS E Pictures L Korean w/Engllish subtitles TD 35mm/Col/2003/104mins
Im Sang-soo was born in Seoul, South Korea in 1962. Films include: Girls Night Out (1998), Tears (MIFF 2001).