Saenghwaleui Balgyeon (2002)

Member Rating:

A young actor, Gyung-soo (Kim Sang-kyung) is dealing with the failure of the film that marked his first starring role. The director, angry at Gyung-soo for demanding his pay despite the film's failure, tells him, "Even though it's difficult to be a human being, let's not turn into monsters, okay?" Depressed and lonely, Gyung-soo travels to Chuncheon to meet an old friend, Seong-wu (Kim Hak-sun). The two spend a lot of time drinking and carousing, which eases the tension that has grown between them. Then Seong-wu introduces Gyung-soo to his dancer friend, Myung-sook (Yeh Ji-won), who seems to have been infatuated with Gyung-soo even before they met. One drunken night, they share a motel room. Myung-sook professes her love, but Gyung-soo doesn't share her feelings. To make matters worse, he learns that Seong-wu has secretly loved Myung-sook for a long time. Gyung-soo is still depressed as he boards a train back to Seoul. On the train, he spots a beautiful woman, Sun-young (Chu Sang-mi), and they talk. She's seen him perform on-stage, and compliments his acting. He feels drawn to her. He gets off the train when she does, and follows her to her house. The next day, he knocks on the door. He discovers that she's married, but continues to pursue her. They go out to eat, and she tells him they've met before. The dialogue in Hong Sang-soo's naturalistic romantic comedy Turning Gate was mostly improvised by the actors. The film was shown at the 2002 New York Film Festival. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi