YONHAP NEWS

(Movie Review) Insightful and subtle, "The Day After" explores life after divorce

By Shin Hae-in
SEOUL, Feb. 27 (Yonhap) -- Anyone can hit bottom, but not everyone can admit to it: some prefer to go on believing they are superior to others burdened with similar circumstances. In the end, that very delusion becomes the only thing that drives them forward.

On the surface, "The Day After" is a simple film about a divorcee trying to adapt to new ways of life after being abandoned by her husband. But as the film unfolds, viewers experience the character's denial and self-deception -- darker human emotions that make her life more complicated and lonesome than it already is.

   Director Lee Suk-Gyung, a former professor, proves with "After" that women tell women's stories best. As she met the film's first local audience on Thursday, she explained that the film is largely autobiographical.

   "People are so used to hiding their feelings of hurt, betrayal and loss, and putting on an act of being fine, well and superior," she said. "I stopped playing this game for a moment to make a simple observation of my own life. The process led to a movie."

   The independent film, made with a tiny budget of 40 million won (US$26,000), won high praise at this year's Berlin International Festival, especially from female critics. A production of the 2008 film project of the Korean Academy of Film Arts (KOFIC), Lee's feature debut also received the Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema (NETPAC) award -- a prize given by the nonprofit international organization aimed at discovering new cinematic talents in the region.

   Bo-young (Kim Bo-young) is a divorced, somewhat neurotic woman in her 40s who lives in a dingy Seoul apartment with her teenage daughter. A self-proclaimed intellectual and novelist, she scratches out a living by giving lectures on literature at community centers.

   After receiving an emotionless message from her ex-husband telling her that he is getting remarried, Bo-young travels out of town to give a lecture to insurance salespeople. While on her trip, she bunks with another divorcee, Jeong-nam (Ji Jeong-nam), who is animated and outgoing -- opposite from Bo-young in most respects.

As Jeong-nam vents about her abusive ex-husband, her sexual encounters with a stranger and her unbearable, nagging mother, Bo-young keeps her life to herself.

   In one especially poignant scene, Jeong-nam -- after downing several bottles of beer -- confronts her roommate on why she won't reveal her feelings, pushing her to "spill it."

   Annoyed with each other, the two women turn the lights out and try to fall asleep. Instead, they end up crying softly in the dark over their own unhealed hearts, and Bo-young begins to encounter her own feelings for the first time.

   Alongside the main narrative, director Lee brings in episodes from the life of Bo-young's lonely daughter, who finds comfort in the company of her blind grandfather. Despite his limited eyesight, the old man walks along busy streets and rides subways and buses by himself, and brings a small smile to the teenager's usually expressionless face.

   Lee avoids superfluous details in developing the plot, accentuating the dry reality. She used the actresses' real names and cast her own daughter and blind father, making the film even more personal.

   "The Day After" will be screened at CJ CGV Apgujeongdong in southern Seoul from March 12 with three other KOFIC project films.

   hayney@yna.co.kr
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