It's not surprising that Kim Eung-su, director of "Yokmang (Desire)", was a psychology major in his university years. His film, which opens on Friday, takes on a dysfunctional sexual triangle and lays bare the misdirected rage, desire and denial within it like a veteran Freudian.
Two-thirds of this twisted triangle is comprised of Kyu-min (Ahn Tae-gun) and his wife Rosa (Su Ah), whose marriage troubles seem to go even deeper than the fact that Kyu-min is secretly bisexual. Rosa finds this out in the beginning sequences of the film, during which she secretly tails her husband and discovers him in the apartment of another man: Leo (Lee Dong-gyu), a young male prostitute.
From there begins a psychological dance full of moves that teeter between black humor and a nightmare. Accidentally meeting in a host bar, Rosa and Leo end up getting into a disturbing sexual relationship/power struggle, but as the film progresses, it becomes increasingly unclear as to what they're trying to achieve. In fact, the more we see of "Desire", the more we are puzzled by the behaviors of the characters. Like last year's film "Jiltu-nun Na-ui Him (Jealousy Is My Middle Name)", "Desire" takes what could be a simple act of revenge and sends it off on different tangents, each more psychotic than the previous.
Through it all, the characters, particularly the husband, try their best to maintain a layer of normalcy. But these acts of denial and repressions make the psychotic ruptures ? such as in the dinner party scene ? that much more powerful. The overall effect is akin to a painful anxiety dream that shows you a little more than you may wish to admit to yourself. But as in a dream, the meaning of the admission stays just out of reach.
Complementing the overall queerness of the film is Kim's cinematic style, which combines minimal dialogue ? numerous scenes pass without a word ? with actions that are as mysterious as they are psychologically loaded. Though some scenes end up feeling overly intellectualized, there's enough that works here to make Kim someone to look for in the future.
"Desire" to Screen With English Subtitles
The art film 'Yokmang (Desire)' is screening with English subtitles from today at a theater in downtown Seoul and another on Cheju Island.
The film, which was shown in various international film festivals, including Locarno, Toronto and Hawaii, will show continuously with English subtitles at Cinecube, an art theater located inside Hongguk Life Insurance Building near Kwanghwamun Station on subway line 5.
The film will also show at Primus Cinema in Cheju City, Cheju Island.
For more information about the screenings and directions to the theaters, go to the Korean-language Web sites www.cinecube.net and www.primuscinema.com.
English 
US$5 off (order min. US$5)
