South Korea, 1995, 100min
director: Chul-Soo Park
cast: Eun-jin Bang, Sin-Hye Hwang
Two women living opposite on the same floor have
different eating disorders... and one of them is gradually disappearing.
Song-Hee Kang in 301 wants to introduce herself to her neighbour Yoon-Hee
Kim in 302, and so cooks a delicious meal for her. But 302, buried in her
paperwork, is not only even less open than her appartment, but, having
taken 301's present, brings it straight back up again. Unsuspecting 301
happily prepares the most lavish meals for her neighbour, who cannot bring
herself to smell or look at them, let alone eat them. When 301 discovers
her food among 302's refuse, she is appalled, and forces 302 to eat it.
Her lack of success gives rise to a feeling of hopelessness, until she
discovers why 302 is unable to take any food. 302 gradually disappears,
getting thinner and thinner. There seems to be only one more thing left
to do...
-
Rarely
has such a film succeeded in gripping its audience with such subtle means.
When 302 finally unbends, and we discover her story, we wish 301 had not
been so persistent. Now that we know the facts, we know that a solution
is not going to be easy. Certainly, the drip, a course of therapy or a
miraculous quick-cure through some nicely thought-out event would be possible.
But (male) feminist Chul-Soo Park is no average director, and does not
let his films get round the issue, as many others unthinkingly do (such
as Antonia Bird with her Berlinale film, Priest, the year
before in 1995). Consistantly, if horrifically, the Korean leads his film
to its end, and for all who care to look beyond the superficial, one of
the greatest romantics in film history reveals herself.
-
301·302's story is atmospheric to the end, the events
highly gripping. Although the cinema-goer may already guess the ending,
most critics will avoid giving away its mysteries. But let's hope that
301·302 finds a large audience, and, above all, that
western distributers may at long last discover the potential of Korean
cinema. They should really be encouraged by results at festivals.
ki, Berlin
translation: andrew
Germany: ?
US: May 3rd '96
UK: ?
France: ?
Seen during the:
46th Berlin International Film Festival 1996
Deutsche Version
Filmdata:
Official link: http://www.arrowfilms.com/three.html
copyright:
Queer View, April 13th, 1997