A proper review on No regret/후회하지 않아
Desire of a human being to run away from the countryside and conquer the capital or at least stay there is universal and eternal. To Moscow, I beg you! one of Three sisters cries. To Seoul! An 18 year old (law says you’re independent now) orphan Su-Min silently goes. He doesn’t have enough money for a proper university education, but working at factory by day and driving drunken capitalistic sharks by night he’s got enough cash for computer classes.
One of these toothy fish turns out to be a son of the factory owner. No, don’t expect a hot industrial safety drama since the abovementioned shark happens to be much more of a sea cucumber than a ruthless predator. Awestruck by passion, this invertebrate saves Su-Min from being fired. The latter, consumed by rightful proletarian fury, proudly marches out of the wretched imperialistic lair and starts working as a male prostitute in for male only brothel. You know, he follows the usual career path of an ordinary provincial guy. I personally know…
Wait, what? No, I don’t, it’s a horrible lie. In reality, this non suspecting naïve viewer (that’s me) receives a shock akin to being hit with a fallen icicle in July. The problem doesn’t lie with “what” but with “how”. Nothing prepares for such a turn of events and it will continue to do so. The director it appears has this habit of showing things in places they beg to be told. He also tends to be laconic when it feels right to explode with details. This whole-sequence-of-events-missed-think-whatever technique causes certain scenes to be either fantastic or messed up. The wedding shop scene, for instance, is incredibly bittersweet and touching. In contrast, a freshly dug grave in the forest is all kinds of creepy and what the hell…that could have been very consistent with the previous actions had the director added few transitions explaining Su-min’s line of thought clearer. In a nutshell, the movie strongly reminds of a bunch of essays instead of a one dramatic story it really is.
On the bright side, this overuse of showing not telling is the only significant flaw. No regret is a decent movie, no excuses for its specific nature needed (prostitution is a touchy subject on its own, male for male is one big taboo). Daily routine of the brothel is shown without self-laceration a-la Dostoevsky or through glamorous veil a-la Moulen Rouge. Satisfying physical needs of horny middle-aged men some good won per hour isn’t where the real tragedy is. Agonizing obsession over a human being, on the other hand, is truly heart wrenching. The successful retelling of a universal theme through an interesting story compares favourably with the snoozefest that is Broken Mountain, no doubt a cinematic milestone from human rights point of view but a torture from an aesthetic perspective. Still, it loses next to joyful insanity known as Almodovar masterpieces. I would say 7 out of 10.
As it is the case with 99% of non mainstream arthousy movies, the watching is to be organized with care, kicking out little pregnant kids and nervous monks of the house. Philosophical mood and candle lights are optional. The movie contains pretty graphic male on male sex scenes, a little bit of violence and one fluffy dog.
