A Tiger in Winter

On the day the tiger escapes from the zoo, Gyeongyu's life gets turned completely upside down. His girlfriend – who has been keeping him for years while he saunters listlessly from part-time job to part-time job – kicks him out because her parents are coming to visit. With all his possessions stuffed into a suitcase, he sets off looking for temporary accommodation, without too much success. But just as he seems to be reaching the end of his tether, he bumps into his ex: Yoojung. Unlike Gyeongyu, she has managed to realise her literary ambitions, even if it hasn’t made her any happier.
Lee Kwangkuk, who displayed his preference for labyrinthine narrative structures in Romance Joe and A Matter of Interpretation, moves into more conventional terrain with A Tiger in Winter, but the tone of this wonderfully-acted character study is again humorous, melancholy and filled with compassion for the roaming souls inhabiting Seoul in the winter.