Son Kwang-ju’s debut film offers an intelligent mix between reality and fiction – a story about crippled dreams and ambitions. Son, former artist in residence at the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam, plays subtly with the identity of the various characters and at the same time ridicules the film industry from a suitably ironic distance.
Soo-Yeon, once a promising female writer, works as an assistant scriptwriter for the arrogant director Moh, who is only interested in making blockbusters. For his next film, he has already bought his suit for the premiere in Cannes, because he won’t go for anything less. ‘Screenplays have to be understandable to 12-year-olds,’ is his credo. Soo-Yeon however wants things different and more realistic. And she repeatedly tries to give cardboard characters more relief; in vain. Their constant quarrelling exhausts both of them. Her ambitious scenario for The Epistle of Life doesn’t have much hope as a result. Her desires are rejected as ‘female vanity’.
Film details
- Country of production
- South Korea
- Year
- 2011
- Festival edition
- IFFR 2011
- Length
- 99'
- Medium/Format
- HDcam
