Korean Film Review: Intimate Strangers (2018)
Intimate Strangers 완벽한 타인 (2018)
Several of my adult students have been talking about this film which topped the box office in October 2018. So on a recent flight back to the UK I watched it. It’s billed as a comedy-drama (for me it’s more drama than comedy, but that’s not a complaint) and I really enjoyed it.
Based on the Italian film Perfect Strangers (2016), the plot is simple: a group of childhood friends get together for a house-warming party. The friends- now in their 40s- discuss how mobile phones hold so much information about us and can reveal things that we wouldn’t want others to know. And so they decide to play a game: share all text messages and phone calls that take place over dinner! Obviously this is a VERY bad idea. And as predicted, things go pear-shaped from here on.
Some films start off strong and then get a bit lost or lose their mojo. (That’s how I felt about the comedy Extreme Job, although it was a huge success in Korea. Maybe I just didn’t get the jokes). Other films get better as they go along. This film has a slow start, while all the characters are introduced, but it becomes more and more fascinating as the secrets and real feelings of the dinner guests are revealed.
An ensemble cast
The acting is strong with well-known actors appearing in the ensemble cast. Lee Seo-jin, played King Jeongjo in the drama Yi San and appears regularly in reality shows including Grandpa Over Flowers. Yoo Hae-jin also stars in the funny film Luck Key. Cho Jin-woong has appeared in a couple of my favourite historical dramas – Slave Hunters and Deep Rooted Tree. And Yeom Jeong Ah plays a pushy mum in Sky Castle which I’m now watching on Netflix. The line-up is complete with actors Kim Ji Soo, Song Ha-yoon, and Yoon Kyung-ho.
What is noticeable about this film for me is how it addresses issues that quite recently were taboo in Korea. It also challenges ideas of conformity, the need to keep up appearances, and trying to live up to expectations. I love the intensity of the film as the action all takes place around the dinner table.
The only problem for me after watching this film is that I realise I am very boring indeed. I have no secrets! 🙁
At the end we are told that ‘People have three lives: their public life, their private life, and their secret life’. Is it better to just keep secrets rather than reveal everything? The ending made me think about this.