[Guest Film Review] "Bittersweet Joke"

There remains a strong social taboo against single parenthood in South Korea, where single mothers are still referred to as "unwed". "Bittersweet Joke" is the first Korean film in which single mothers appear with their faces unobscured, and speak frankly about problems they face in a society that treats them as a problem.

The movie is available from Icarus Films

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The documentary focuses on two women. Hyunjin, 27, was abandoned by her boyfriend when she became pregnant and decided to keep the baby. Despite court rulings, her husband refuses to pay child support, stating that he is still studying in order to leave the country.

Hyungsook, 40, actually chose not to marry the father of her son, Junseo, who is now 6. She works as an activist fighting for women's rights, and the rights of single mothers in particular, speaking at conferences, and volunteering at Seoul's "Human Library", where people are invited to talk with representatives of groups against whom they harbor prejudice.

As the documentary presents the difficulties and joys of their everyday life, it also features conversations among groups of single mothers, who discuss their circumstances and the injustices of a society that refuses to accept them, even in legal terms.

Paik Yeon-ah implements a kind of happy-go-lucky atmosphere in the documentary, with the music themes and the editing helping the most in this tactic. This, however, does not mean that the seriousness of her subject is undermined in any way, since the documentary examines the actual situation of single mothers rather thoroughly, through two quite different cases. Hyunjin is a romantic who still believes that her boyfriend will change his mind and the two of them will live happily ever after, while Hyungsook is more realistic, and has actually chosen the path of raising her son alone. Her resolve and her activism reach the borders of heroism, since her decision has caused her family to stop speaking to her and when a television program on which she appeared showed the exterior of her beauty parlor, business dropped 50%, forcing her to close the shop.

Three facts become quite evident through the documentary. The first one is that these women have no doubts about their decision, as they insist that they are more than able to take care of their children by themselves (one even states that she has no need of having to take care of a second child, meaning a husband). The second one is that South Korean society, despite the technological development and the financial bloom, remains a rather conservative one in its core, even in extreme fashion, as with the case of Hyungsook. The third one is presented, mostly, through Junseo, and highlights the fact, that despite their mother's resolve, the children still need to see/interact with their fathers, in a fact that may be the biggest issue for them.  

Using a rather entertaining approach to present her subject from all angles, Paik Yeon-ah sheds light to an issue considered taboo in S. Korea, and in the process, presents a more than interesting spectacle.

Review by Panos Kotzathanasis

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"Bittersweet Joke" is directed by Paik Yeon-ah.