Hong Ji-young Looks on the Brighter Side of Adultery
Published on | Source
What is more interesting about the film "The Naked Kitchen" by Hong Ji-young than the material is the way the director deals with it. Here, an adulterous affair is portrayed not as something scandalous or tragic but with humor and optimism.
Hong sidesteps any sweeping moral standards or family values and focuses instead on the emotions of the three actors, asking fundamental questions about love.
"Kitchen" reminds many people of last year's "Antique". Both deal with Forbidden Love, in the case of "Antique" homosexual love, and both adopt a bright, happy and playful tone. Perhaps that is only natural, since Min Gyoo-dong, who directed "Antique" is married to Hong. And indeed, both films were invited to the Berlin International Film Festival, and exported to Japan. "Antique" is released there this week and "The Naked Kitchen" on May 30.
"I don't think you can say that new relationships or illicit affairs always start from a deficiency. A new love can come even into the life of a married couple at the peak of their happiness. I wanted to show how it's possible to deal with such a cruel reality in different ways", she says.
The question she asks the audience in the movie is, "Can we make really make a moral judgment about love?" The light tone, then, is distilled from a background of very serious thinking.
Hong sidesteps any sweeping moral standards or family values and focuses instead on the emotions of the three actors, asking fundamental questions about love.
"Kitchen" reminds many people of last year's "Antique". Both deal with Forbidden Love, in the case of "Antique" homosexual love, and both adopt a bright, happy and playful tone. Perhaps that is only natural, since Min Gyoo-dong, who directed "Antique" is married to Hong. And indeed, both films were invited to the Berlin International Film Festival, and exported to Japan. "Antique" is released there this week and "The Naked Kitchen" on May 30.
"I don't think you can say that new relationships or illicit affairs always start from a deficiency. A new love can come even into the life of a married couple at the peak of their happiness. I wanted to show how it's possible to deal with such a cruel reality in different ways", she says.
The question she asks the audience in the movie is, "Can we make really make a moral judgment about love?" The light tone, then, is distilled from a background of very serious thinking.
Advertisement