Im Sang-soo's Paris Project

While trailers for Im Sang-soo's soon to be released period-drama "The Old Garden" are appearing in theaters, news of his next project, to be filmed entirely outside Korea, is already causing excitement. The film, entitled, A Good Woman in Paris, is being described as a loose remake of IM's 2003 Venice competitor "A Good Lawyer's Wife".

Together with his regular DOP KIM Woo-hyeon, Lim will twist the roles in the story so that the cheating husband of the original will now be "the good French boyfriend" while the Korean woman he is involved with will be "bad".

While many considered "A Good Lawyer's Wife" to be a radical film that pushed the boundaries of Korean society, director Lim felt limited in his shooting choices, especially the sex scenes. In attempting to make a film outside the Korean system he says, "I will be free to push my filmmaking as much as I want".

The synopsis for the project confirms this with the opening description: "A 5-star hotel room a half-empty champagne bottle, caviar, oysters A Korean woman is lying naked in bed, legs spread, and moaning in pleasure, as a younger man has his face in her crotch"

The story is about Yeon, a Korean woman with a PHD in French Literature, who lives in Paris with her hard-working French civil-servant and runs the gamut of high-class affairs. While defending herself against her enemies and jealous lovers, she discovers that her boyfriend has found a lover and struggles to stay on top of things.

The film is being co-produced by Korea's MK Pictures with an estimated production budget of $US 4-5 million, with shooting planned to get underway in early 2007. The project was presented to buyers at last month's Paris Cinema Film Festival. Main casting and key financing have yet to be officially announced.

Nigel D'Sa (KOFIC)