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| "Intimate Strangers" revolves around four old friends in their 40s and their wives at a house-warming party hosted by Seok-ho and his spouse. / Courtesy of Lotte Entertainment |
'Intimate Strangers' attracts over 4 mil. viewers
By Kang Hyun-kyung
Are you sure you know your spouse well?
Director Lee Jae-kyoo asks this provocative question to married couples in his latest box-office hit "Intimate Strangers" which has attracted over 4 million as of Sunday since it hit local theaters on Oct. 31.
The film revolves around four old friends in their 40s and their wives at a house-warming dinner party hosted by Seok-ho and his spouse. The four old friends are Tae-soo, a practiced lawyer; Seok-ho, a successful plastic surgeon; Joon-mo, a restaurant owner who was born with a silver spoon in his mouth but failed to manage his inherited wealth; and Young-bae, an unemployed teacher who is unaccompanied.
Amid the cozy atmosphere, one of the four friends suggests playing a truth game_ everyone sharing their text and KakaoTalk messages, or phone calls each of them receive that evening. In the game, the seven are supposed to read their messages out loud and turn their smartphones onto speaker mode when they answer calls so others can hear their conversation.
Upon the suggestion, some members hesitate but soon change their minds to join in the game because they don't want to cause their spouses to harbor unwanted suspicions about them.
Few know the game will turn out to be a disaster for all. Things get out of control from the beginning ― their smartphones have too much information about them, including their dirty secrets which they don't want to share with their friends or even spouses.
Tae-soo played by Yoo Hae-jin has a secret. He had an affair with a woman 12 years older than him for a year, and she has since sent him X-rated photos of her body at 10 p.m. every night.
Worried about the public disclosure of this to his wife and friends, Tae-soo makes a secretive deal with his divorced friend Young-bae played by Yoon Kyung-ho that the two switch their smartphones. Young-bae is the only single there. At 10 o'clock, Young-bae's smartphone receives an image of the unnamed woman's voluptuous body parts. Everybody in Seok-ho couple's living room makes fun of his girlfriend's weird hobby.
Things go out of control when Tae-soo's smartphone gives an alert that he has received a KakaoTalk message from a man named Min-soo who is actually Young-bae's homosexual partner. All of a sudden, the uptight and meticulous Tae-soo is revealed as being in the closet homosexual. His wife played by Yum Jung-ah is upset and forces him to tell the truth. "I thought I knew everything about you. But it turned out you are a complete stranger," she shouts in despair.
Newly-wed Joon-mo also has secrets. He cheated on his young wife by having extramarital affairs, including the one with the female manager of his restaurant. Her pregnancy was made public. Joon-mo also had an affair with his friend's wife.
In "Intimate Strangers," released four years after his 2014 award-winning film "The Fatal Encounter" starring hallyu heartthrob Hyun-bin, director Lee tries to "educate" his audience that in marriage, there are no fairy tales.
He brutally breaks the fantasy about marital relationships and says no relationship is perfect.
The director's message is clear in Seok-ho's conversation with his unfaithful wife Ye-jin. "Marriage works only when husband and wife understand that they are different and try to acknowledge and respect their differences. But many people don't do that and hurt their counterparts by describing their way is wrong and thus needs to be fixed," Seok-ho says.
"Intimate Strangers" addresses a social taboo ― homosexuality ― and concludes Korean society is still not tolerant about sexual diversity.
During the party, Young-bae comes out of the closet and tells his friends and their wives that he is gay and Min-soo is his partner.
"I was fired because my school came to know that I am gay. Some ask me why I didn't take legal action against the school. You know what? If I did that, everybody was going to know I am gay which terrified me," says Young-bae. "If I brought Min-soo here and introduced him as my partner, you would have been surprised at first and would try to treat him nicely. But I know you'll try to judge my sexual preference. I know this. And that's why I didn't bring him here because we are in love and I don't want him to get hurt."
The movie about the hectic two-hour party shows that some people brace for their imperfect marriage.
The ending credit sums up director Lee's message: "People lead three different lives ― a public life, a private one and a secretive one."
