Saekjeuk shigong (2002)

Director:

Je-gyun Yun

Writer:

Je-gyun Yun (writer)

Release Date:

13 December 2002 (South Korea)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Plot Keywords:

Frotteurism | Erotica | Hemorrhaging | Gymnastics | Anal Sex

Cast

Chang Jung Lim	...	Eun-shik Jang
Ji-won Ha	...	Eun-hyo Lee
Seong-guk Choi
Chae-yeong Yu	...	Yoo-mi Han
Min Jung	...	Sung-ok Ham
Seong-wook Choi
Jae-yeong Jin	...	Ji-won Kim
Tae-Hak Li
Dal-hwan Jo
Yi Shin
Si-hu Yun	...	Yoon-kyoung
So-won Ham	...	Hyun-hee Kim
Chang-hie Nam
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ju-bong Gi
Kyeong-ho Jeong
Si-yeon Lee
Jeong-eun Lim
Jun Gyu Park
Eun-Sook Sunwoo	...	Eun-hyo's Mother

Also Known As:

Sex Is Zero (International: English title)

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

South Korea

Language:

Korean

Color:

Color

Certification:

Japan:R-18 | Singapore:R21 | South Korea:18

Hilarious!

Korea's answer to American Pie and the like sees clutzy university freshman Eun-shik falling for dream girl Eun-hyo (Ji-won Ha of Phone and Nightmare fame). But while his rather pathetic attempts to woo her fail to register, Eun-hyo is swept off her feet by dashing - and frivolous - playboy Sangik. With Eunhyo unable to see past her new lover's infidelite ways, Eun-shik must try to mature his image to save his dream girl from making a terrible choice.

"Sex Is Zero" starts off in hilarious fashion, with Eun-shik and his similarly sex-obsessed friends trying to score with as many college girls as is humanly possible. Throw in a couple of jokes about manhoods and cosmetic implants and we're talking comedy heaven. Unfortunately, as I've noticed with a few Korean films of late, the director chooses to veer off into other, more serious, genres in the final reel and this really puts the dampeners on the humour. There's one particularly shocking revelation around the hour mark which is so serious for a comedy that the film barely recovers - but of course I won't spoil it here. Put it this way, you know in a Hollywood production of this ilke that the good natured guy is always going to get his girl at the end... Korean productions are far more unpredictable!

Acting is excellent from all the main cast and the director brings a funky, lively and very energetic approach to his duties resulting in a highly entertaining mix of comedy, drama and weepie rolled into one. Comedy fans should be satisfied with the opening hour - people looking for a little more substance will lap up the finale. All in all, a recommended movie - ***.5 / *****