Lies is not pornography. Not quite. Pornography involves nudity and depictions of sex intended to titillate and sexually arouse. That is not the intent here. Here the nudity and sex are an integral part of the story — it would be difficult, nearly impossible, to tell the story without them — but many of the images are unsettling, even disturbing, rather than arousing. I regard myself as very open-minded on this subject, but there was one scene I found repelling. All I will say is (SPOILER ALERT: highlight with mouse to read) "go look up coprophilia". The scene is short, and the people involved are not really coprophiliacs, but...

This is the story of two people, their relationship, and what it does to them. The man is known throughout the film as J, played by first-time actor Lee Sang-Hyun (who is a sculptor in real life). J is in his late thirties, and a sculptor. The girl / woman is known as Y, played by first-time actor Kim Tae Yeon (who is a fashion model in real life). At the start of the film, Y is in her final year of high school, preparing to go on to college. The only other characters we meet during the film are Woori, who is Y's best friend, Y's brother, and J's wife — although we don't really get names for the brother or wife.

The film opens with Y on her way to meet J for the first time. They have spoken, even flirted, on the phone, after Y first called on Woori's behalf, but they have never seen each other. They meet, go to J's apartment, and engage in extensive, but fairly conventional, sex. It's only in the "afterglow" that we learn that this is Y's first time, and that her reason for wanting sex is that both her elder sisters were raped (the oldest committed suicide afterwards), and she wanted to choose her first sexual partner. She doesn't especially enjoy it. Woori is upset when she finds out, because she had something of a crush on J, but she gets over it.

It's only at their second meeting that an unusual element starts to creep in. While engaged in sex, J starts to slap her. Then he has her bend over and he beats her backside and thighs with a stick (a broom handle, or perhaps slightly thicker). The film maker ensures we know that these are not little love-taps, either, by having her show Woori the deep bruising inflicted, and later the cuts and welts. The beating increases, but she bears it stoically, until one time she cries. He's upset and asks if she likes it. She says that she doesn't, but bears it for his sake. He's contrite, and insists that she beat him instead. She's very reluctant at first, but quickly starts to enjoy the reversal. The voice-over points out that J is not a sadist, because the pain is just a form of foreplay, to be followed by sex, rather than a substitute for the sex itself.

The story is more complicated than the sex, though. J's wife is away in Paris, but she calls and insists that he come over to help her prepare for an art exhibit. Y is going to college. They have trouble finding time together. Y's brother is concerned about the relationship. Y is forced to leave college for a while to avoid him. Things get confused, but only for a while. I won't explain the event that changes things.

A strength of this film is that while one may not be interested in this particular fetish, the film makes it comprehensible how someone might be. It's interesting to watch Y's evolution from timid school girl to self-assured young woman through the course of this film. Her hairstyle changes seem designed to reflect this, and the passing of time. By the end of the film you feel certain that she has used J as part of her transition from girl to woman, and no longer needs him. J, on the other hand, seems used-up and discarded. Their final sexual encounter makes this quite clear. I began by seeing him as the abuser, and her as the victim. By the end of the film my mind was changed.

This film is shot mostly hand-held, with some extreme close-ups, particularly at the beginning. That's unusual, but even more unusual is the way that we get brief interview footage of the two leads before we see them in the film. Kim Tae Yeon is unsure whether she'll be able to handle the nudity required. There's nothing but a caption with their name to indicate that this is each of them as actor, rather than as character. It is odd how the director lifts us out of the film and then drops us back in. In another scene we hear the director say "Cut!", but the camera keeps rolling. There's a scene much later where a voice-over talks about how the lovers met at a particular train station in the book — another instance of lifting us out of the film. Perhaps the director is trying to unsettle us (it works!), or perhaps he's trying to reassure us that it's only a film.

In ways, this film resembles Lolita, in that it is the story of the impact on a man of an all-consuming affair with a much younger girl / woman. You could almost call this a cautionary tale.

Информация о фильме:
Название: Ложь
Оригинальное название: Gojitmal / Lies / Mentiras / Bugie
Год выхода: 1999
Жанр: драма, экранизация, независимое кино
Режиссер / Director: Сун - Ву Янг / Sun-Woo Jang
Сценарий / Writers: Jung-Il Chang (novel), Sun-Woo Jang (writer)
Оператор / Cinematography by: Woo-hyung Kim
Original Music by: Pa-lan Dal

Профиль фильма на IMDB

Russian Rip
Параметры рипа:
Качество: DVDRip
Формат: AVI 1.0 (VFW 1.1)
Video Stream: DivX Codec 5.1.1, 576x432 (1.33:1), 25 fps, 791 kbps avg, 0.13 bit/pixel
Audio Stream #1: MPEG Layer 3, 44.100 kHz, 2 ch, 128.00 kbps avg, Russian translation
Размер / Size: 683.18 Mb (716 367 872 bytes)

Korean Rip with English sub-title
Параметры рипа:
Качество: DVDRip
Формат: AVI 1.0 (VFW 1.1)
Video Stream: XviD build 47, 720x400 (1.80:1), 23.976 fps, 1670 kbps avg, 0.24 bit/pixel
Audio Stream #1: AC3 Dolby Digital, 48 kHz, 2/0 (L,R) ch, 192.00 kbps avg,
Размер / Size: СD1 - 698.24 Mb (732 160 000 bytes), CD2 - 701.06 Mb (735 119 360 bytes)