Feb
18
2008
Venus and Mars (Ssaum)
Posted by luna6 4 Comments
Movie: Venus and Mars | Ssaum | 싸움
Release Date: December 13, 2007
Country: South Korea
Director: Ji-seung Han
Starring: Kyung-gu Sol, Tae-hee Kim
Runtime: 102 Min
Editor Rating: 5.0
Users Rating: 5.59 
(17 votes)
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When “Venus and Mars” opened in South Korea this past December the movie made headlines because of the unusual pairing of noted dramatic actor Kyung-gu Sol (Oasis/Voice of a Murderer) and TV drama queen Tae-hee Kim (The Restless). At the Korean box office “Venus and Mars” was a complete flop. Korean critics focused mostly on Tae-hee Kim’s performance and gave the movie less than stellar reviews. With these developments, I went into the film expecting the worst, but hey, I’m a die-hard fan of Korean films be it good or bad, so I wanted to see the train wreck for myself. The end result lies with how you view the proverbial glass that’s half full or empty, because “Venus and Mars” meets some of those lowly expectations, but also offers a few pleasant surprises.
In “Venus and Mars” hot-blooded Ji-Na (Tae-hee Kim) and compulsive obsessive Sang-min (Kyung-gu Sol) are involved in a highly volatile relationship. The couple goes through a cycle of dramatic break-ups and reconciliations before finally tying the knot. Marital bliss occurs only briefly before the couple files for divorce (this all occurs in the first 10 minutes of the film).
At first their separation occurs amicably with the couple attempting to remain friends. The somewhat freakish Sang-min goes so far as to divide their property in half. Literally in half that is. He cuts up their photos in half and even divides his cherished grandfather clock in half, giving Ji-Na the gold pendulum while he keeps the rest of the clock.
Then one day, Sang-min looks at his cherished clock and can’t take its appearance without its pendulum. He calls Jin-Na and asks to meet with her the next day. Unfortunately Jin-na seems to be having a bad day that particular day. When Sang-min asks for the pendulum back, Jin-na refuses point blank and this starts a personal war between these two utterly odd individuals.
The movie itself starts in the midst of a dramatic breakup between the main characters. The movie then puts the peddle to the floor and shifts high gear through marriage, divorce, then war. You never really have a chance to settle in with characters, receiving a feeling similar to walking in on a movie during the middle portions of the film.
Even with that stated, the battle scenes between two ex-spouses works initially, but fails to evolve into anything meaningful. Of the two main stars, I was impressed with Tae-hee Kim’s performance and thoroughly enjoyed watching her performance as the fiery Jin-Na. The only other film I have seen of hers was “The Restless” and I found her nearly unwatchable in that film. It seems she has either improved by leaps & bounds or she is just more comfortable with this type of script (playing a Princess Leah like character in a Sci-Fi flick is definitely not her shtick). My main beef with the unusual paring would lie with the casting of Kyung-gu Sol as the freakish Sang-min. For whatever reasons (maybe I have seen way to many of his films), but to my eyes, he appeared to be the performer out of his element. Sol never really blends into his character and you don’t ever think of him as “Sang-min” but rather Kyung-gu Sol playing Sang-min. Also, the noticeable 12 year age gap between the two main characters and the script leaning more for the young than the old all contributed to Kyung-gu Sol appearing out of place.
Visually the film takes after Jin Jang’s “Someone Special” with a mixture of momentary shaky hand held camera shots, bright colors, fast edits, and brief unexpected skits. Unfortunately the script in “Venus and Mars” isn’t on the level of “Someone Special” and the timing in the movie is just completely off.
“Venus and Mars” (aka “Ssaum” with the literal translation “Fight”) comes across as an odd booger that takes off immediately without ever letting you settle in for the ride. The movie isn’t a complete disaster and does features a stellar performance by the frequently panned actress Tae-hee Kim. Yes you read that correctly, Tae-hee Kim was good in this film, going so far as to overshadow her much more celebrated counterpart Kyung-gu Sol. Most Korean comedies takes a u-turn near the latter portions of the film and “Venus and Mars” follows this tradition to a tee. Usually I find these detours to be annoying, but this time around I found the ending to be one of the best moments in the film. When Jin-Na and Sang-min stared at each other through the glass partition in the Incheon International Airport, there was finally (!!!) a moment where the characters expressed genuine emotion and let out their human side. Why the film couldn’t start in this manner and then evolve into a war of the roses type of film I don’t know, but I think I would have enjoyed it much more if it was presented in this manner.
buy Venus and Mars from YesAsia
Cast:
Kyung-gu Sol
Tae-hee KimSu-kyeong Jeon
Tae-hwa Seo
Jae-rok Kim
Ha-ryong Lim
If you like this movie you may enjoy: Someone Special, The Perfect Couple, Unstoppable Marriage
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2007 Movie Reviews, Korean Movies, Movies |
Comments
4 Comments so far
i loved kim tae hee in this movie her best yet movie or drama. the ending was also unexpectedly good. seeing kim tae hee in this movie alone deserves +2 if ur a guy haha
ps I dont think this girl is that sexy at all but thats my opinion.
I saw it yesterday and there are some really funny scenes in it, but they should have called the movie;
psycho bitch from hell
sexy CF queen kim tae hee outacts sol? wow this i have to see for myself. it’s a bit sad to see the film flop so badly, esp. from the director of Alone In Love TV series which i just adore.
as for sol, he has all the talent in the world but needs to learn how to harness it for roles outside his comfort zone (which is to say anything not ball-busting machismo, or gruff working-class guy gone nuts.) he seemed uncomfy wearing the skin of a bourgeois elite in Voices of Murderer, for example:P what do you say to Oasis 2: get sol’s juices flowing again…except this time he’s in the wheelchair (watch out DDL!), & moon so-ri is the kathy bates convict.