Pang Eun-Jin, Hwang Shin-hae, Kim
Chu-ryuen
301 302 explores the mysterious disappearance
of one of two young women who live across the hall from each other
in a modern apartment complex in Seoul, Korea. The women, referred
to by their apartment number, each share common yet dissimilar obsessions:
eating disorders and problematic relationships with men. 301(Eunjin
Pang) is an amateur cook whose spare time is spent preparing and
eating lavish meals, while her bookish and reclusive neighbor 302(Shinhae
Hwang) becomes ill at the mere sight or smell of food. In a series
of flashbacks, we see how the relationship between the two women
develops and learn the shocking secret of what happened to 302.
Food implies sex to two
characters. The pleasure of cooking is the one of sex to Room #301
Woman. To whom divorced woman that means she has no mate to love.
Otherwise the pain of eating is the one of sex to Room #302 woman.
She thinks either eating or sexes are extremely dirty. 301 forces
302 to eat her food, but 302 never ever is able to accept it. A
woman who should give something to somebody and a woman who couldn't
get anything from anybody. These two girls are all solitude and
pains themselves. So 302 asks 301 to cook with herself. This cooking
is killing for their truly spirtitual survivals. In the point of
cannibalism this movie has cult element. This cult element makes
us introspect human's fundamental problems in life through food
and sex of basic desires. It has a fresh topic, techniques, and
plentiful symbols.
This film is one of remarkable great works in recent Korean movies,
which shows a new possibility to us.
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