Bewitching Attraction - a dark, star-crossed comedy

This is categorized as a romance, but there is none of the usual elements that crop up in Korean romances. For one thing, the man and the woman in the film do not get together and have a life changing blissful experience. Eun Sook, in a fine performance by Moon So-Ri, is a professor in an arts college who has affairs with many of the male staff. She is also an enviromentalist who, in the beginning of the film, has a torried one nighter with a reporter. Her relations with men are seen as flowing from one to another, scene after scene being paired with the men in her professional and personal life, from dinners, to work, to clandestine meetings. She uses the men not just for sexual pleasure (a few on camera, and others implied through dialogue). It's for the companionship, as well as hiding from herself her own ghosts. Suk Gyu, played by Ji-Jin Hee, plays a comic book artist who becomes a professor at the same school, and it is apparent that when he and Eun Sook meet, they avoid looking at each other, as if they dislike each other immediately, which surprises the coworkers -- he is handsome, and the men were fearful of another rival. In a flashback, as teenagers they had known each other, Eun Sook dating his brother. In a tragic incident, a third friend rivalling for her affections is killed after falling into an empty swimming pool, running from the two brothers to escape a beating. Since then they went in different directions, convinced that when their paths meets, innocent friends of theirs are hurt. Mr. Yoo, another professor, discovers this past and tries to make Suk Gyu acknowledge this, but he does not. Eun Sook has an on and off relationship with the reporter, who is married, and wants to run off to Japan with her. Suk Gyu and Eun Sook do get together, not romantically, but because of their past, and the death of Gyu's mother and Mr. Yoo convince them that they cannot be near each other. This is a muddled movie; the story is too dense and not many characters are fleshed out enough. The humor in this film is dry and subtle, expressed mostly in the men's rivalling for Eun Sook's affections, and her surfing on their waves of emotions. The conclusion is not that satisfying, especially given all the plot elements that are developed. The reason to see this film is because of Moon So-Ri. She sells her character as this beautiful yet flawed woman. Eun Sook has a limp (reasons for which are not known, since in the flashback she walks and runs normally) that drives the guys wild when she moves. Her face is polished, almost bronzed, with pale lipstick and dark eyeliner that makes her severe yet alluring. She doen't bend the men to her will so much as lets things happen as they may; her mere presence is enough of a persuasion for possibilities. Sook breathes a lot of life into her role and this film, but it isn't enough. Her other notable roles were in Oasis and A Good Lawyer's Wife, both outstanding films. I would check those out instead of seeing this one.