A question of love and identity - Time

Time, directed by Kim Ki Duk, is a fascinating look at relationships, between our loved ones and ourselves, and the value of identity. Ji-woo (Jung-woo Ha) and Seh-hee (Ji-Yeon Park) are lovers who have been together for some time, to the point that their relationship hovers between bliss and stagnancy. Seh-hee notices that Ji-woo has started to eye other women, and becomes incredibly jealous -- his assisting a couple of women with a car situation across the street from where he and Seh-hee were having coffee causes Seh-hee to break out in a very public display of anger, embarrassing Ji-woo and forcing them to leave the coffee shop. Seh-hee, fighting low self esteem and wanting to keep her lover, comes across a local plastic surgery clinic and decides that she needs a change. The doctor, incredulous, tries to dissuade her, as she is a naturally pretty woman -- even going so far as to show her graphic films of an operation to scare her out of doing it. But she insists. And the surgery is done, and Seh-hee suddenly disappears from Ji-woo's life. Stunned at her sudden disappearance, he looks everywhere for her, but she is gone. He misses her, and tries in a series of awkward and unsuccessful dates to try to move on. Then one day, at the coffee shop, he notices the waitress who is serving him, and finds her oddly familiar. The woman is See-hee (Sung Hyun-ah), who takes notice of him as well, and soon they are dating. Eventually they become lovers, however, their relationship is not an easy one. They fight, again very public displays of anger, reconcile, and fight again. See-hee is Seh-hee, however, she is no longer happy with her new face and the identity she thought would reinvigorate her life and relationship. Ji-woo feels restless as well, and he one day disappears, to have his face changed. See-hee is distraught. She goes to their old haunting ground, a surreal public sculpture garden made of figures and couples and lovers that are sculpture, public benches, etc. One day while visiting she sees a familiar man, wearing a mask. She is certain it is Ji-woo, but he refuses to acknoledge his old self, hinting only to come here after the required six months for the face to heal and he will reveal himself. They end up meeting at the coffee shop, Ji-woo a different man. But this identity shapeshifting has made See-hee upset and uncomfortable, and at the end of the movie she goes back to the clinic to have herself changed to as unrecognizable as possible. Once again, they are separated.

Kim Ki Duk is a creative and inventive storyteller who is unafraid to tackle hard questions about modern human condition, and as such, he is not a popular director in South Korea, but he has certainly gained attention here in the States. Familiar films to American indie movie buffs would be 3-Iron, Spring, Summer, Fall or Winter, or Samaria. Here he takes on plastic surgery and people's disatisfaction with themselves, but he takes it to an extreme level. Watching this film, I thought of Kobo Abe's The Face of Another, the book and the classic 60's Japanese film that detailed the life of a husband who had facial surgery, and given a new face, becomes deluded into thinking he has a new identity, and tried to live outside the norm of society, even trying to seduce his own wife. Here we have a couple who try to reinvent themselves as a means to reinvigorate their relationship and themselves. It is frightening logic. Recommended!