Revivre

With his 102nd feature, legendary 78-year-old Korean filmmaking giant Im Kwon-taek (Sopyonje, Chihwaseon) delivers a powerful and vital film about the indignities of old age and the fires of suppressed desire stirred by the proximity of death. Based on a prize-winning short story by former journalist Kim Hun, Revivre is also a silent critique of the vanity of contemporary urban life. Veteran actor Ahn Sung-ki (Nowhere to Hide) delivers a masterfully subdued performance as Oh Sang-moo, an ordinary businessman at the top of the corporate food chain who works at a major cosmetics company. Fully consumed by the simple task of getting on with his life, he stoically fulfills his corporate duties while his wife, Jin-kyung (Kim Ho-jung), suffers the agonies of brain cancer at the hospital. During this rather difficult moment, enter the stunning Choo Eun-joo (Kim Qyu-ri), the company’s new hire. Young, elegant, sophisticated, she’s like a sexual fantasy conjured from deep within the man’s grief-stricken psyche. Traveling between office and hospital, Sang-moo tries to balance the demands of the job with the moral obligation to his wife, while also dealing with his own aging body and the pangs of forbidden desire.

Presented with the support of Korean Cultural Service New York.