Everyone may fantasise about living a life different to their own; however few actually pretend that they’re immersed in a shinier, happier, wealthier existence. Ah-young (Kim Kkobbi, A Record of Sweet Murder) belongs to the latter camp, as the aptly titled The Liar (Geo-jin-mal) makes plain. Unhappy with her lowly days and unable to speak the truth if given the opportunity not to do so, she surrounds herself in the trappings of wished-for better times. Given that her work involves popping pimples in a beauty clinic, and that she’s forced to deal with her alcoholic sister (Lee Sun-hee) at home, her yearning for something better springs from harsh circumstances.
When writer/director Kim Dong-Myung’s sophomore effort after 2011’s Fatigue opens, Ah-young is sat comfortably in a luxurious apartment, content in taking in the view both inside and out until the realtor shower her the place walks back in the room. They talk about a transaction, the seeming prospective buyer filled with confidence but hazy on the details. Later, while shopping for televisions, refrigerators, phones and imported cars, she repeats the same performance. Her penchant for automobiles ties in with her salesman boyfriend, Tae-ho (Chun Sin-hwan, Going South), who tries to finance her finer tastes as much as he is able to.
That The Liar establishes the pathological nature of its protagonist from the outset, and makes plain its dissection of consumerism too, doesn’t lessen the impact of what becomes a biting, scathing effort. Indeed, as Dong-Myung crafts a contemplation of aesthetic, materialistic and romantic obsessions, he continually presents the dream first, then deconstructs the reality. The result smartly and savagely ponders the cost of chasing supposed societal ideals and keeping up appearances, its message made all the more piercing when the reactions to Ah-young’s duplicity aren’t all what audiences may anticipate.
Indeed, the viewer’s own response to the crafty lead character might also defy expectation, largely thanks to Kkobbi’s nuanced, multifaceted turn. First, she’s a smooth operator grifting her way into fleeting gratification; then, she’s a put-upon junior looked down on by her colleagues, ignored by her sister and mother, and dissatisfied with the modesty Tae-ho represents. And yet, though her posture and expressions change according to the identification and credit card she’s wielding — or not — at the time, the same yearning for ever-elusive contentment simmers within her gaze. If Dong-Myung uses repeated scenes of pseudo-scamming and blatant falsities contrasted with drudgery to make his point, Kkobbi provides several exclamation marks at the end of the filmmaker’s statement.
With cinematographer Lee Sun-young (Marriage Blue), the director also wields his visuals to stress his expose of the emptiness in the life Ah-young seeks. The Liar proceeds as a constant juxtaposition of glossy, lingering shots versus shaky, intimate glimpses, the components of the film each style relates to obvious but never anything less than effective. In fact, in wrangling fascinating thrills out of a somewhat familiar protestation at status-oriented modern culture, that’s what the movie as a whole does too. As the fantasy unravels, the feature’s assertion and its execution prove one and the same: more than the sum of their parts, and more than the perception their facades initially lead to.
Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5
The Liar (Geo-jin-mal)
Director: Kim Dong-Myung
South Korea, 2014, 95 mins
Melbourne International Film Festival
miff.com.au
30 July – 16 August
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