Customer Reviews

Lies: Pain Is Their Pleasure [VHS]

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Jang Sun-Woo is noted for his uniformly excellent art films (including the brillliant Hwa Om Kyung), but nothing could prepare you for this dark, hilarious drama. Here, a sixteen-year old high school girl seeks out a relationship with a 38-year old artist -- a man who happens to have a flavor for S&M.

Some will be confused by the film, perhaps even wondering if there's much more to it. The best Korean filmmakers don't spell out their movies in the same way it's done in America, and this is no exception. Sometimes, the camera continues rolling after a scene has been shot, showing the actors troubled over the emotional content or explicitness of the film. Jang suggests that control and domination exists as an normal part of everyday life. We tell lies to ourselves about what we say we "enjoy," just as the tortured characters in Lies claim to enjoy their pain.

This depth of filmmaking makes for an astonishingly fresh filmgoing experience. While frequently and outrageously funny, it is not the kind of film that you should watch without trying to engage yourself, asking questions and perhaps coming up with your own interpretations. Certainly, Lies is meant to be outrageous (it was banned in several countries, including Korea), but it's also thought-provoking and quite moving.

I have to say that I like this film. There's something endearing about this awkward pair- a childlike man with a merciless need for whippings and a young woman with little experience in anything, sex or otherwise. But here's the problem: What seemed to drive this film in the beginning, and what it inexplicably gave up on, was a sort of experiment in which the director shows us the making of the film in the midst of the film itself. This is very effective, as this is the kind of film you see and wonder, "how could anyone do that in front of the camera?" We watch Lee Sang Hyun (the actress who plays the young woman) talk about how she feels about doing nude scenes. This could very well have been an audition tape. And after a particularly tempestuous argument between two characters, the scene cuts and the director steps into the shot. But this is where the experiment ends (these scenes are very early in the film) and it turns into just another forbidden love story. This film could have been Korea's "Breathless", instead of "9 1/2 Weeks" with a handheld camera and a whip.
HOWEVER!!! I understand there are reasons for wanting to have a film of this type in your collection. So, if you're looking for lots of cinema verite nude scenes with a very slender and pretty young Korean girl, "Lies" is a great buy. The sex is very raw and lifelike- and quite desperate. But I have to warn you- if S&M disturbs you you might want to stay away from this one.

Lies is a film about a sexual relationship between a final year high school girl and a grown up artist. A Teenager girl wants to loose her virginity to a married grown up artist . Their relationship gets stranger with the artists lust for pain and sado mazo actions. Later girl develops a liking towards this acts and becomes the fountain of life for him. The sex, passion and sado actions are portrayed as real as a responsible camera gets thus coming closer to the soft porn cliches with beating each other with sticks that are collected from the parks by the couple.
It is an interesting movie with the 2 characters lust in Korea a modern but a traditional country where morality and respect is appreciated. Film is not about real love but passion, lust and phantasies, so be warned.
Interesting fact is that film is based on a book which caused writer to end up in jail. But film is all around the world and especially screened in festivals.
It is not an easy film to watch sometimes so you have to make up your mind.

Even as I went into viewing this movie with full knowledge of its contents, I came out of it rattled and my senses frayed. The premise is simple: a young girl and an older man meet and engage in a series of rather unconventional, sado-masochistic sex sessions, that eventually begins to unravel their beings.

The film assaults you with its nihilistic points of view, flaunting its own defiance at all things conventional. The film-makers fix their focus on the ideas of relationships and love. They take these ideas, which had been given much florid and beautified treatments in conventional cinema, and strip them of even a trace of meekness and innocence about them.

The director means to assert love and relationship as a series of pains inflicted between parties involved, in this case quite literally. Now, if we were to apply the above idea metaphorically to our own relationships, then it begins to make some sense. There are moments of brief but blissful happiness, and then there are truly ugly and painful moments in between. The point is taken and the movie is just a series of gags, albeit extremely graphic (and at points quite unpleasant).

I found this central theme simplistic and singular, and quite dull, as dull as any movie with this much graphic acts of sex could get (because there is nothing really much to them after the initial shock of it wears off).

The DVD's transfer is pristine, it includes some written comments from the director and a brief filmography of the major players.

This Korean production left me somewhat suprised. That is, it was a love story. Yes, a slightly twisted love story. My view is that interaction between our main characters was love indeed. In any relationship, there must be a willingness to give and take, to stand firm, to compromise. The attention that they pay to each other during their 'sessions.' Remember, the beatings was only part of the retinue, it functioned as their appetizer, their main course, their dessert.

Another point that I'd like to make. A reviewer commented that the man wasn't really masculine at all (skinny, wimpy...). This is exactly the point of this 'man.' Because of his size, it shows that while he is a man, he is also small enough to be 'handled' by the girl (in the movie, you'll see what 'handled' means!). So, pay attention!

If you choose to buy/view this film, look for the 'lies' behind the relationships in this film (and maybe we'll all learn something!). Five stars!

This Korean film was the focus of SPCS moaning (unfounded, as usual), so naturally it immediately went on my list of must-see movies. The only positive thing about this morals society/ community watchdog group/ lobby group/ national menace is the free publicity they give movies- never mind they seldom bother to WATCH the movies that wind them up. David Lane had to watch BAISE MOI twice for it to fully sink in- which remains the only movie I've seen they've "publicized" where their complaints actually lived up to all the controversy hype. Proof that he's isn't half as clever as he thinks he is.
In actuality, LIES is a movie that will offend only the most wet-behind-the-ears conservatives, & could be described as 9 1/2 WEEKS meets THE GRADUATE.
Based on Jang Jung Il's novel "Tell Me A Lie", LIES tells of a torrid S&M based relationship between J (Lee Sang Hyun), a 38 year old sculptor whose wife is in Paris on business & Y (Kim Tae Yeon), a 17 year old student whose main goal is to lose her virginity before she graduates. We later learn that this is an emotional response to the suicide of her sister, a victim of brutal sexual abuse- Y would prefer to lose her virginity at a young age to a stranger than to lose it later through potential rape. Heavy stuff.
On a (slightly) lighter note, LIES features shots of the actors talking direct to the camera during the sex scenes & ECU's of nipple chomping, as well as lots of full frontal nudity. This softcore art outing soon takes a different turn when J & Y introduce BDSM practices into their relationship... and this of course marks the beginning of the end. It's probably safe to presume the movie's foley artist had a great time.
LIES is similar to the later British movie INTIMACY (which almost put me to sleep) except it's a bit more interesting.
Continuing the lighter contrast, the film is split into chapter segments which are titled to make the whole affair seem like a round of golf (this will make sense when you watch the movie).
The dialogue is often hilarious- in one scene the narrator says "J whips her 35 times to match her hip size". And more I can't write here so it will be a nice surprise when you see it for yourself.
Another interesting angle is that director Jang Sun-Woo has incorporated behind the scenes material into the actual film with the actors explaining why they chose to take on such controversial roles. Unfortuately, good intentions aside; this ploy comes off as simply intrusive & ruins the overall impact of the movie. It's still worth a look for all the (unnecessary) controversy it stirred up. I was a bit disappointed in that sense. LIES is far from being a masterpiece but its still worth watching for curiosity's sake.

For a guy who's favorite films run in this genre (Blue Velevet, still ranks #1), this film was refreshingly different. At times difficult to watch...much like the gothic room in "The Image". While I am no expert in choreography or photography, I found the film to be well made. The story line, while a little hard to fathom being of a much different culture, was well written and kept my interest. More importantly, where this film is concerned both leading actors did an exemplary job of portraying the mental anguish as well as the physical. Well done.

I'm not sure why I got this movie - I suppose the reviews finally convinced me to check it out.

The lead actress is acceptably pretty (a model, in fact). The actor is somewhat thin and coarse-looking. Both are first-time actors here, but do a good job.

I'm not into S&M, but can accept it as subject matter. Most of it is real in the movie, it appears.

The sex is pretty graphic, and stops only a pube away from showing actual meshing of body parts. Basically what you have is repetitious sex and whippings. With subtitles. Odd that in a few instances, the crew actually enters the shot to comfort the actress after a demanding scene.

The plot is unbelievable. Why would that attractive girl want that unattractive man? I don't know. I can't believe the reason she gives - too silly.

A couple points by others to clear up or contest. The character is 18 (thinking about college), not 16 as someone else thought
- and she mentions she is tired of being thought of as a minor. In either case, the actress obviously was not born in 1984 as IMDB incorrectly lists. According to the DVD filmography, she was born in 1976, making her 22+ at the time.

How can this remind anyone of "Lolita" apart from the age difference? Lolita was much younger, and there was no enjoyment on her part, nor any S&M. Just someone's silly comparison.

I can't really recommend it. It gets boring and repetitious after seeing the same stuff over and over. Kinda pricey, too. To each his own.

I watched this in the hope of an erotic tale. Needless to say that is not what I got. The movie does start out in that direction, but soon spirals out of control into whipping and beating. (Not to mention the low point of the film: A scat kiss.) The character J at first seems to be a sadist, as he begins whipping Y prior to having sex with her. Later in the film the whip is turned on him and his true colors begin to emerge. As this relationship progresses it seems more and more like J is just taking advantage of Y's desperate circumstances to satisfy his own obsession with the whip. I found that there was no real connection between them as the whipping becomes so pathetic you just have to laugh at him. Pass on this film.

I think people seem to be missing the point a bit - misinterpreting themes of the book as themes of this film. I actually left the theater saying "That must be the cutest SM film ever made." The director does quite a few things to keep the audience aware that this is a movie we're watching. The sex is all obviously simulated, there are interviews with the actors, etc. etc. etc. All this makes this wind up seeming to be a movie about making a movie of a book rather than a movie of a book. I had the distinct feeling that the choice of subject matter was more of a wakeup call to Korean cinema/censors than anything else. What gives the movie its charm is the kind of freewheeling, almost naive "let's make a movie" tone of the thing. Not a masterpiece, but intelligent and a lot of fun.