Another big production at this year's Florence Korea Film Fest is “Samjin Company English Class”. Actor and Director Lee Jong-Pil sets his third feature film in the 1990s, in a period in Korean history when the economics of the country started its big international catch up.
“Samjin Company English Class” is screening at the Florence Korea Film Fest
It is 1995. Samjin company is the employer of a lot of women, but all of them are stuck in low-class positions. Even though they may have some assets, they are reduced to making coffee and cleaning tasks. Actually, they do the same chores they would do at home. The company doesn't invest on them, for fear they will quit as soon as they marry. Women with children are considered not efficient enough, and don't have chances to stay at the company. Not to mention eligible for a promotion. This is the climate in which the story takes place.
Three friends attend an English class sponsored by the company. The course is some kind of alibi training chance for the female employees, since it doesn't really give them career opportunities. That of all things, it will be these ladies who at some point will save the company, nobody would have thought. Ja-Young is one of them. She is a loyal employee, willing to contribute to the growth and success of the company. One day she discovers a leak in the sewer of the factory and reports it. A chemical product trickles into the water and makes people in the countryside sick.
One major thread of the storyline is the detection and covering up of an environmental scandal. On the one side, there is a big company that wants to minimize their responsibility and the other innocent people that are hurt by it. It's the classical David against Goliath fight on several levels. Not only the company stands against the inhabitants, also internally the women are powerless and have no authority at all. But the three friends don't give up .
Even though there are a few unexpected twists, in total, the story is quite predictable. The good and bad sides are very much clear from the beginning. Of course, the super fancy American-Korean guy is not as charming as he seems. Globalization is bad and it comes to a primary naive family enterprise through foreigners. The moral aspect of the film is a bit cheesy and not very sophisticated.
The script works with stereotypes. The characters all follow a simple scheme. There is the misunderstood genius, the naive dreamer, the presumptuous femme fatale or the hot-tempered mama's boy, to name just a few. This doesn't give to the cast a lot of opportunities to develop their roles. Still especially the three friends, played by E Som, Go Ah-Sung and Park Hye-Soo harmonize very well.
Actually, it would have been much better for the film to focus on them. Their struggles to be accepted in the company are much more interesting than the action-packed story in the foreground. It seems the director and production didn't trust in the potential of the subject. The empowerment of these women is shown only half-heartedly, since their progress is not very credible.
First of all, the aim of the film was to entertain by telling a suspenseful narrative. It raises some serious topics, but doesn't aspire to a critical discussion. “Samjin Company English Class” is essentially a comedy, and taking aside the fact that it lacks depth, it remains an enjoyable movie.
