During her time studying in Paris 3 University, “Doom Doom” director Jung Won-hee shot a number of shorts, with the last one, “Belle Ville” being the one that mostly circulated in the festival circuit, particularly in Korea.
“Belle Ville” review is part of the Submit Your Film Initiative
The story revolves around Yeon-hwa, an illegal Chinese-Korean worker, who has been trying to make a living in Paris but now finds herself having to return back to her home country, since her son is sick. In order to do so, her twin sister will arrive in France to take her place. On the day the switch is about to happen, however, nothing goes as planned.
In the 26 minutes of the short, Jung manages to do two things pretty well. The first one is to highlight the difficulties (illegal) immigrants face in a foreign country, with the first scenes showing the boundaries language poses and the later ones how the fact that they depend on others for the majority of their needs can hamper the fulfillment of any kind of wishes they have. The second one is to create an atmosphere of tension and angst that borders on the horrific after a fashion, with the despair that takes over Yeon-hwa after a point being palpable and rather entertaining in its presentation, essentially carrying the movie from beginning to end. That this aspect results from realistic premises also adds to the overall atmosphere and approach of the film, while that Jung has included some notions that show that not everything in the lives of immigrants is bad, since a level of comradership and help to each other does exist, also moves into the same, real-life path. One could say that there is some prejudice here, since it seems that all the men in Yeon-hwa's life treat her well, while the only woman is essentially the “villain” of the story, but even this aspect is naturally embedded in the narrative, and does not look forced or excessive at all.
The movie also benefits the most by Lee Sang-hee's performance in the protagonist role, who truly excels in the agonizing parts of the movie, with the finale in the airport being particularly memorable. Kim Soon-yong's cinematography is on a rather high level as well, with the night shots in particular and a series of frames that mirror Yeon-hwa's agony being the highlight. Lee Yeon-jeong's editing results in a relatively fast pace that suits the context nicely.
“Belle Ville” is an excellent short, that manages to communicate its sociopolitical comments through a rather entertaining approach.
