Everyone
says marriage requires hard work, but nobody ever wants to show it on film. Yet, there is certainly plenty of dramatic
fodder there. A young married couple will
prove the point when they navigate some tricky issues in Jang Kun-jae’s Sleepless Night (trailer here), which screens this
Sunday as a selection the Museum of the Moving Image’s second annual First Look
film series.
They
have been married two years without getting pregnant. This may have been either a conscious or subconscious
decision. Money is a concern. He works in a warehouse and she is yoga
instructor. Perhaps more significantly,
he is still not sure he is ready to be a parent. Both clearly understand this is an important
difference of opinion, leading to anxiety over the state of their union. They will have to do that everyday couple’s
work to stay together, especially with more and more of their married friends divorcing
or having children.
Like
many films programmed at this year’s First Look, Sleepless is a quiet, moody film.
However, it is also wholly engrossing for viewers willing to invest in
it. This film is far too honest for
anyone whose idea of movie romance is Gerard Butler planting a sloppy kiss on
an impeccably blow dried Jennifer Aniston.
By the same token, it is also considerably more erotic.
Kim
Soo-hyun and Kim Joo-ryeong make an attractively down-to-earth couple. Together they share a genuine, lived-in
chemistry that rings true in every scene.
While Jang’s two dream sequences are not well delineated on-screen, his
patience and sensitivity allow some telling moments to develop organically.
