If
you think art school students are inherently more sensitive than you have
another thing coming. Granted, the shy, torch-carrying Jung-woo sort of fits
the stereotype, but certainly not his coarse pseudo-friend Dong-hwa. They
relate to women very differently, especially the aloof beauty, Ju-hee. We know
angst and bitterness will mark their final year of school, because this is a
production of Studio DADAhouse, the production shingle of Yeon Sang-ho,
director of the smash-hit Train to Busan and
the animated films, The Fake and King of Pigs. Love hurts like a stiletto
in the heart in Hong Deok-pyo’s The
Senior Class
(trailer here),
written and produced by Yeon, which screens during the 2017 Fantasia International Film Festival.
Ju-hee
is beautiful and talented, so her classmates hate her, but pretend to like her.
Everyone also assumes she is rich, because of her stylish accessories, but she
isn’t. In fact, she has to work at a hostess bar to cover tuition. It really
wouldn’t be a big deal if she were working in a Hooter’s here in America, but
this is South Korea. Fortunately, it is the smitten Jung-woo who accidentally
stumbles over her secret. By maintaining her confidence, Jung-woo manages to
get closer to her. She sees it as a platonic friendship between future
colleagues, but it’s a start. However, things take a decidedly dark turn when
the crass Dong-hwa also learns her secret.
With
the passage of years, we start to think school love affairs and dramas really
don’t matter, but Senior Class is
powerful reminder how much they can sting at the time and how deeply they can
scar. Frankly, this is a sophisticated story of unrequited love, opportunistic
lust, and predatory gossip that could just as easily unfold in any number of
largely self-contained social/professional circles. Just about every viewer
should be able to identify with the character’s emotions and understand their
pain.
