July 32nd (2010)

“July 32nd” is a grim Korean indie drama directed by Jin Seung Hyun and based upon the short story “Full Moon” by acclaimed writer Ko Un. The film really isn’t a very happy affair, dealing with themes of abandonment, revenge, loneliness and prostitution in an even handed and down to earth manner. Having enjoyed a successful run at festivals, screening at Fukuoka and Shanghai back in 2008, the film now arrives on DVD.

The film kicks off in 1987 with a killer called Man Su (Park Eun Soo) taking his 5 year old daughter Rosie out on a job with him, who he is forced to leave with a prostitute in the red light district after being surprised by the police. During the ensuing struggle, he stabs a detective called Jang in the leg, disabling him. His own life ruined, the bitter Jang decides to take revenge, waiting until Man Su is behind bars and then kidnapping Rosie and selling her to a brothel on a remote island. The drama skips forward some years to find Rosie (Seung Hye Rim), now grown up and still working as a prostitute on the island to pay off Jang’s ever increasing debts, hating her father and swearing that she will kill him if they ever meet. A young man (Kim Jung Kyun) helps her to escape to Busan, though they find life there even more difficult, with her health slowly getting worse. Meanwhile, her father is released from prison and sets about trying to find her, with Jang, now a homeless cripple, on his trail and determined to wreck his life further.