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[Limelight] Three-Dimensional Characters Trapped in the 'Geomi Jip'

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"I expressed the acting by distinguishing between extremes within extremes. The connection between the different acting styles? I've never thought about it. The former is sophisticated and modern, while the latter exaggerates speech and behavior with emotions somewhat closed off," said actress Jung Soo-jung, who starred in director Kim Ji-woon’s film Geomi Jip (Spider's Web).


[Limelight] Three-Dimensional Characters Trapped in the 'Geomi Jip'

At first glance, it sounds plausible. Han Yu-rim, portrayed by Jung Soo-jung, is a young actress who has just landed a leading role. At the request of director Kim Yeol (Song Kang-ho), she reshoots the film Geomi Jip. She is startled by the news that it will take two days. Since the drama she was filming is inevitably affected, her nerves become sharp. She even sulks continuously, displeased with the secret reunion with actor Kang Ho-se (Oh Jung-se).


The moment the camera rolls, her gaze and attitude change 180 degrees. She vividly plays a factory worker who lures the factory owner with affectionate eyes and a gentle smile. She also skillfully performs a difficult scene where she turns a slap from the owner's wife into a curse: "This woman will cripple you just like your father. The women in this family cripple all men!"


The color Han Yu-rim and the black-and-white factory worker share many similarities. Both aspire to social success and steadfastly confront women of higher social status. For the former, it is Shin Mi-do (Jeon Yeo-bin), the heir of the production company; for the latter, it is the wife played by Lee Min-ja (Im Soo-jung). The mediator leading the extremes within extremes is also gender between men and women. Each is involved in an extramarital affair with a married man.


[Limelight] Three-Dimensional Characters Trapped in the 'Geomi Jip'

This setting cannot simply be dismissed as fiction. The play within the play clearly shows traces of director Kim Ki-young’s The Housemaid (1960). The film draws its motif from a murder case involving a maid and the son of the household. It casts grotesque imagination onto reality, imbuing it with the spirit of the times. Evidence can be found in Kim’s own planning intentions and interviews.


"In the 1960s and 1970s, the most common peripheral figures were young women from rural areas. Due to modernization policies, women left the countryside for the city, where their options were factory workers, or otherwise maids and bus attendants. Love affairs occurring in middle-class households with housekeepers often escalated into social issues because of class entanglements. (...) At that time, it was common for men to maintain two households. This caused psychological problems for children, who suffered as illegitimate sons and daughters of mistresses."


The play within the play in Geomi Jip is no different. It deals with threats to the order of middle-class families in the 1960s and 1970s. The horror erupts from the collapse of the head of the household and the resulting family crisis. The intruder (factory worker) is merely a mediator. It stimulates and drives the latent resentment growing inside. Director Kim Yeol confronts this in an overly coded form in his dreams. "I have the same dream for days. Films are projected in my head every night. Incredible scenes vividly replay in my dreams."


[Limelight] Three-Dimensional Characters Trapped in the 'Geomi Jip'

The film is a reflection of reality. Director Kim Yeol was well aware of Kang Ho-se’s infidelity. Although he treats the secret relationship with Han Yu-rim lightly, he worries about the head of the household’s downfall. Han Yu-rim, as a reflection of reality, is no exception. Especially since she acts alongside Kang Ho-se, the person involved. She can portray the twisted and distorted facets of the factory worker more meaningfully than anyone else. Furthermore, she can point to what Kim Yeol’s distortion of women is trying to say.


This series of processes is also sufficient to elicit Han Yu-rim’s autonomous change. Because the film is a reverse reflection of reality. Unfortunately, Jung Soo-jung’s exaggerated inner feelings only come across as complaints about hardship. Her acting, including tone, remains the crooked mannerisms seen multiple times in the sitcom High Kick! Revenge of Short Legs (2011). It functions only as monotonous comedy. "Please pay some attention." "If it’s too hard, tell me." "I’m really struggling. I’ve been struggling since earlier. I kept saying I was struggling!" "Let’s cheer up, Yu-rim."


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