Happy End

Happy End is a South Korean film released in 1999. Written and directed by Jung Ji-woo, the film is about a woman (Jeon Do-yeon) who has an affair while her husband (Choi Min-sik) is struggling to find employment. Plot Happy End is about Choi Bora (Jeon Do-yeon), a successful career woman who becomes involved with her ex-lover, Kim Il-beom (Joo Jin-mo). Bora's home life is a snore: she's mother to an infant child and her husband, Seo Min-ki (Choi Min-sik) has lost his job, leaving Bora as the family's sole breadwinner. It's unclear if Bora is with Il-beom just for the sex or for the passion, both of which Min-ki seems incapable of giving. But it seems the jobless Min-ki hasn't been just wandering around parks and reading romance novels as first thought; he knows something is going on, and he's collecting evidence. Min-ki has been emasculated by his inability to find a job and director Jung hammers this point home with a brief montage showing Min-ki grocery shopping, cooking, and doing the laundry. These are all very feminine jobs, particularly in very patriarchal South Korea. Most interesting is that Min-ki seems content to live with the cheating Bora, very much aware of his own shortcomings, which leaves him willing to be wronged. Bora is unable to stop going back to Il-beom even though she seems physically and emotionally damaged by their continued affair. Il-beom has realized that he is hooked on her, and is very aware of his jealously-driven actions toward her and her family. Without each other, they have no passion in their lives, and so they must keep going back to each other.