A HOT ROOF
[GYAE-GOT-UN NALUI OHU]
A film review by James Berardinelli
Copyright 1997 James Berardinelli
RATING (0 TO 10): 6.5 Alternative Scale: **1/2 out of ****
South Korea, 1996 Running Length: 1:48 MPAA Classification: No MPAA Rating (Mature themes, profanity, brief nudity, sex) Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Shown at the Philadelphia Festival of World Cinema, 5/2/97 & 5/4/97
Cast: Ha You-MI, Jung Sun-Koung, Son Sook, Kim Bo-Yun, Song Ok-Sook,
Jung Bo-Suk
Director: Lee Min-Yong
Producer: Lee Soon-Yeoul
Screenplay: Lee Kyong-Sik, Cho Min-Ho, Chang Jin, Lee Min-Yong
Cinematography: Seo Jung-Min
Music: Lee Young-Hoon
In Korean with subtitles
It's not much of a stretch to say that the world's Asian cultures are far behind their Occidental counterparts when it comes to women's liberation. The great strides that have been made over the past few decades in the West have not been matched in the East. Still, progress is being made, as South Korean director Lee Min-Yong's film, A HOT ROOF, indicates. And, while the point of the movie is to illustrate the importance of female empowerment, the very fact that a film like this (with a fleet of strong women protagonists) could be produced in South Korea is evidence of a cultural shift towards sexual equality.
A HOT ROOF attempts to present its message through a humorous medium. The film is an outrageous, bordering on screwball, farce about a group of ten women trapped on the roof of an apartment building during a police standoff. They're there because they were responsible for the accidental death of an abusive husband. Now, in 100-plus degree heat with no food or water, these ten individuals, some of whom have grudges against each other, must band together to defy the police and present their case to the media.
A HOT ROOF does not view men in an especially positive light -- they're shown to be lazy, boozing, violent, randy pigs. But, while the women are give the lion's share of positive personality traits, their characters aren't much better developed. Each of the ten represents a different stereotype, and, despite a number of appealing performances, what we end up with is a group of likable-but-one-dimensional individuals who could (and should) be more interesting than they actually are.
As a comedy, A HOT ROOF is fairly successful. A high percentage of the jokes work, even for an international audience, indicating a certain universality in the humor employed by Min-Yong. The funniest aspect of A HOT ROOF involves a pair of inept burglars who become trapped in the building when the police surround it. Other openly comic segments, as well as a few that are more subtle, are equally effective.
Unfortunately, the film falls apart during the last reel, when Min- Yong starts preaching his message of equality with unnecessary vigor and obviousness. Several "dramatic" elements, including a gender-bending plot twist, are a little too trite to be effective. Min-Yong apparently doesn't believe that humor is enough, but, in clumsily trying to inject pathos, he undermines the last quarter of his picture. In the end, while A HOT ROOF has some important things to say (made all the more interesting considering the country where the film was made), its flaws limit its potential as more than a socially-aware form of light entertainment.
- James Berardinelli e-mail: berardin@bc.cybernex.net ReelViews web site: http://www.cybernex.net/~berardin
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