Femme Fatale (2007) Movie Review

Proving that the remake process works both ways comes “Femme Fatale”, a new Korean version of the 1998 French film “Serial Lover” which marks the debut of director Kang Kyung Hoon. Although updated to work in some distinctly Korean humour, the film is basically the same brand of black comedy, revolving around a raucous night of romance, misunderstandings and accidental homicide.

The fun begins as famous actress Ji Won (Ye Ji Won, who recently had a hit with “Old Miss Diary”) is surprised at her home by a motley bunch of suitors comprised of an overly verbose professor, an insecure gangster, a smarmy Korean American, and the weird director of her latest film. It quickly emerges that she has been stringing them along, and understandably, they want answers, not least since they have all turned up with the intention of proposing marriage. Things go downhill after Ji Won inadvertently kills one of her potential husbands, and from then on the night becomes a disaster of murderous proportions as she and her manager try to keep the accidents under wraps, a task made all the more difficult by a couple of detectives on the trail of a thief dressed as Santa Claus and the gangsters’ concerned henchmen. Who will end up with Ji Won? And more importantly, who will survive the night?

As an adaptation of a French comedy, “Femme Fatale” has the feel of a traditional farce in the best possible sense of the word, being cleverly constructed, well paced and featuring a great sense of comic timing. As such, just as much effort is put into the plot as into the gags, and the film is surprisingly suspenseful as the bodies build up and Ji Won gradually runs out of hiding places, getting more and more inventive as things progress. Indeed, a large part of the running time is taken up with scenes of characters conveniently turning their backs while corpses fall out of cupboard and fridges and the poor girl runs around trying to shove them back in. This works very well, mainly thanks to a great performance from Ye Ji Won, who again shows herself to be a winning female lead, and the viewer is engaged throughout.

More important is the fact that “Femme Fatale” is very funny, a perfectly pitched black comedy that never becomes to mean spirited or dark despite the subject matter, and which retains a strangely light and upbeat tone throughout, largely since the viewer genuinely hopes that Ji Won will emerge unscathed. The humour is a great mixture, with plenty of wacky misunderstandings, good corpse disposal gags and slapstick, and even a smattering of toilet humour quite literally thrown in for good measure. Many of the jokes are fresh and innovative, such as the unique sight of an unfortunate man impaled on a frozen fish – not something which viewers are likely to see too often.

Physical comedy aside, the film has an amusing bunch of characters, most of whom are all equally funny alive or dead, whether engaging in petty squabbling and one-upmanship or being shoved into awkward small spaces with a rigour mortis inspired grin on their faces. There is also a nice line in film references, with Kang managing to work in a bizarre Kim Ki Duk gag, which may or may not be a dig at the grumpy director, and a wonderful “Ringu” parody which is probably the funniest moment in the film or indeed from any Korean comedy of late.

Kang keeps a tight rein on things throughout, making the most of the limited locations, and his direction is surprisingly assured for a debut outing. There is an air of manic energy to the proceedings that he manages to maintain right the way through to the wacky climax without ever succumbing to the lure of melodrama or anything too predictable. The film is not perfect, and he does make a few missteps, notably the Santa Claus thief subplot, which while it does eventually tie in with the main plot is for the most part merely a distraction, as well as the party scene towards the end feels a little forced.

However, these are very minor criticisms indeed, and “Femme Fatale” is a great success and arguably the funniest Korean comedy in some years. Both the director and the leading lady show a real talent for this kind of material, and the film stands out not simply as a well executed slice of hilarity, but as a result of being an excellent piece of cinema in general.

Kang Kyeong-hoon (director) / Kang Kyeong-hoon, Lee Dong-gyu (screenplay)
CAST: Ye Ji-won, Im Won-hee, Jo Hee-bong, Park No-sik, Jeong Kyung-ho