Saving My Hubby

Geum-soon is a housewife in her early 20s who got married due to an unplanned pregnancy. A former volleyball star, she struggles to adjust to married life together with her equally young and inexperienced husband (played by Kim Tae-woo, the younger South Korean soldier in the hit film JSA). Then late at night after her husband’s first day of work, she receives a phone call from a bar owner who is keeping her husband hostage, saying that he must pay a $1400 drinking bill. Strapping her baby to her back, Geum-soon goes out to rescue her husband. Written and directed by newcomer Hyun Nam-sup, Saving My Hubby (literal title: “Be Brave, Geum-soon!”) draws its strength from its motley collection of personalities and the creepy neon underworld of Seoul’s night life. Our young heroine, who frequently resorts to whiny hysterics, is clearly too young for the adult world she has been thrown into. Nonetheless when Geum-soon ventures out on her quest, she finds assistance from good-hearted souls amidst the squalor of the city streets. The core of this film is without question the performance of Bae Doo-na. Although at first it may seem a bit grating on the nerves, her character’s fits and perseverence produces a completely new kind of heroine. The film celebrates her weaknesses as well her strengths, and seeing her overcome the obstacles in her path provides an apt metaphor for how we cope with life’s surprises. Unfortunately, Korean audiences overlooked this film when it was released in late October, and after two weeks it had disappeared from theaters. This has happened before to Bae Doo-na, with such outstanding films as Barking Dogs Never Bite (2000) and Take Care of My Cat (2001). Nonetheless, this modern-day fable of crooks, freaks, chases, and overhead spikes is one of the must-see films of 2002.