In early 2005, a dark, controversial internet comic called Dasepo Girls appeared and won over a large following among young Koreans. Set in a high school named Musseulmo (literally, "Useless High School"), the comic portrayed a place where the students were sex addicts, where the teachers were perverts, and where virtually nothing was forbidden. With a diverse cast of characters filling the large number of episodes (76 to date), Dasepo Girls followed multiple storylines and created a rich, twisted, narrative world.
Film companies were quick to notice the comic's success, and by the end of 2005 director E J-yong, well-known for Untold Scandal (2003) and An Affair (1998), announced that he would adapt it into a movie. The initial reaction from fans was one of anticipation but also disbelief: how could such scandalous material be re-worked for a mainstream audience? Even aside from the comic's strong sexual content, Dasepo Girls was a wide-ranging collection of disjointed stories that would be hard to unify into a coherent whole.
Nonetheless, E J-yong seemed the perfect choice for such a project, given his demonstrated flair for scandalous topics and his new-generation approach to moral issues. A young cast was quickly assembled, headed by actress Kim Ok-bin (from the 2005 horror film Voice). Meanwhile, production company Ahnsworld also commissioned a series of 40 short films based on the comic, which are well worth tracking down in their own right.
Commercially the film, titled Dasepo Naughty Girls in English, tripped out of the gate. Viewers familiar with the comic were clearly expecting something far more racy – in fact, it ended up being granted a mild 15-and-over rating. The film also opened just as monster movie The Host was on its way to becoming the best-selling Korean film in history. Dasepo ultimately grossed $3.8 million, which for Korean films of average budget is considered a disappointing performance.
Dasepo Naughty Girls may not have been what teenage fans were expecting, but Director E has nonetheless given us a highly original and satisfying film, assuming you go in with the right expectations. He has taken the original comic's spirit of transgression and transformed it into a film that defies the mainstream in other ways. If Korean society often portrays itself as being homogenous, Dasepo Naughty Girls explodes that notion in favor of diversity. Hierarchical social structures, too familiar in real-life Korea, crumble within the world of the film. Social outcasts may still exist at Musseulmo High, but interestingly enough it's the "normal" students who are more often made to feel uncomfortable and unsure of themselves.
The film also treats narrative in the same relaxed way it engages moral issues. Largely episodic in nature, it will linger on one character's concerns and actions for a certain period of time before dropping it and moving on to another character. Although most screen time is spent on Kim Ok-bin's "girl who carries poverty on her back", attention is also paid to other characters who have little or no relation to her. Even in the latter part of the film, there are few signs of the plot coalescing into a decisive conclusion; instead, the film takes its time exploring the corners of its world and the characters that inhabit it. The director even throws in a few catchy song-and-dance numbers.
Ultimately Dasepo becomes an odd and fascinating sort of utopian vision of modern Korea, though not the utopia that most Koreans would imagine for themselves. The film's candy-colored palette and playful horsing around may suggest that the director is simply having fun, but a closer look reveals that he has a clear social agenda – one that may well be worth taking seriously.