In recent years, it has seemed that Korean audiences have been in the mood for a good comedy. Yet since 200 Pound Beauty was released at the end of 2006, there has been no broadly appealing, entertaining comedy to divert viewers from the daily onset of glum economic and political news. A few films, like Unstoppable Marriage (2007), had a good central concept but were so poorly executed as to be almost unwatchable. More often, Korean comedies have simply been uninspiring and unfunny.
Before watching Scandal Makers, you might guess from its cheap marketing, its dorky poster and awkward title that it was another comic misfire. But soon it became apparent that there was something different about this film. It wasn't so much its central concept, about a successful DJ in his mid 30s who is confronted one day by a 20-year-old woman claiming to be his daughter. The film is, in many ways, wholly conventional, but debut director Kang Hyoung-chul has managed to infuse the work with style and an unusual comic energy.
Part of this is a great sense of comic timing: the dialogue is crisp and to the point, and Kang knows how to choreograph each scene for the greatest impact. He also seems to work quite well with his actors. Although Cha Tae-hyun (My Sassy Girl) is now a veteran of the genre and to be honest, something of a known quantity, the performances of young actress Park Bo-young and child actor Wang Seok-hyun were an unexpected treat. Park, who has been made into a star by this film and her other recent work, adopts a convincingly blunt, hard edge for her character that provides an effective foil to Cha's more calculated charm. Meanwhile Wang periodically steals the show with coolly played but perfectly executed gags. Although child actors these days, Wang seems a step above the rest of them in natural talent.
Before Scandal Makers was released it was pretty much as far off the radar as a film can be, but strong word of mouth stirred up interest and pushed it into more and more theaters as the holiday season approached. After two months on release, it had sold more than 8 million tickets, beating Kim Jae-woon's The Good, The Bad, The Weird to become the top film of 2008 and setting a new box office record for Korean comedies. It was particularly popular with family audiences - a portion of the viewing public that is taking up an ever bigger share of the market. One hopes that producers will draw from this a positive lesson; that comedies are worthy of being prepared with care and a focus on quality, rather than being dished up at high speed.
Darcy Paquet