[MOVIE RIVIEW] 'The Moonlight of Seoul' portrays twisted role of men at a host bar

Director Yoon Jong-bin created a favorable buzz in 2006 when he unveiled his thought-provoking debut feature "The Unforgiven," highlighting the hidden talent of actor Ha Jung-woo. Yoon's casting choice turned out to be prescient. Ha is now the most sought-after film star following the runaway success of "The Chaser," a thriller that further showcases the actor's passionate acting spirit.

But it seems questionable whether Yoon has made a right casting choice for "The Moonlight of Seoul" (Korean title: "Beastie Boys"), a drama in which Ha is recruited to play a central character for the second time with the same director.

The film, to be released on April 30, loosely reflects filmmaker Yoon's continued interest in the painful social trap that puts a stifling screw upon the life of Korean men. Previously, Yoon brought to life the suffocating pain in his award-winning "The Unforgiven" in a way that impressed critics at film festivals. The trouble is that, unlike Yoon's first feature, "The Moonlight of Seoul" is a commercial project which can be easily tossed out at the cutthroat box office unless it's armed with some mainstream appeal.

Desperate, cash-strapped men who serve drinks and dance with female clients at what is called a "host bar" is not fantastic subject matter for such mass appeal, to begin with. Petty struggles, emotional tug-of-war, and a hunger for genuine love are juxtaposed with the exotic night life of male hosts, but the plot falters helplessly as if the intoxicated main characters try to remain sober after ceaseless drinking night after night.

In the film, Yoon Kye-sang plays Seung-woo, who has recently joined the peculiar nighttime business to stay afloat. His life, as far as he remembers in his dreams, was not always like this. He used to enjoy an affluent life and he knew every corner of Cheongdam-dong where he had lived with his family.

For some reason, which is not explained explicitly, his life plunged into poverty, and he is now forced to sell his handsome appearance and refined manners at the bar where dozens of similarly good-looking men await their female clients, most of whom are professional hostesses venting their frustrations with the money they have earned serving men at sleazy bars.

Ha Jung-woo's character, Jae-hyeon, is slightly different. He is the so-called PD, or partner director, a host bar equivalent to the madam at a men's club. Jae-hyeon is constantly testing his luck: gambling, lying and cheating on his girlfriend to squee

ze out easy money. His world is steadily disintegrating; undaunted, he keeps rolling the dice to get away from an immediate crisis, only to confront another.

The host bar is portrayed as a sort of underground sex trade venue where female clients buy the attention and care of young, well-groomed host boys, but the film does not pay due focus to the shady details. Instead, Seung-woo's encounter with Ji-won (Yoon Jin-seo), one of his clients, takes center stage in the plot, bringing to the background the real travails supposedly embedded in the host business.

The couple, after a brief honeymoon-like period, falls into the depths of mistrust and deception, a development that pummels the soft-hearted Seung-woo - a melodramatic set-up dragging the host bar drama back to the emotionally abrasive shouting game, plus a widely expected revelation that fails to steer the plot in a meaningful direction.

Jae-hyeon comes up with lame excuses around the clock to get by in his debt-laden life, but that's all there is to see. His life is so boringly predictable that even the last-minute twist does not generate the intended impact. Ha Jung-woo's nuanced perf

ormance occasionally lightens up the otherwise depressingly static storyline - but doesn't do enough to save the movie.

By Yang Sung-jin