THE HAPPY LIFE

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THE HAPPY LIFE

Dec 31, 2019

Writer by Pierce Conran
View1452

2007|112 MIN | Drama

DIRECTOR LEE Joon-ik

CAST JUNG Ji-young, KIM Yun-seok, KIM Sang-ho, JANG Keung-suk

RELEASE DATE September 13, 2007

CONTACT CJ Entertainment

Tel +82-2-371-5500

Fax +82-2-371-6340

Email filmsales@cj.net

Prolific filmmaker LEE Joon-ik is most well-known for his hit period dramas, which include Once Upon a Time in a Battlefield (2003), King And The Clown (2005) which was briefly the most successful Korean film of all time, The Throne (2015) and DONGJU; The Portrait of A Poet (2016). Yet over the years he’s also quietly become a steady purveyor of music-themed contemporary dramas. We previously covered his first one here in the K-Cinema library, which was 2006’s Radio Star, and others have included 2008’s Sunny and last year’s Sunset in My Hometown. This week we’re looking at The Happy Life (2007), a genial middle-aged male bonding film that benefits from LEE’s warm gaze and steady hand.

After being laid off from his job, father and husband Gi-yeong spends his days at home or loafing around town, until an unexpected call comes with bad news. His college friend Sang-woo has passed away and, at his funeral, he reconnects with his friends Seong-wook, who works two low-low-lying jobs to support his family, and Hyeok-su, a used car salesman supporting a family in Canada. He also meets Sang-woo’s rocker son. After grabbing Sang-woo’s old guitar before his son can toss it in a fire, Gi-yeong decides to restart their college band ‘Active Volcano’. At first Seong-wook and Hyeok-su reject the idea but he soon wears them down and before long, when they realize they need a vocalist, they turn to Sang-woo’s son, who gives the band a far more con-temporary image.

By centering on a trio of men who all appear to be on the verge of a mid-life crisis, The Happy Life examines many contemporary hardships for adult and family life in Korea, though it does so exclusively from the male perspective. These men are all married and with children and have to deal with the pressures of providing for their families, particularly their children’s education, which in Seong-wook’s case is far more than he can afford as he drives a delivery bike in the day and works as a substitute driver at night, while Hyeok-su lives to make money for the family that he misses, despite the fact his wife makes it difficult for him to reunite with them. As such, LEE’s film serves as well-meaning and light middle-aged male wish-fulfilment, as this trio connect over something they love that is outside of their families and away from the chores of their difficult lives.

With its straightforward story, The Happy Life offers few narrative surprises but that’s because Di-rector LEE is far more interested in making sure that we become invested in the characters, who come to life thanks to a strong cast, including King And The Clown lead JUNG Jin-young as guitarist Gi-yeong, a pre-fame KIM Yun-seok (The Chaser, 2008) as bassist Seong-wook and amiable character actor KIM Sang-ho (Haemoo, 2014) as drummer Hyeok-su. LEE’s unobtrusive but effective direction takes a backseat, allowing the characters to be front and center, though his measured stylistics occasionally creep up in key scenes, such as in a cathartic air guitar/a cappella sequence towards the end of the film.

Director LEE is currently working on post-production for his 14th film Ja-san-eo-bo (Korean title) with SUL Kyung-gu and BYUN Yo-han, which sees him once again return to the period drama.

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