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Director OH Seung-uk’s new film after 15 years of hiatus, The Shameless, screened at the Un Certain Regard section at the Cannes International Film Festival on May 15th at 10pm. However, the film’s luck wasn’t completely on its side, as the time slot had another major screening happening at the same time. It was Gus Van Sant’s return after three years with Sea of Trees, which was invited in competition. Although rumour has it the film received some negative responses, but the international recognition and interest in Gus Van Sant is not something to ignore. But thankfully, the theater was also filled for The Shameless. Ever since Secret Sunshine in 2007 won her the Best Actress Award at Cannes, JEON Do-yeon  also had fashioned a following of her own.

 

Cannes’ officially daily press, The Hollywood Reporter commented, “wWinner of Cannes’ Best Actress prize in 2007 for Secret Sunshine and a member of the competition jury last year, the Korean actress’ presence is perhaps the main reason the Shameless secured a berth in the Un Certain Regard sidebar at Cannes this year,” about JEON. It seems like mush anticipation rose due to JEON’s presence in the film.

 

As soon as the film started, laughter and sighs filled the theater. Although it was late in the evening, the audiences were fully focused on the screen. As metal chopsticks pierced faces, and brutal action scenes took place in the Korean-style noir, few whispers could be heard. On stage, JEON commented about the quiet crowd and said, “I’m not always looking for praises, but I sometimes worry that the audiences may not have fully understood the film.”

 

 

I had a chance to ask one of the audiences at the screening about their reception of The Shameless. The French cinephile named Oliver had attended the screening as a fan of JEON and commented, “The love story between the main characters was interesting. However, there were times I couldn’t identify with the film, as I’m not very familiar with Korean culture. Another audience said, “I wanted to watch JEON’s performance,” speaking for many.

In all, the press and critics on site were all about JEON Do-yeon. Quoted by Variety, “A masterful performance by JEON Do-yeon anchors this stylish noir two-hander from director OH Seung-uk” in The Shameless. Variety also expressed positive reception to KIM Nam-gil’s performance and that the two protagonists have portrayed the characters so well that it made the plot more authentic.

 

The Hollywood Reporter said, “While boasting all the conventional stylistic trappings of film noir, The Shameless is that rarest of beasts in which the femme fatale – here played by the ever-bankable JEON Do Yeon – actually comes across more rounded and layered than the mail anti-hero,” and that “She gives a reliably nuanced performance that makes everything around her pale in comparison.”

 

Screen showed favor towards KIM Nam-gil’s performance, mentioning that “it is really KIM Nam-gil (The Pirates) who takes centre stage in this film and the detective is one of his strongest performances to date,” while adding that “JEON, as ever, embraces her challenging role with skill.”

 

CANNES=NA Won-jung