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2002｜103 MIN | Drama, Romance

DIRECTOR YOO Ha

CAST UHM Jeong-hwa, KARM Woo-sung, SOHN Jin-ho

RELEASE DATE April 25, 2002

CONTACT Sidus Pictures

The popularity of Korean romantic dramas in the 1990s sprouted a subgenre that explored the existence, cause and effect of affairs within Korean society. Marriage Is a Crazy Thing (2002) was hardly the first among them, preceded as it was by hits such as E J-yong’s An Affair (1998) and JUNG Ji-woo’s Happy End (1999), yet what director YOO Ha injected into the format was a frankness about the phenomenon that alluded to a malaise in Korean society. In this story, the physical desires of the protagonists are matched, if not surpassed, by their desire to break free from the shackles of social responsibility and to experience pleasure on their own terms, regardless of the consequences.

Joon-young, a part-time English literature lecturer, goes on a blind date with the designer Yeon-hee. Though the evening proceeds in fits and starts, they do end up sleeping with each other, following which they begin a casual relationship. However, though their fling intensifies, Yeon-hee announces that she will marry a doctor, in order to achieve her goal of financial stability. The marriage takes place and what is now an affair continues, as Yeon-hee tries to have the best of both worlds, while Joon-young begins to ponder what exactly it is that he wants.

YOO’s film follows two characters who seek to gratify themselves, but also who recognize the constraints of Korean society and what their roles within it entail. They are emotional beings who care about people beyond themselves, but first and foremost, they seek to sate their own desires. 

Poet-turned filmmaker YOO Ha returned to the director’s chair after a nine-year gap for Marriage Is a Crazy Thing, and though he would go on to show off stronger stylistic affections in works such as A Dirty Carnival (2006) and A Frozen Flower (2008), what he brings to the table here is naturalism and a nonjudgmental approach, which allows the essence of the source novel by YI Man-gyo to come out. Other contemporary affair dramas, such as Jealousy Is My Middle Name (2003), are more biting in their exploration of people’s desire and selfishness, but YOO’s film neither condemns or condones his characters.

Popular singer UHM Jeong-hwa had appeared in a handful of films in the early 1990s, including YOO’s debut We Must Go To Apgujung-Dong On Windy Days (1993), but Marriage Is a Crazy Thing was her first film role in eight years and through which she earned much greater recognition as a talented actress. She won the Best Actress award at the Baeksang Arts Awards for her part in the project and became one of the top actresses of the 2000s. Meanwhile, KARM Woo-sung, who would later reach huge audiences through King And The Clown (2005), made his feature debut in YOO’s work.