Kingmaker: Whose Life Is It Anyway?

I've been trying to figure out why Byun Sung-hyun historical drama Kingmaker decided against being a biopic about the early political days of eventual Korean president Kim Dae-jung and his unorthodox strategist Uhm Chang-rok. Why are we instead watching a film about a fictional Kim Woon-beom (Sul Kyung-gu) and his sidekick Seo Chang-dae (Lee Sun-kyun)? Why indeed are so many of the main characters based on real-life figures but renamed as if they were someone else? Was there a fear of lawsuits related to defamation of character? Was there too much conjecture and not enough fact?

Whatever the reasons, don't them distract you. In truth, the less you know about South Korean politics from the 1970s, the more Kingmaker may captivate your attention. For the story this movie tells is a fascinating one: an election campaign in which idealism is catapulted by clever trickery despite unfavorable odds. Theft, misdirection, and betrayal all come into play as Kim struggles to put forth his populist, socialist agenda and loosen the dictatorial grip the current regime held on the country. Kingmaker has you rooting for the underdog and searching the American political landscape for a national figure akin to NYC's recently elected Zohran Mamdani. But given the backroom scheming that's able to manipulate a republic the sie of New Jersey, you know it's a big dream for the USA.

Project Y: How Much Does She Love Her

When is lesbian noir not lesbian noir? At first, Lee Hwan's Project Y registers as a sapphic thriller. Aren't femme escort Mi-seon (Han So-lee) and butch driver Do-gyeong (Jeon Jong-seo) pooling their resources so one can open a flower shop and the other can make goo-goo eyes at the owner? Yet before I could settle into the pleasures of their complicated criminal romance, these two end up in a room with maternal figure Ga-yeong (Kim Shin-rock), a manipulative, drug-using elder who both refer to as "mom." Eventually, it comes out that one is the birth child; the other, adopted... so perhaps their connection is more than familial; perhaps the relationship retains the erotic. But if so, this sisterhood has definitely upped the kink factor.

Now throw in hyperviolent henchwoman Bull (a bald-headed Jung Young-joo) and you'll find it impossible to let go of the queer framework. Even the presence of the gigolo bar, frequented as it may be by rich ladies dissatisfied with their husbands, connotes a gay millieu. I've been to those bars and the women are in the minority as clientelle. As for the male leads, neither comes close to creating a strong fascination: Club impressario To Sa-jang (Kim Sung-cheol) is a pretty boy who gets hard by cheating people of money. He's a nepo villain. He feels as though he's inherited his dastardliness and learned his viciousness as part of a bloody bloodline. Like many in real life.