Lovers in Woomuk-Baemi

The nearest Jang has ever come to straight social realism, this describes a stormy sexual triangle in the outer city suburb of the title. A male supervisor in a small sewing factory consoles one of the workers, a woman battered by her impotent husband, and they find themselves having an affair. Trouble is, he already has a steady partner, a former bargirl who won't give him up without a fight. Jang doesn't take sides (each of the characters has his/her reasons) but relishes the spontaneity of the emotions and the impossibility of concealing the scandal from the rest of the community. There's no symbolism, but the film's verve prefigures the imminent renaissance in Korean cinema.