Girl Scout
Director: Kim Sang-man
Year: 2008
Rating: 7.0
Country: Korea
Aka - Geol seukauteu
Well, first of all ignore the terrible poster
for the film. If I had seen that, I would never have watched this looney
Korean comedy that combines crime, female bonding and Girl Power in a nifty
package. It is consistently amusing and ridiculously absurd and leaves you
with a big smile on your face. Second of all they are not Girl Scouts. Not
close. A terrible choice for the English title. How that comes about is too
complicated to say but it has no meaning for the film. What has meaning is
four women - one elderly, two approaching middle age and one about twenty
- banding and bonding together in their determination to right a wrong.
In Korea (and Korean communities around
the world) there are these investment vehicles termed Kye that are fairly
popular. They are Private Co-operative Funds where individuals each month
put in an equal amount of money into the pot and then take turns monthly
with one person getting the pot. The Kye is disbanded when everyone has had
their turn. They are generally off the books and the people involved can
use the money without any interest charged. Three of the four women have
money in one when the holders of the money run away with it. They are not
happy. Mi-kyeong (Kim Seon-a) wants it to get her daughter back from her
husband; the older I-man (Na Moon-hee) wants it for her son who is having
problems; Bong-soon (Kyeong-shil Lee) needs it for an operation for her son.
The fourth is Eun-ji (Ko Jun-hee) who just wants to go along though in fact
she is deep in debt to a money lender. And she has a great golf swing. That
comes in handy.
The four of them pile into Mi-kyeong's van
and go on a road trip looking for the couple that stole their money. A money
lender that the couple also stole from sends his best man to look for the
couple as well. And the female in the couple runs away with the money and
the man goes looking for her. It feels like bumper cars as they all keep
crashing off one another. The women bicker and fight and on occasion betray
each other but deep down they are neighbors and friends and that sense of
community keeps them together. Through the chases, the beatings, the car
crashes, finding the money and losing the money. But it's funny. Really.
Even the bad guys are not really all that bad. Sure, they smack around the
women but that is sadly typical for a lot of Korean films. Comedies
included. The small daughter has become a bit of a star since this film -
Hyang-gi Kim. The director is Kim Sang-man.
