South Korean director Im Sang-soo’s seventh feature, “The Taste Of Money” is a bitter follow-up to the glossy yet engagingly absurd 2010 “The Housemaid,” where the bad manners of the rich will only create scenarios of gaudy, extravagant madness. (In a good way.) With his visual and thematic pretentious, Im’s come a long way from the pre-Mumblecore verbal extremities of a game, warm young female cast in 1998’s “Girls’ Night Out,” but Im’s inventive ways with the particulars of triangles, illicit affairs and righteous anger continue to impress. Black comedy and melodramatic retribution accelerate as complications compound. Sex on the mind? Yes. With Hyo-jin Kim, Maui Taylor, On Ju-wan, Kwon Byung-gil, Hwang Jung-min, Darcy Paquet. 105m. (Ray Pride)
“The Taste of Money” opens at Facets Friday February 14. A slightly NSFW South Korean trailer is below.
Ray Pride is Newcity’s Senior Editor and Film Critic. He is a contributing editor of Filmmaker magazine.
Ray’s history of Chicago Ghost Signs is planned for publication next year. Previews of the project are on Twitter and on Instagram. More photography on Instagram.
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