[HanCinema's Film Review] "A Salaryman" + Full Movie

Following the successful recipe of "A Petty Middle Manager, Lee Bong-rae comes up with another film that combines "company politics" with the family drama, even including the same protagonist in the face of Kim Seung-ho-I.

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This time, Kim plays Park Jong-dal, accounting manager of Dongshin Industrial Co., Ltd, a very honest man who tries to support his family, including two daughters and a younger son, with the meager pay he receives from his company. Park Go-boon, his eldest daughter, is a female college student, but the main problem comes from his youngest, Geum-boon, who always finishes her sentences with an "hmph", and is constantly asking for things (shoes mostly) from her father, not to mention that eventually she lies to him about what she is doing with her life. The young son, Cheol, who always starts his sentences with "Crap", does not think much of his father, while his wife, Mrs Kim, has to deal with the consequences of the lack of money on a daily basis, with the harsh Widow Kang, their land owner, always making a scene about the money they owe her.

When the manager and the chief of his company come up with a plan to embezzle money and ask Jong-dal to be involved, he denies them, despite being in dire need of money, and they proceed on a plan that eventually has him fired. In an effort to survive he fakes suicide, but his trick is soon revealed.

Although the narrative basis of the movie is dramatic, Lee Bong-rae actually retains a sense of hilarity throughout the majority of the movie, with the characters emerging mostly as comical rather than tragic, despite their circumstances. The exception in that approach comes from Mrs Kim, who seems to be the one truly burdened with the financial shortcomings of the family, with the lenders and particularly widow Kang, pestering her in the worst way. In this fashion, and once more in the films featuring in the Korean Film Archive's channel on Youtube, the home owners are presented as the villains, although, on par with the overall approach here, in the end, even she is somewhat exonerated.

In terms of characters, this happens essentially with everyone, with the exception of the manager and the chief, whose shenanigans make them both villains and caricatures in the absurd way they go about them. This arc, and the way it impacts the titular character and his family, is also the medium of the main comment here, regarding how virtuous people, who try to do good by the people around them, are rewarded in the end. This aspect is another element that prevents the movie from becoming a melodrama, even in its rather romanticized and unrealistic nature.

Considering the aforementioned sense of hilarity, the way Lee handles humor is one of the best traits of the movie, as all his characters and their interactions are funny one way or the other, even during the dramatic scenes. Particularly the two younger members of the family are hilarious with their mannerisms, with Bang Seong-ja as Geum-boon and a very young Ahn Sung-ki as Park-cheol stealing the show as much as the buffoonery of Kim Hee-kap and Ju Seon-taw, who play the two villains. Of course, the one who shines throughout the movie is Kim Seung-ho-I as Jong-dal, with his kind and naive ways being excellently portrayed in a role that he has perfected through the many times he got to play it.  

Lee Byeong-sam's cinematography captures the different settings the movie takes place in (house, office, bars etc) with realism, without any particular exaltation. Kim Hee-su's editing results in a fast pace that both adds to the entertainment of the title and suits the usual, episodic nature of the movie nicely.

"A Salaryman" is definitely not high art, but is fun to watch and still manages to present its comments through the comedic approach, which is what has essentially led it to withstand the test of time, to a point at least.

Review by Panos Kotzathanasis

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"A Salaryman" is directed by Lee Bong-rae, and features Kim Seung-ho-I, Ju Jeung-ryu, Um Aing-ran, Lee Soo-ryeon, Bang Seong-ja, Ahn Sung-ki. Release date in Korea: 1962/07/21.