Film Review
A Night on the Water (Canada & South Korea, 1998)
★★★★★
This was filmed in 1998 in Vancouver, Canada by a Korean production company, but was only released to theaters in Korea. Maybe they were trying to cash in on the popularity of Korean-American nude model Sunghi Lee at the time. Earlier that same year, Playboy press did release a nude photo book (Butterfly) featuring Miss Lee that was distributed (but censored) in Korea. She also had a couple of fitness tapes out around that time.
This film is bad, but it’s a good kind of bad and I seriously feel it deserves cult status. Two things that save this one from being a complete turkey are a great soundtrack, particularly the songs “Keep Me in Your Mind” and “Miss Your Touch” by Carolina, and Sunghi Lee’s sexiness, particularly showcased in a steamy striptease scene, accompanied by the former of the two aforementioned songs. I saw this in a theater in Korea when it first came out, and several times on video since its release in ’98 and each time I do (besides enjoying it), I’m amazed that the movie’s director, Jung-soo Kang allowed so many scenes to remain as they are in the final cut.
The story centers on young hotshot stockbroker Song-ha Baek (ineptly played by Ji-ha Yoo, whom I’ve never seen before or since this film, and probably never will again) that has just been canned after costing his firm a bundle, and is on a self-destruction course with the bottle. He pays a visit to Stella, an ex-girlfriend whom he hasn’t seen for two and a half years. When he sees her, she slaps him, kisses him, they drink and then have a good romp in the sack. As they’re laying in bed afterwards, Song-ha tells Stella about the girl he was with during the time he was away. Flashback to the train station where he meets a hooker named Phoebe (amusingly, but not poorly, played Sunghi Lee). The two eat, drink, and go back to his hotel room to have sex on his glowing florescent green bed (I’m not knocking it – it’s great). He realizes after their romp, Phoebe’s Korean. (It seems the pink wig she wore fooled him). They have a second round but Phoebe’s gone the next morning, accidentally leaving her gun behind. Song-ha looks for her to return it, but would have looked for her anyway because he’s hooked. He finds her again (in a bar, where else?), returns the gun, pays for her drinks and in return, she covers it with her body. Songa-ha eventually tries to get her to leave her lifestyle and settle down with him. He even pays off her pimp (who has the viciousness of an angry poodle) with money he conveniently has in his pocket. Phoebe runs away with him where the two get a place and try to settle in to a domestic life, but despite it all, it seems that Phoebe just isn’t happy in her mortal state and longs to be a killer whale swimming freely in the sea. Phoebe becomes pregnant and the scene where she tells Song-ha that she doesn’t want to keep the baby is where Sunghi’s acting skills shine the best in the movie. Unfortunately, Yoo’s monotone delivery of his lines like “Phoebe, calm down,” prevent the scene from being one of the few decent dramatic ones here.
Phoebe decides to have the baby but then goes on a self-destruction course that ends in her attempting to kill herself. She survives as does the baby. She promises Song-ha that she will live the straight and narrow family life with him from there on out, but she’s still consumed by her desire to be swimming freely in the sea among the killer whales. A few times throughout the film, a mysterious “fin” that she has on her back is mentioned, which reinforces Phoebe’s belief that she’s actually a killer whale and belongs in the sea.
Sunghi maintains her Playboy model appearance throughout the film, even though she’s supposed to be playing a cheap, alcoholic street hooker whose specialty is getting men off in restrooms in sleazy bars and strip joints in three minutes. Her acting in this one isn’t bad, but other factors, such as a poor script and a wooden leading man, make it impossible for her to save this one from being laughably bad ….and one definitely worth owning if you’re a Sunghi Lee fan, as this is her only leading role in a film to date, and since she’s now “retired,” maybe her only leading role ever.
About the author
Originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, Chris flirted with the music business there and in Nashville before joining the U.S. Army and serving in South Korea. He remained in Asia for several years afterwards, teaching English, traveling, and covering the regional entertainment scenes. Currently in a mindset between Seoul and San Francisco, besides Idol Features, you can also catch his writings in the print edition of the monthly magazine, Effective.
