“The
Taste Of Money” is often considered a spiritual sequel to director Im
Sang-Soo’s previous film “The Housemaid” as it again looks at the effects money
has on a person’s soul, as well as corruption, infidelity and the back room
dealings in business by the filthy rich.
Like that previous film I found myself quite indifferent to “The Taste
Of Money”. That could be the worst thing
you can say about a film, that it didn’t have an effect on you whatsoever,
either positive or negative. Sadly this
was the case here and immediately after seeing the film, I remembered little of
it.
When the
matriarch of a multi-billion dollar business finds her husband having an affair
with one of their lower-class maids, she sets out by getting revenge anyway she
can. First she cuts off her husband’s
money, then takes away his travel visa (so he is unable to leave with the woman
he now loves), and finally she takes away the woman he loves. All this is done behind closed doors in an
attempt to not cause a scandal that could threaten or destroy the business’s
image. Things start to get complicated
when salaryman, Young-Jak gets corrupted by the thought of money and sees a way
to work himself up the business ladder.
Young-Jak used to be as loyal as they came to the family but after
witnessing the family destroying itself from within, he decides to get what he
can while he can. At the same time
however he is falling in love with his boss’s daughter, who appears the only
normal and moral member in the entire family.
“The
Taste Of Money” just did nothing for me at all.
I found the story dull and poorly conceived and from a storytelling
perspective, I found character’s motivations to be odd. There were a number of times when certain
characters would do certain things that just made little sense. I also felt that it was strange that Im Sang-Soo
made “The Taste Of Money” straight after making “The Housemaid” because they
seem to cover the same material and themes and even stylistically they are more
than very similar. Thankfully the acting
here is nowhere near as bad as the over the top performances that ruined “The
Housemaid”. It is obvious that Sang-Soo
feels a sense of severe disdain towards the very rich (or at least the actions
of the very rich) as he always depicts them as corrupt and being without
conscience as long as the end result is that they make money. I am sure he has a strong belief that the
rich think they are above the law and can do what they want due to the money at
their disposal, and Sang-Soo seems to want to expose this notion.
The style
and look of the film also annoyed me, the cold colour palette contributing to
its very slick look where everything has smooth and reflective surfaces. Normally I love the use of reflections in
cinema but they are so overdone in “The Taste Of Money” that they lose their effectiveness
and just looks as if they are done to show off visually. Speaking of showing off, the main thing that
I did love about “The Taste Of Money” was a number of long and interesting, not
to mention truly complicated camera moves.
The complexity of these moves made my mouth drop in awe, they were
outstanding, it is just a shame they weren’t used in a better film.
Overall “The
Taste Of Money” was neither good or bad, and failed to illicit any sort of
emotion out of me at all. While it is
obvious that Im Sang-Soo has talent in moving the camera, his storytelling
needs work, because this is the second consecutive film from him that has just
left me cold.
2.5 Stars.
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