gina kim's Never Forever

by omar narvaez a melodramatic romp through desperation and adultery

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First appearing at the Sundance Film Festival in January of 2007 and later winning the Jury Prize at the Deauville American Film Festival in France, Gina Kim?s Never Forever was one of many films screened for the Narrative Competition portion of this year?s San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival.

Never Forever is a departure from Kim?s earlier works, Invisible Light (2003) and Gina Kim?s Video Diary (2002) in that it is a romantic melodrama that is sure to have an appeal to wider audiences. Actress Vera Farmiga (The Departed) is cast in the lead role as Sophie Kim, the "perfect" Caucasian housewife of affluent Korean American lawyer Andrew Kim, played by actor David McInnis (Tae-poong). Completing the love triangle is South Korean actor Ha Jung-Woo (The Unforgiven) who plays Jihah, a Korean immigrant who becomes involved in a passionate and dangerous love affair with Sophie.

The film follows Sophie in her quest to save her husband and her marriage. From the very beginning we are presented with the desperation that Sophie and Andrew are facing ? Andrew?s father has just passed away, an event that carries a double meaning for Andrew, as he is unable to conceive a child of his own. Immediately after the funeral, there is a sex scene between Sophie and Andrew that is completely devoid of passion. It is here that Kim establishes the character of the husband, the perfect figure of a man with one fatal flaw ? his inability to conceive, which causes much pressure from his family for both him and Sophie. This flaw ultimately leads Andrew to attempt suicide and it is here that Sophie decides to take matters into her own hands in order to save her husband?s life. A chance encounter with a Korean immigrant at the fertility clinic that she regularly visits results in Sophie giving this man, Jihah, a business proposition ? she offers him $300 for every time they have sex together and an additional $30,000 should she get pregnant. It is a bizarre proposal that Jihah accepts, and what at first begins as a business relationship ends up becoming something much more.

Never Forever is a beautifully shot film with superb performances by both Farmiga and Ha, but it suffers from unclear motivations and sudden and rather dramatic character changes that are consistent with the melodrama genre. Sophie and Jihah are inexplicably drawn to each other. Yet as they learn more about each other, the whole ordeal shows that a business deal involving sexual intercourse is not so simple, especially when emotions become involved. While the actual narrative of the story did have its share of problems, Farmiga more than made up for it in her brilliant portrayal of Sophie. As the story progresses, Farmiga skillfully shows Sophie?s transition from loving wife to desperate woman and finally to passionate lover. Her brilliant blue eyes and shocking blonde hair cause her to have an almost doll-like appearance, perhaps an indication of how her husband?s Korean family view her, yet her demeanor and initial loyalty to her husband betray this appearance as she is constantly trying to please both her husband and his family by going to church and participating in prayer sessions regardless of her own lack of a religious background.

While Sophie?s evolution as a character takes center stage in this film?s narrative, it is worth mentioning how the film portrays Asian American, or in this case Korean American, men. As one audience member pointed out during the question and answer session with director Gina Kim that followed the screening, Never Forever paints a very three-dimensional portrait of an Asian American male. Kim was quick to point out the historical depiction of Asian Americans in media with the traditional hypersexualization of Asian American women and the desexualization of Asian American men. The film counters this traditional portrayal by showing Asian American men as almost oversexualized. While perhaps not the appropriate way to break away from stereotypical depictions of Asian American men, Kim?s use of hypersexualized men fits the context of the movie perfectly and also gives us a depiction of Asian American men not often seen in Hollywood.

Jihah and Sophie engage in passionate, rather graphic sex scenes, but in general both Jihah and Andrew are thoughtfully written, dynamic characters that you can instantly connect with. In this sense, Kim has created these characters to be inclusive rather than exclusive. Andrew is a man who, due to intense pressure from his family and his culture to bear a child, has become despondent and defeated ? he no longer feels like the man he should be and the loss of his father leaves him at a crossroads in his life. Jihah is simply a man who, through circumstances beyond his control, is trying to seek out a living in a new land of supposed opportunity. With an expired visa he finds this to be rather difficult and is pushed to desperate, shameful behavior in order to get by. The two are opposites: rich versus poor, American versus foreign, sterility versus virility, and they serve as the foundation of the film. This causes Sophie to make a choice between keeping the life she has and starting anew with someone who can actually give her a future she would be happy with.

In addition to breaking some stereotypical depictions of Asian American men, Never Forever also deals with biracial couples. While we are generally used to seeing white males with Asian American women, it is rare to find a film that has a white woman involved with an Asian American male. This reversal is noteworthy, just like the three-dimensional portrayal of the Asian American males in this film; however, in the end, the film?s main focus is on class difference and Sophie?s development. In Sophie?s eyes, Jihah is first seen only as a means to an end, but after spending considerable time with him and forming an emotional bond with him, she begins to realize that Jihah could be the answer to finding fulfillment in her life.

Never Forever is a good film with a script that, at times, seems rather poorly thought out but is more than made up for by terrific acting and directing. The actors do a great job of engaging the audience in their characters and for the most part, we are emotionally invested. In one particular scene toward the end, Andrew is on the verge of discovering his wife?s affair and the tension within the theatre was palpable. Writer and director Gina Kim should also be applauded for her portrayal of Asian American men. In Never Forever, Asian American males are more than the figures mainstream media commonly associates them with. Absent are the Kung-fu masters, wise-old sages, and geeky model minority figures. Present instead are characters with very real, heartfelt problems that any person, Asian American or not, can relate to.