Rules of Dating DVD Region 3

Rules Of Dating (or known in the subtitles as To Do Or Not To Do) stars Kang Hye Jung (Old Boy) and Park Hae Il (Memories of Murder) as high school student teacher Choi Hung and her counselor Yu Lim. We meet the two at their first meeting when Yu Lim initiates a frank sexual conversation. Yu Lim, who is one year younger than his student teacher, takes a liking to Choi Hung immediately, despite being attached to a longtime girlfriend (who at one point he claims is “more like a sister”). Meanwhile, Choi Hung is another career woman attached to a rich doctor boyfriend who’s never there. Yu Lim decides to pursue Choi Hung, not using pure charm, but by using his power of authority to get her to socialize with the other teachers outside of class, endless sexual bantering, and in one scene, even nearly raping her in a moment of weakness for both. While Yu Lim would probably be sued for sexual harassment a long time ago if he was in America, something keeps Choi Hung from blowing the whistle on him. Is it school politics? Is it a deep, dark secret from long ago? Or is she actually starting to like him?

All three of these possibilities play out in Rules Of Dating, but it certainly doesn’t gloss over them nor does it find a definitive answer to those questions. One of the best decisions director/co-screenwriter Han Jae Rim makes is to not create charming and likable characters. Instead, the two protagonists are mean, conniving, weak, and at times, just plain frustrating people. However, the performances of Kang and Park are so natural that you can’t help but relate to these characters. This is especially the case in Yu Lim, who easily qualifies for one of the most unlikable protagonists in a Korean romance ever, but because of Park’s performance, Yu Lim remains a character the audience can somehow be sympathetic to.

It’s strange how such an unlikable leading man can carry Rules Of Dating, and the answer is in the intelligent screenplay. While it takes a little time to get going, it balances questions about the meaning of relationships, gender politics, and even office politics without being meandering and preachy, despite being slightly overlong for a romance. Rules Of Dating is sometimes an uncomfortable film to watch and the destination is not always satisfying, but it certainly is a lot more entertaining and unpredictable than other Korean romantic comedies.

In addition, much credit also has to be given to first-time director Han, who employs a handheld style that can be off-putting, but it effectively places the audience in the perspective of voyeurs. Han doesn’t use any special visual flair that many new directors use, but in using a quiet style, he refuses to place any judgments on the characters without making the film emotionally distant. This is a brave decision for a first-time filmmaker who saw a safe way to make a romance and succeeded mostly by taking the other road instead.

Despite being under huge expectations to perform big at the box office and a prime summer release date, the film only achieved modest success presumably because of its mature subject matter. However, Han Jae Rim, led by two commanding and brilliant performances, has masterfully crafted a complex romance that manages to be thoughtful, entertaining, and even frustrating. Even though this isn’t the type of film to appeal to a worldwide audience, any film that can stir up so many emotions is always a film worth watching.

By Kevin Ma