When handsome young Su-min leaves the countryside orphanage of his youth and heads to the big city of Seoul, he has high hopes. But his dream of being an artist gives way to a scramble for survival, first as a chauffeur, then as a factory worker, and when even that job disappears, he turns to prostitution. In the creepy blankness of an all-male brothel, he’s bought by businessmen, hen-pecked by the hilarious male “madame,” and befriended by the other sex-workers. And then, romance rears its awkward head, in the form of a closeted wealthy executive named Jae-min (played with tender nuance by Lee Han), who takes an uncommon interest in Su-min and won’t say no when Su-min resists. Su-min’s struggle to open his heart, despite the impossible differences between the two men, is riveting to watch, rendered by both actor (Lee Young-hoon and director Leesong Hee-il) with gorgeous precision. In the tradition of the finest Fassbinder melodrama, No Regret is at once emotionally brooding and breathtakingly erotic, breaking major new ground for queer Korean cinema. With a taut, delicate script and richly gritty cinematography, this love story creeps in by stealth and delivers an unforgettable emotional whallop. Amidst the film’s many dark and gut-wrenching plot twists, its impossible not to believe in – and root for - these star-crossed lovers, no matter how impossible their happiness may seem. In Korean with English subtitles.
Career Synopsis
Leesong Hee-Il studied filmmaking in the Independent Film Society in Korea and from
1995 to 2000, he made a number of short films in the Independent Film Group . His short
films Sugar Hill (2000) and Good Romance (2001) were invited to various film festivals.
His latest film was La Traviata which was an episode in the omnibus film The Camellia
Project (2004)
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