High Society

🧠 Brief Description

High Society (2018) (Sanglyusahoe) plunges the audience into the world of South Korea’s elites, revealing the depths to which ambition and desire erode morality.

Jang Tae-Jun, a well-respected and leading scholar in economics, is being politically groomed by the board of his own university. Oh Soo-yeon, his wife, the curator at one of the prestigious art galleries in the city, is known for her intelligence and grace. As a couple, they represent a quintessential power couple in the public’s eye.

Yet, there is much more than meets the eye because lurking under the surface is sheer chaos. She becomes involved with the devious gallery head, Lee Hwa-Ran, who brings her into the sordid world of art dealing—a multi billion dollar industry where sex, patronage, and blackmail are used to close deals.

In apparent parallel, Tae-Joon’s political ambitions require one moral compromise after another. To climb the party ranks, he blackmails academic peers, conceals scandalous truths, and alliances with oligarchs. When Sooyoen has an affair with a younger artist, Tae-Joon’s own sexual indiscretions rise parallel to his moral rot.

Their marriage, which at one point presented a blended facade, is reduced to mundane treachery as each spouse opts to chase hollow aspirations. Tae-joon winning his election bid and Soo-yeon suffering public disgrace at her exhibition launch serves as poignant irony for both characters, ultimately revealing the extent to which they have surrendered to a soulless existence draped in power behind their loveless isolation.

🎭 Characters and Performances

👨‍🏫 Jang Tae-joon (Park Hae-il)

Chilling as he is, Park Hae-il’s portrayal of Tae-joon’s transformation from principled scholar to a cynical politician epitomizes the dissolution of character through compromise as rot, nuance by nuance as revealed through his expressions.

👩 Oh Soo-yeon (Soo Ae)

Soo Ae’s portrayal conveys very composed warmth that stands in stark contrast to the turmoil, deep rooted insecurity, and ethical void that resides within Soo-yeon, driving her towards betrayal and self-sabotage.

👩 Lee Hwa-ran (Yoon Je-moon)

With predatory allure, Je-moon embodies the dangerously appealing dominator of secrets who captures Soo-yeon’s attention, portraying the art world’s manipulative puppet-master.

🔍 Themes and Symbolism

💰 Ambition’s Price

The film demonstrates how ambition shifts from active virtue to passive moral decay when competition for survival in elite circles requires absolute surrender to vice.

🎭 Sex as Currency

Sexual acts in the audiovisual context do not denote romance, but transactions of dominance, control, and privilege, weaponizing and imprisoning life’s greatest gifts.

⚖️ Public Image vs. Private Reality

Tae-joon and Soo-yeon’s public image reflects a society where success is idolized outwardly, but their decaying souls reveal inner emptiness where nothing truly exists.

🎞️ Cinematic Style and Atmosphere

Byun Hyuk’s direction creates a cold, slick aesthetic. The sterile marble hallways and glass offices, as well as the shadowed gallery rooms, convey a sense of luxury and isolation at the same time. He films erotic scenes with detached coldness, drawing focus to their joyless and purely transactional nature.

Muted color palettes are accented with gold and crimson, art and evening gowns, which emphasize beauty wielded as a tool for status and seduction.

A haunting score evokes quiet tension, reflecting characters restrained by silent compromises instead of overtly violent acts.

⭐ Reception and Cultural Impact

💡 Critical Response

High Society critiqued overemphasis on visual aesthetics, emotion devoided narrative, and eroticism spectacle while simultaneously celebrating profound acting. On the picture’s release, reviewers’ instincts to brunch praised it’s beautifully-captured aesthetics, elevating jawdropping visuals. The latter functions and detailing of backdrop sliced diagonally to background scene performance per character restructuring sedan style into classy slim structured dresses showcased various complexities.

🎬 Cultural Reflection

In Korea, the film served as a warning about societal decay in the intertwined elite spaces, projecting class corruption.

🏁 Final Verdict

High Society (2018) is a polished, cynical examination of the interplay of power, lust, and moral decay. Beneath the seductive veneers lies a harsh reality:

🔮 Ultimately, the ascent towards the zenith brings no salvation. The view from the top reveals a bare wasteland filled with hollow accolades, devoid of affection and virtue anchored by an empty existence.