"Drama Special - I am a Butterfly"

Yoon-hee (played byKim Seon-kyeong) committed a terrible crime some twenty years ago. She's still paying the price for her crimes, mostly mentally, even as a more action-oriented plot arises. Moo-seong (played byKim Hee-won) is sympathetic to her situation, having long seen the way she suffers from the guilt, and works to get Yoon-hee to the police station in time so that she's not recommitted for breaking parole. An obstacle arises in the form of Byeong-woo (played byChoi Il-hwa), a specter from Yoon-hee's past who doesn't think she's suffered enough.

To start out with,Kim Seon-kyeongputs out a surprisingly ambivalent performance as the atoning woman. Yoon-hee is genuinely depressed, and even as the storyline takes a darker turn and she's forced into having to make the ultimate sacrifice to protect the person most important to her, Yoon-hee's actions never feel selfless. Byeong-woo's reaction upon her drawing the knife is bitingly psychologically appropriate. He knows her exact weaknesses, and brutalizes Yoon-hee appropriately.

And it really is appropriately, too. As evil as Byeong-woo's actions seem, it's difficult to really fault him. There's a recurring theme of mistrust of the police here, andf Byeong-woo clearly comes off as a man who the system has failed, so he resorts to his own measures. Given how disinterested the police are here, it's no wonder that Byeong-woo manages to accomplish as much as he does, particularly given the extent to which Yoon-hee cooperates.

That leaves Moo-seong, who keeps trying and failing to do the right thing. Mostly failing. As action thrillers go, I liked the general incompetence on display here. Moo-seong is lousy at fighting. It's not that Byeong-woo is good, he's just a lot more motivated. Moo-seong, far from being an intimidating warrior, is just an everyman doing what he thinks is right. His inability to resolve the situation is physically is an appropriate metaphor for Moo-seong's absolute inability to resolve it emotionally either.

"Drama Special - I am a Butterfly" makes for an odd genre mix. The emotional strength lies in the realization that the past can't be changed, and that hating yourself or another person is at least an improvement over general helpless emptiness- just look at Byeong-woo in the drama's final shot. The ending lingers on a bit too long after all the general excitement has abated, and while I was annoyed at the time, in retrospect there's this pretty obvious feeling thatLife Goes on. Lucky thing for the ones who want to keep living it anyway.

Review by William Schwartz

"I am a Butterfly" is directed byHwang Ee-kyeong, written byLee Hyeon-jooand featuresKim Hee-won,Kim Seon-kyeongandChoi Il-hwa.