Is Melo a melodrama or the chronicle of a monster? If it’s a melodrama then it is a sensuous and emotional one that illustrates the tensions and conflicts between a momentary and an obsessive love that end in catastrophe. Having sex as a balm to her loneliness, a woman puts no meaning beyond what her instincts tell her about any man. One day, a handsome, attractive and most of all, very kind man comes into her life and changes it for the better. It’s heavenly, but how long will it last? When his ex-lover, with news of pregnancy, shows up, her anxiety turns into nightmares. Director Lee Roy brings an “artbuster” approach to the film, a decision that transcends the vulgar story by means of a sensational, sometimes provocative style. The last image, most certainly lifted?or adopted?from NagisaOshima’s <In the Realm of the Senses> (1976), leaves an extraordinary impression. Also notable is the unusual and brave performance by Kim Hye-na, an actress famously reluctant to do any nude scenes since her debut in <Flower Island>. (JEON Chanil)