Too Pure

Colour, 35mm
USA, 2002, 86 min
Section: Another View

Synopsis

After the death of her parents, Nina, the daughter of Cuban immigrants, tries to find the “American Dream” and divides her time between her studies, work and a promising affair with Brian, a young man from a decent family. One day, the couple find themselves in the hands of a gang of brutish robbers who surprise them in Brian’s house. Capable of anything, the three drug addicts and their girl companion kidnap the couple and tie them up in a squalid building in an unknown location. Nina, in particular, is the victim of their eratic and sadistic behaviour. When the gang is unsuccessful in their improvised and amateurish attempt to get a ransom out of Brian, their death threats force the wretched girl to commit the greatest of crimes. Nina’s intelligence and will to survive, however, help her bear the humiliating repression and find a way out of a hopeless situation. This feature debut by producer, screenwriter and director Sunmin Park is based on real events in a study of the extreme limits of human nature. She asks how far we are capable of going, to what degree we are able to harm others and under what conditions we are still able to preserve our human dignity.

About the director

Sunmin Park grew up in Korea. While still very young her song lyrics and stories won awards at prestigious national competitions. She studied at Seoul National University, the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and at Columbia University. She studied film production and direction at the USC´s Film Film School. She shared in the production of the films Mr. P’s Dancing Sushi Bar (1997, dir. Hirotaka Tashiro), The Emperor and the Assassin (1999, dir. Chen Chai-ke) and The Others (2001, dir. Alejandro Amenábar). The drama Too Pure is her feature scriptwriting and directing debut.