Samgyeopsal is not just food.
The moment when oil splatters, smoke rises, and chopsticks become busy. The meat sizzles on the grill, and the air is filled with the rich smell of grilled pork. The scenes in movies featuring samgyeopsal are not just a simple meal, but a tool that most instinctively shows people’s emotions and situations.
Now, let’s savor the taste of samgyeopsal in movies one by one.
Parasite (2019) – Meat on the grill where misfortune ripens
Setting: Semi-basement, small, humid kitchen
Situation: A poor family grills samgyeopsal.
Feeling: There is samgyeopsal, but no happiness.
Ki-woo’s family lives in a semi-basement and grills meat. In a small, stuffy space, the samgyeopsal is grilled on an old gas stove. The family is sitting around, but their conversation is not light. The image of those who live in poverty and anxiety, chewing on pork belly, is heartbreaking. However, the delicious smell does not last long.
It starts to rain heavily. The family eating meat suddenly becomes chaotic. Rainwater covers the semi-basement, and the piled up household items float away. Before the aftertaste of the oily and delicious pork belly can even fade, their lives are completely submerged.
Even the warmth that pork belly gives seems like a luxury that is not allowed to them.
A Little Princess (2017) – Becoming an adult, the bitterness of a single piece of pork belly
Background: A friend’s house, a small living room
Situation: Talking while grilling pork belly with friends whom they haven’t seen in a long time.
Feeling: Everyone seems to be doing well, but what about me?
Miso (Isom) has nothing. She has no money, no house. But she thinks that she’ll be okay if she has a glass of whiskey and a cigarette.
Then one day, she meets her friends whom she hasn’t seen in a long time. The pork belly is cooking on the grill, and the oil is sizzling. The friends talk about their own lives. A friend who got married, a friend who got a job, a friend who bought a house.
Miso picks up her chopsticks and puts them down again. The savory smell of pork belly tickles her nose, but it doesn’t go down her throat. She feels like she’s going to get chewed up along with the pork belly, since she can’t live at the same pace as them.
The more she chews the meat, the more bitter it becomes. Maybe becoming an adult is the moment when she realizes that she doesn’t live a life as greasy as pork belly.
Memories of Murder (2003) – Fatigue and tension in pork belly
Background: A rainy night, a shabby pork belly restaurant
Situation: Detectives talk about the case while eating pork belly.
Feeling: A frustrating reality no matter how much she chews.
Park Doo-man (Song Kang-ho) and Seo Tae-yoon (Kim Sang-kyung) are investigating a serial murder case. There are no clues, and the culprit is not caught. It is raining, and stress is building up.
They grill meat. As soon as they put the pork belly on the grill, oil splatters and smoke rises. Their chopsticks move busily.
But their conversation is not comfortable. They have to chase after a clue, but there is nothing. They put a piece of pork belly in their mouths and chew, but their jaws gradually become sore. The culprit runs away, and they chew on their frustration in front of the grill.
"Have you eaten?"
Just like the words the detective threw at the culprit, they fill their stomachs but are hungry inside.
Extreme Job (2019) - The irony of a company dinner, between chicken and pork belly
Background: A pork belly restaurant, a table where soju is passed around
Situation: The detectives are having a company dinner and eating pork belly.
Feeling: It's hilarious, but reality is not so easy.
The meat is cooking, and the team members are joking around. A few glasses of soju are poured. No one knew that this would be the last company dinner.
While eating pork belly and talking about the incident, they start a chicken business out of nowhere. The paradox is that people who used to eat pork belly end up frying chicken!
Now they are chewing pork belly, but in a few months, they will be making drug chicken that the entire nation is crazy about.
Han Gong-ju (2013) – Comfort permeating pork belly
Background: A strange house, pork belly on a grill
Situation: The main character gets pork belly from a senior’s house.
Feeling: Warm, but heartbreaking.
The princess leaves home and wanders. She is lonely and has nowhere to go. Then one day, she is invited to her senior’s house.
The pork belly is cooking on the grill. The senior grills the meat and hands it to her one by one. The princess slowly and carefully takes the meat and eats it.
The moment when she feels someone’s warmth for the first time.
However, this thought crosses her mind. Will this warmth last long? I have to leave again.
The more I chew, the more I feel like crying.