Imagine Seoul at the turn of a brand new millennium: According to Song Neung-Han′s Segimal, Seoul is a filthy city, corrupted and rotten to the core. One doesn′t need any special rhetoric to describe such a city, just taking out the camera that is full of rage and assaulting it in a violent manner is more than enough. Segimal is comprised of four episodes. The first, entitled ′Moratorium′, is centered on a 37 year-old scriptwriter whose interest in reality issues succumbs to writing melodramas for monetary needs. As he completes his script, a computer virus deletes all his words. The second episode is called ′No Ethics and features a 21 year-old girl courting a 55 year-old low-life overnight millionaire for his money. As she gets involved with illegal substances, her life slowly crashes into decay. The third episode is Moral Hazard′, featuring a 37 year-old part-time college instructor who lectures on the ′failed 100 year history of Korea from foolish ancestors.′ Outside of the classroom, however, he′s just another depraved intellectual. The last segment is ′Y2K′, the scriptwriter from the first episode is now lethargically running a comic book shop; the college girl is getting ruined from the narcotics, and the instructor is fallen to the rank of writing miscellanies. This is the landscape of fin-de-siecle that is unlikely for redemption; yet, what decorates the ending is a song featuring the line ′hope is ours to achieve.′ No one speaks of despair in such extremes as this film by Song Neung-Han does. (Han Sang-Jun)