Documentary-style film “The Actresses” features six famous actresses ranging in age from their 20s to their 60s. It is surprising how direct E J-yong(이재용) managed to bring together these top-rated actresses in one place because each actress, representing a different generation, has generally performed the role of the main character of popular films and TV dramas. No doubt, many audience members find this film worthwhile just because they can see all six silver screen divas all together. For the actresses themselves, it is rare to appear in the same film.

The six high-profile actresses play themselves in the movie set in a “mockumentary” framework. They come together for a Vogue magazine photo shoot on Christmas Eve. The photo shoot work is delayed for a while when accessories the actresses are supposed to wear fail to reach the photo studio in time. With time on their hands, they drink together and share their stories, revealing their hidden feelings about the challenges they face as actresses. They frankly discuss their desires, anxieties, insecurities, jealousy, rivalries and aging. Conflict also arises between the ladies, each used to having the limelight to herself, but now finding themselves in an unprecedented situation of sharing the spotlight with other actresses.

Veteran Actress Youn Yuh-jung(윤여정) cannot help but suspect that she was selected to replace someone else at the last minute for the photo shoot. Another actress Lee Mi-suk(이미숙), still looking sexy at middle-age, expresses her desire to find a new identity as a woman and famous actress and complains about the many prejudices against actresses in society. Headline-making divorcee Koh Hyun-jung(고현정), meanwhile, starts picking a jealousy-fueled catfight with hallyu star Choi Ji-woo(최지우), who sneaks her personal Japanese massage therapist into a dressing room of the photo studio that she doesn’t share with any of the other actresses. The two beautiful women are wrangling and shrieking like schoolgirls. Fashion icon Kim Min-hee(김민희) and rising star Kim Ok-vin(김옥빈), the youngest members, are obsessed with their own worries and doubts. The 20-something Kim Min-hee does not hide her jealousy towards an even younger pop idol-turned-actress who appeared with her in the same movie.

The conversations involving the six actresses are hilarious, witty and satirical. In one scene, actress Youn says she will just have to guard the ‘traditional’ market in response to Choi Ji-woo’ popularity in the Japanese market and actress Song Hye-gyo(송혜교)’s reputation in the Chinese market. And the conversations are amazingly natural—so natural that viewers may start wondering whether the actresses are simply acting or talking about their real lives. Director E says he did not plan the details of the film but left open the possibility of improvised dialogue and scenes. And his attempt to make an unconventional movie seems to have succeeded. Combining reality and fantasy, the pseudo-documentary film seems like a reality show on the surface, but elements of fiction lie beneath. Only the actresses may know what is real and what is fictional.

The film was invited to the 60th Berlin International Film Festival’s Panorama section in February 2010.